Birmingham aim to reach Premier League next year
Birmingham City chairman Tom Wagner says the club are targeting successive promotions and reaching the Premier League next year "is certainly the goal".
The League One champions broke the EFL record for most points in a season in 2024-25, and the American businessman told BBC Sport he wants the club to return to the top flight "as quickly as we can".
Advertisement
With plans for a new stadium handed a major boost on Tuesday, after the government confirmed investment in local transport links, Wagner believes the Blues will be "highly competitive" in the Championship.
And he says that is because the club's commercial revenues will be "very close to, if not in line with" those of rivals in receipt of parachute payments.
Leicester City, Southampton and Ipswich Town will each benefit from almost £50m next season, having been relegated from the Premier League.
Birmingham spent £25m after dropping down from the Championship last year, and Wagner vowed to be "very active in the transfer market" this summer in a bid to build on the progress under "exceptional" manager Chris Davies.
Advertisement
He added he is open to the idea of clubs playing some cup matches overseas as a means of growing an international fanbase.
'Unique opportunity'
A "thrilled" Wagner was speaking after his hopes for a new 62,000-seat stadium to replace St Andrews took a significant step forward, with government funding for a new tramline to a planned £3bn 'Sports Quarter' in the east of the city.
The club's owners, US investment firm Knighthead Capital - which Wagner founded - wants to build a 125-acre sports and leisure complex on abandoned land in Bordesley Green, and have been trying to persuade ministers to grant the West Midlands billions of pounds to fund new transport links for the regeneration project.
Advertisement
Now that has been achieved, he says the aim is for the "transformative" Sports Quarter - which will also include a 20,000-seat arena, hotel and training complex for the club's men's, women's and academy teams - to be open by 2030.
"We needed the transport links to ensure the site was viable," said Wagner.
"This will be an entertainment venue unlike many others in the world."
"We have a unique opportunity. If you look across western Europe you'd be hard pressed to find another city with that much land available... where a project of this magnitude could be created.
Advertisement
"This will be a venue that is used 365 days a year, we'll create 8,500 jobs... the goal would be to host a whole range of international events, not solely football but American football, rugby."
Seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady is a minority owner of Birmingham City.
When asked if there was a risk that the new stadium would result in higher ticket prices for supporters, Wagner said: "If you price out the fans that are here you have different people sitting in the stands, you lose the singing, you lose the passion and then you've lost your product.
"We have to remember this is a club of the people and that means the solution for growing commercial revenue is not solved through ticket prices, it's solved through making a better product."
Advertisement
Last year, Birmingham City's former chief executive Garry Cook said it would be "a great idea" if they played a league match against fellow US-owned club Wrexham on American soil.
"I don't think that it makes sense to do it necessarily with regular-season matches," said Wagner.
When asked what he thought about potentially playing some domestic cup matches in the US, he said: "It's something that has to be thought of.
"When you think about the top-tier clubs in the Premier League, they're competing globally, which means that they have to have global fans and global-scale revenue, and if that means playing some matches overseas to create more following and revenue for the club I think that's a good thing.
Advertisement
"You have to find a way to do it that doesn't take away from your local community, so it's very much a balancing act. There's a very fine line that needs to be walked there, but I think for the top clubs it's something that has to be seriously considered.
"Perhaps there's a different tournament, or something that happens that allows for that, maybe at a different point in time in the season. There's a whole series of ways that could be pursued beyond simply the pre-season tours."
When asked what assurances he could give to fans concerned about the number of English clubs now controlled by US investors, Wagner said: "The reason Americans are drawn to investing here is because it's English football.
"If we 'Americanise' it, then it's lost everything that drew people here in the first place."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
The clubs most LIKELY to sign Liverpool star who 'lacks intensity'
The clubs most LIKELY to sign Liverpool star who 'lacks intensity' Liverpool have a big decision to make over Harvey Elliott during this summer's transfer window. The playmaker only made two Premier League starts for the champions last season - both of which came after the title was wrapped up. Arne Slot simply did not trust the 22-year-old in the biggest moments and that treatment has led to a discussion over the England under-21 international's future. Advertisement Elliott is under contract until 2027 and there is little prospect of him signing a new deal with his minutes so restricted. There is believed to be Premier League interest from Nottingham Forest, Newcastle and Wolves, but Elliott has so far issued no preference on his next move. Back in January it was also speculated that Borussia Dortmund and Brighton were interested in the out-of-favour creative midfielder. Sporting director Richard Hughes is believed to value Elliott at £40m to £50m - and he could be sacrificed this summer if the right bid materialises. Elliott 'lacks intensity' Now comes a report in Football Insider, which appears to seal Elliott's fate. Advertisement The player does not possess the right out-of-possession characteristics to hold down a place in Arne Slot's team, according to the report, with Mohamed Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai far ahead of him in the pecking order. 'Liverpool's coaches are said to believe the 22-year-old lacks the intensity off the ball required to fit into their playing style on a regular basis and be a nailed-on starter,' the report reads. And, accordingly, a move to Serie A might be on the cards for the former Fulham man. © IMAGO Will Elliott move to Italy? 'Harvey Elliott is most likely to join a Serie A club if he leaves Liverpool this summer,' the report states. Advertisement 'Elliott's game would be better suited to Serie A, and there is believed to be early interest from two leading Italian clubs. 'Clubs in Germany's Bundesliga are also understood to be monitoring the left-footed star's situation.' The names of the clubs involved are not disclosed in the report.
