The 8-figure windfall Mike Ashley landed by selling the CBS Arena to Coventry City owner Doug King | OneFootball

Doug King purchased the CBS Arena in August 2025 from Mike Ashley - and it's since emerged what price he paid for it

Not long after the 2025-26 Championship season began, Coventry City owner Doug King confirmed the news that fans had been wishing for - the CBS Arena was in control of the club for the first time ever.

The Sky Blues have had somewhat of a tumultuous relationship with the 32,609-capacity stadium since they moved to it in 2005 from Highfield Road, and were forced out of it in 2013 for over a year after a rent dispute emerged under the ownership of SISU, leaving them to relocate to Northampton temporarily.

Similar issues came to light again in 2019 involving rugby union outfit Wasps, who had assumed control of the stadium a number of years prior, which again forced a move to another city, with Birmingham's St. Andrew's used as their home for two seasons.

Since 2021 though, Cov have been back in their home, although the stadium itself switched hands once more in November 2022, with ex-Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley purchasing the complex, and then agreed a five-year deal with the Sky Blues a few months later for them to continue playing there.

That all changed though in August 2025, when Coventry announced that they'd finally become the landlords of the CBS Arena - and it's now emerged how much King paid for the privilege.

Mike Ashley made generous profit on CBS Arena sale to Coventry City

Coventry City owner Doug King paid a sum of £50 million to purchase the CBS Arena from Mike Ashley, it has emerged.

According to a financial report from Frasers Group (pg.1), the retail company led by Ashley, they received the eight-figure sum from King to generate a profit of £33.8 million on the initial purchase less than three years prior.

The Championship side did not own their stadium until August 2025 when King purchased the ground from the Englishman.

Previously, the Sky Blues were renting the arena as part of an agreement that ran until the end of the 2027/28 campaign.

Ashley purchased the CBS Arena in November 2022 amid speculation linking him with a takeover of the club, but ultimately it was King who took charge instead even without the stadium’s ownership.

The announcement of the deal to buy the stadium was made on the 20th anniversary of when it was originally opened.

Coventry endured a number of difficult years due to financial mismanagement prior to King’s purchase of the club in January 2023, but they have recovered to a position where they were able to finally call their home their own.

The Sky Blues now have their sights set on bringing Premier League football to the ground for the first time since it was opened.

CBS Arena cost was a worthwhile purchase for Doug King

Owning the club and the stadium gives King a level of control over Coventry that he needs to be able to run things as he wants - and it's going pretty well as things currently stand.

With the agreement to rent the CBS Arena expiring in 2028, that kind of uncertainty over the home of the team is not something anybody wants hanging over their head - especially after having to move away twice in the space of six years in the 2010's.

Paying £50 million is quite a lot, especially as Ashley purchased it for £16.2 million in comparison, but that expense will be worth it in the long run, and it just proves how shrewd of an operator the ex-Newcastle custodian is.