Barcelona will be playing their 2023-24 season at the Olympic Stadium in Montjuic. The Catalan club will play next season’s games at an almost full-capacity Camp Nou.
Barcelona to play 2023-24 season away from Camp Nou (AFP Photo)
From India Today web desk: Barcelona will not play in the 2023-24 season at the iconic Camp Nou as the Spanish giants will start renovating the stadium from June this year. The process of refurbishing the iconic venue will take 3 years.
Barcelona will play their 2023-24 season at the Olympic Stadium in Montjuic. The Catalan club will play games next season in Camp Nou which is almost full. Barcelona will move back to Camp Nou in 2024/25 with ongoing construction and 50% capacity.
Barcelona president Joan Laporta confirmed that the renovation will be fully completed during the 2025/26 season.
“Earlier demolition would have meant having to play the 2022/23 season with only 50% of capacity,” Laporta said, as quoted by Reuters news agency.
“Out of prudence and to reduce risks and protect income next season, we will maintain a capacity of almost 100% and proceed to demolish the third layer when we go to Montjuic.”
Barcelona and the City Council are currently working on the move and plan to announce the details in a few weeks. They will need to agree on the cost of renting the stadium, which hosted the 1992 Olympics, as well as the renovations required at a venue that has not been used regularly for top-level sport for a long time.
The club also announced that the bidding process for the construction work on the Olympic Stadium has been accelerated, with the tender opening in July and to be awarded by October at the latest.
Barça approved the financial plans in a referendum last December, including raising an additional 1.5 billion euros ($1.58 billion) to enable the club to renovate their Camp Nou stadium and the surrounding area. Read the full story
Laporta said last August that the club’s total debts were 1.35 billion euros, of which 673 million were owed to banks. Read the full story
Goldman Sachs, which had agreed to lend 595 million euros to help restructure the club’s debt in August, will fund the stadium overhaul under a 35-year plan, including an initial five-year grace period.
SPOTIFY CAMP NOU
In March, Barcelona signed a shirt and stadium sponsorship deal with audio streaming platform Spotify.
The brand will appear on the front of the men’s and women’s team shirts for four seasons from the 2022/23 campaign. The company will also be the first brand to sponsor the club’s stadium, which will now be called Spotify Camp Nou.
Neither Barcelona nor Spotify confirmed the financial details of the deal, but according to Catalan radio station Rac1, the deal is worth 280 million euros ($306 million).