How much money Coventry City owner Doug King has paid to buy the CBS Arena from Mike Ashley | OneFootball

The Sky Blues can fully call the CBS Arena 'home' from now on

Coventry City owner Doug King has reportedly paid close to £40m to purchase the CBS Arena from ex-Newcastle United chairman, Mike Ashley.

That is according to a fresh report from Coventry Live, in which King has also outlined the process it took in order for the Sky Blues to permanently own their modern-day home for the first time since moving from Highfield Road back in 2005.

It was confirmed on Saturday morning, ahead of a home clash with Queens Park Rangers, that the club had taken over control of the stadium from Ashley, who brought its three operating companies in November 2022 for a reported £17m, just weeks before King would take 100% control of City's day-to-day running, ending the lengthy and controversial tenure of Sisu in this part of the West Midlands.

The club then celebrated the landmark occasion on Saturday with a 7-1 demolition of the West London club, which saw Frank Lampard's side hit double-figures for goals scored inside the first three Championship encounters, and now, some finer details have emerged regarding the handing over of the CBS keys.

How much Coventry City owner Doug King paid Mike Ashley for CBS Arena revealed

At the time of Ashley's purchase, it was reported that King attempted to acquire the stadium for £25m, only for a court ruling to deny the current owner's bid due to there being "not enough substance" in his attempt to delay administration orders.

However, on Monday afternoon, the 58-year-old outlined that a deal for him to buy the CBS almost three years later was completed at 1AM on Saturday, with Coventry Live revealing that Ashley would have at least made double the return on his investment - approximately £34m - and that King's purchase is close to the sum of £40m.

When asked if he parted with a significantly greater amount of funds in comparison to Ashley for the multi-purpose arena which holds a capacity of 32,609, King stated: “Significantly more? I would say, certainly, we paid more than that, there’s no doubt about that.”

“I mean, let’s put it into perspective as well – and obviously I’ve been in the detail, as you can imagine, over the last few weeks. They’ve (Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group) spent a lot of money on this stadium; one, because it wasn’t making any money, certainly when they took it over in the Wasps’ demise and, two, because it needed quite a lot of capital expenditure," he added.

“So they’ve invested in the stadium. £17m sounds like, ‘wow, they bought it really cheaply,’ but I know they’ve invested far more in the stadium to get it to this point."

“What we’ve paid is what we’ve paid. There isn’t really a price you would pay, right? I mean when you’re in this discussion there are no other things, really. I know there was chatter about other arenas and all of that sort of thing but you just have to try and come to a deal and put it together. That’s all you can do. And that’s difficult."

Coventry City's purchase of CBS Arena could quickly quash new stadium talk

In recent years, the Sky Blues had been forced out of the CBS on two occasions, leaving them to play matches at Northampton Town's Sixfields and a two-season spell at St Andrew's @ Knighthead Park, home of Birmingham City.

It had been reported in late July, prior to the completion of the stadium purchase, that King was exploring the possibility of building a new 40,000-seater stadium on the site of Butts Park Arena, a 5,200 ground currently home to Coventry Rugby.

Given that council leaders described such plans as "unfeasible," it would seem extremely logical that Saturday's outcome, which was described as a "pivotal moment in the club's history", puts an end to any long-term speculation regarding stadia, allowing King to focus on on-pitch matters and back Lampard to end the club's current 24-year hiatus from the Premier League.

Since the former Chelsea boss took charge, only four sides have emerged victorious in CV6 across all competitions, with three of those being the newly-promoted trio of Leeds United, Burnley and Sunderland, as well as then-top-flight Ipswich Town in the FA Cup Fourth Round.