The Covid-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on clubs around Europe, particularly in Spain. La Liga’s big clubs face serious financial consequences, and for the likes of Real Madrid, the situation has meant the club have had to rethink their policy and approach, in order to compete with other elite clubs.
Daily publication MARCA have reported that Los Blancos have lost in the region of €200 million as a result of no fans being allowed in the stadium, as well as the lack of marketing and merchandising sales on matchdays, due to no one visiting the club’s official stores, both in the stadium and elsewhere.
But Real have a plan, and it’s all centered around the new Santiago Bernabeu project.
Whilst the iconic stadium continues to receive a modern face-lift, the team will continue to train and play in Valdebebas, with the home fixtures taking place at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano. MARCA believe the renovations should be complete by June 2022, giving Madrid the financial firepower to compete again.
It’s not just the retractable roof that is going to be a game-changer, Madrid’s new stadium will be a money-making machine, giving the club €150 million per season more than they would normally earn. The report claims that at the end of the 2018/19 season, the club earned €175 million euros from various sources of incomes: from matchday revenue to merchandise sales. And so with the new stadium, they are expected to earn yearly revenues of over €300 million, a vast improvement in financial flexibility.
Earlier reports in Spain confirmed that Madrid reached an agreement over a €575 million loan for this renovation, which is to be paid back over a 30 year term at a fixed interest of 2.5% – at a fixed annual fee of €29.5 million.
They have designed it on the AT&T Stadium, home to NFL side Dallas Cowboys, and will available to host other events and concerts, bringing in extra revenue into the books.
An update on the renovations
The plans are further ahead than initially expected because of the pandemic, which has seen the original roof already removed, and the installation process of the retractable roof is now in full motion. The famous T4 tower is next to be removed, while the new towers on the west side of the stadium have already been completed. One issue with the previous towers were that fans would slowly enter and exit, but the plan with the new towers is for the fans to have access to the stadium and exits twice as fast.
