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Stadium developments boost Spanish clubs

Real Madrid’s €1.2bn renovation project, which includes restaurants that can serve thousands of people, a skywalk with views across Madrid and a newly expanded museum that is expected to increase visitors from 1.5mn a year to 2mn. Museum revenue is projected to hit €50mn as a result, similar to the amount some clubs in Spain’s top tier earn from their broadcast rights. 

In Barcelona, the club’s redevelopment project, which has been almost a decade in the making, is finally under way. Once finished, the total capacity at Camp Nou will only rise slightly to 105,000, but an extra ring of VIP seats will be added, as will a roof, a new third tier of general admission seats, and a 360-degree screen.

More work will take place outside the stadium, where a new building will house the museum and club shop, alongside a revamped Palau Blaugrana, a space that will hold 15,000 people for concerts and other sport, such as basketball.   Spanish clubs will also need to invest heavily in preparation for the 2030 World Cup.

 La Liga’s investment deal with private equity firm CVC Capital Partners included carve-outs from the league’s spending rules to encourage clubs to put money into stadium infrastructure instead of blowing it all on players. La Liga expects the deal to help unlock as much as €1.8bn in investment. Milos Nenadovic, club infrastructure consultant at La Liga, says the goal is to give fans a reason to arrive before the game and increase the amount of money they spend once there.

Barcelona was able to borrow the €1.5bn it needs for its project from the bond market in April, even as the club grappled with overstretched finances and high levels of debt.

Real Madrid tapped US investors through private placement, securing long-term financing when interest rates were still close to zero. Then last year it agreed a deal with US investment fund Sixth Street, which paid €360mn in return for the rights to host music and other live events inside the Bernabéu through Legends, the firm’s events business.


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