Nothing is ever as simple as it seems.
The standing costs of the stadium (maintenance, cleaning and such) are not massive maybe, but they are always there and require full time staffing if the place isn't going to deteriorate. Costs of the building as a business venue or marriage venue have to compete with others and that will have been a pretty low level of business in the Covid era.
I'm not suggesting that owning the stadium wouldn't make it more attractive to possible take over offers but it might not be the cash cow for the club, more a profit maker for the owner to balance his input to the club!
In any event the Council would almost certainly market the site as a potential development opportunity rather than a stadium so the town and club would see a loss. Town centre sites these days are vacant and open to bids and would probably be more attractive to a developer.
I don't see the council wanting to offload the stadium. They have recently invested in the eco-friendly upgrades to help decrease costs and the carbon footprint, so it seems they are committed to it.
For most of its history, Widnes has been at best a mid-table team. We hit the big time in the 70’s, 80’s and early 90’s, which ended in the club going bust in trying to maintain that success and having to sell the ground to the council.
Prior to that golden period, the highlights that stick in my mind are the 1964 CC win against Hull KR and the cup replay against St Helens (1961?) in front of a crowd of 25,000 at Naughton Park, as well as games against Australia when club games were part of the tour. We had mainly local players, playing the game part-time, who to my recollection gave 100% in games - with the odd exception of New Year’s Day game with rumours of players out until the early hours the night before! The difference to today’s game, is that players played for their town and the enjoyment of the game, rather than for what money they can get out of the game.
I am not sure that SL has made the game any better as a spectator sport or has a much higher profile as a national game than it previously had. Will a game with just 12 teams and a league depending almost entirely on a tv deal and run for the benefit of a few teams and some overpaid officials, ever be sustainable in the long-term? Where are the future players coming from if support is removed from the game below SL? Maybe if those running (or is it ruining?) the game considered how they could promote and support the game below SL, we could see a future for teams like Widnes, Swinton, Barrow etc.
I do wonder whether as some have suggested that, below SL, there should be a breakaway game with ft/pt teams promoting the game in schools and the amateur game in their local area; with their own sponsorship and tv deals and a realistic salary cap to prevent a few teams with wealthy investors being able to buy short-term success.
All I want is to see a Widnes team with players giving their all in games, hopefully with some success and more wins than losses, and fans going to support their local team and enjoying a good game of rugby league whatever the result; and leaving the ground looking forward to the next game. Unrealistic expectations maybe!