How?
Well for a start there are the intangibles, the Brand Value... the bit that ultimately is hard to value on a balance sheet, but goes a long way to creating value in the club.
Something that a ground has a lot to do with. This Is Anfield for one. The move to new grounds takes that away to a degree as clubs are associated less with their place, but nonetheless it helps. And your own ground enables you to build it into the brand.
Then there's the fact a ground can sit as an asset on the books. Again, makes the club a little more saleable, also allows something to borrow against (inadvisable, but still). Not only that, but it shows focus on building the infrastructure of a club rather than just focussing on players, players, players. No coincidence that our decline coincides with us focussing on the latter rather than the former.
Then there's the fact that Wasps won't give all profit to CCFC. Wasps will (naturally) want to make some money out of any rental deal with the football club - else what's the point of them doing it? (the only reason they might not, in fact, is if they took seriously the possible threat of a new ground and the competition it might bring).
CCFC wouldn't have access to the conference facilities at the Ricoh under a rental deal. Competition from another ground? Why not? I've been to conferences at some of the biggest shitholes known to man (for balance, some half decent venues too
). At the risk of the obvious, it's about working out your best market for your costs. it could, indeed, be the case that actually when it comes down to it, a CCFC ground targets different areas to the Wasps ground and they can both co-exist.
Ultimately, however, it should be the sporting identity and sporting foundations that should win out, and that is served best by a CCFC ground for CCFC. We really should, IMO, be campaigning for both SISU and CCC to start talking to one another to find common ground on where such a site can be found in the city, and push them to remember the sporting and social benefits by doing so.
of course, we won't...
In fact, surely the more high calibre sporting and social facilities in our city, the better?
Surely if this works out with CCFC building a ground in the city, this is a good thing?