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
Steelers TE Pat Freiermuth's reaction to Aaron Rodgers signing revealed
Steelers TE Pat Freiermuth's reaction to Aaron Rodgers signing revealed Steelers TE Pat Freiermuth's initial reaction to the Aaron Rodgers signing has been revealed — and he's ready to chase a Super Bowl. ESPN's Brooke Pryor reported that Freiermuth was on a plane when the Rodgers signing news broke — and this is what the Steelers tight end told her: "I'm excited that Aaron [Rodgers] is a part of the locker room and we can focus on doing all the right steps to compete for a Super Bowl." It's comforting that the team still hasn't lost focus on what truly matters — bringing the seventh Lombardi to the Steel City — as the Rodgers waiting game did little to instill confidence in Pittsburgh's 2025 season. While the Rodgers-to-Freiermuth connection is one Steelers fans can excitedly look forward to, let's not forget Pittsburgh's WR1 DK Metcalf, who spent time catching passes from the four-time MVP during the infamous UCLA throwing session this offseason. For up-to-date Steelers coverage, follow us on X @TheSteelersWire and give our Facebook page a like.
2 hours ago
Jack Daniel's maker Brown-Forman sees sales fall as Trump trade conflicts weigh on spirits producers
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Brown-Forman Corp. reported weaker sales Thursday as the maker of Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey confronts challenging market conditions amid global trade conflicts and pinched consumer spending. The Louisville, Kentucky-based spirits giant said its full-year net sales of nearly $4 billion were down 5% from a year ago, and fell 7% in in the fourth quarter. Net income was down 15% for the full fiscal year and plunged 45% in the fourth quarter ending April 30, the company said. The quarterly drop came as Brown-Forman and other U.S. spirits producers who rely heavily on foreign sales felt the reverberations from President Donald Trump's sweeping tariff plans and consumer anxiety about the economy. Brown-Forman also offered a sobering assessment for the coming year. Having steered the company through an 'extremely challenging and uncertain operating environment' in the past year, Brown-Forman CEO Lawson Whiting predicted another challenging year ahead. 'Fiscal 2025 was a year unlike any other that I've seen in the past three decades,' he said during a conference call with industry market analysts. Whiting pointed to industry figures showing that many consumers are purchasing smaller sizes of spirits. He called it unusual and said it reflects a consumer 'who's pinched and just goes to the store with a $10 bill instead of $20 and then they get the smaller size.' 'The consumer and their wallet just doesn't have as much money in it," he said. "They're spending money on things like vacations and lodging, and other things like that. But then when it trickles down and they go to the grocery store, I think in some cases, spirits have fallen out of the basket a little bit.' In its outlook for the next year, the company said the challenges include continued consumer uncertainty and the 'potential impact from currently unknown tariffs.' 'We know it's highly volatile," Leanne Cunningham, the company's CFO, said while fielding a question about tariffs during the conference call. "None of us can predict what's going on." The company believes the market volatility will "create sustained levels of consumer uncertainty, which we believe will lead to another year of below historical total distilled spirits trends,' she said. Trump has often announced changes and pauses to his sweeping tariff plans on his social media platform. Trump hiked nearly all of his tariffs on steel and aluminum imports to a punishing 50% on Wednesday in a move that's set to hammer businesses from automakers to home builders, and likely push up prices for consumers even further. Brown-Forman executives said Thursday that American spirits brands mostly remain off store shelves in Canada. Trump has angered Canadians with his trade war and calls to make Canada the 51st state. Spirits makers in Kentucky have expressed fears of becoming "collateral damage' by getting caught up in trade conflicts. 'The uncertainty of the tariffs continues to weigh down distilleries large and small," Chris Swonger, president and CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, said in a statement Thursday. "We are urging the Trump administration to help get the spirits sector back to fair and reciprocal trade with zero-for-zero tariffs with our major trading partners.' Meanwhile, Brown-Forman's full-year results showed that net sales for its whiskey products were flat. Growth from Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey and its Woodford Reserve brand was offset by the negative effect of foreign exchange and declines in other super-premium Jack Daniel's products, it said. The company will launch a new product, Jack Daniel's Tennessee Blackberry, this summer. 'BlackBerry is a globally recognized, well-established flavor trend, and naturally complements the flavor of Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey," Whiting said. In January, Brown-Forman announced it was reducing its global workforce by about 12% and closing its hometown barrel-making plant in Louisville. Whiting reaffirmed Thursday that those actions are expected to produce about $70 million to $80 million in annualized cost savings.
