Picture Credit: Twitter
Spanish Club FC Barcelona will be paying 15 to 20 million euros to play at the Olympic Stadium while there is some renovation work going on at Camp Nou. Barcelona president Joan Laporta said on Tuesday that the club will have to spend some money in order to get the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium ready to play. Laporta said that the club has committed to upgrading the sporting facility.
"We have committed ourselves to adapting the Olympic Stadium's facilities, which are already in very good condition, and modernising several areas, such as the press stand, the changing rooms and parking," Laporta said.
Notably, Barcelona's members approved the club taking out a loan of up to 1.5 billion euros to finance renovation projects, with 900 million euros allocated towards the revamp of Camp Nou in December last year. The board was also given permission last week to sell off portions of both its licensing and merchandising business and its La Liga television revenues which it believes could bring around 700 million euros.
Revamp of Camp Nou to increase seating capacity
Camp Nou is undergoing revamping to increase its seating capacity and eventually the revenue. As the La Liga club is under huge debt (more than a billion euros at the start of last season) which also saw the club losing its most renowned player, Lionel Messi, it is finding different ways to come out of it and this revamping is one such measure. It is believed that by modernising the ground, its seating capacity will increase from 99,000 to 105,000 and will boost revenues in the future.
Barcelona plans to begin renovations this summer and work will continue through next season. The club will then return to Camp Nou in the 2024/2025 season, but with a reduced capacity of around 50 percent, before the refurbishment is due to complete for the 2025/2026 campaign.