Featured image credit: Real Madrid
Spanish LaLiga football club Real Madrid is reportedly seeking to borrow an extra $390m (£322m/€369m) to fund the renovation of the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu.
The Bloomberg news agency, citing two sources familiar with the matter, said the club would raise the money through a private debt issue, which would be repaid with funds generated from ticket sales.
The Bernabéu is currently undergoing the biggest transformation in its 75-year history. Real Madrid debuted a new retractable roof at the stadium on September 2 as the club marked its first home match of the season with a 2-1 win over Getafe.
The project is set to be wrapped up in the coming months and a grand reopening event is due to be scheduled for just before Christmas. In May, the club’s latest accounts showed that the accumulated investment in the stadium redevelopment project had increased from €537.8m in 2021-22 to €892.7m in 2022-23.
In a statement released last week, Real Madrid announced that its general assembly meeting will take place on November 11, with stadium financing among the topics that will be up for discussion. Any loan to fund the stadium work would require approval from the club’s members.
The Bernabéu’s capacity was restricted to around 63,000 last season. The attendance for this season’s opening match was around 67,000, and the overall capacity of the stadium will be back above 80,000 once the renovation project is completed.
Real estimates that the increase in revenue from the full commercial availability of the stadium will come into effect from January 2024 and develop progressively. As a result, the club estimates that stadium revenues will increase “significantly”, with further rises anticipated in 2024-25 when the revamped Bernabéu is fully operational.
In May last year, Real sealed a €360m deal with global investment firm Sixth Street and premium experiences company Legends, which will lead to the formation of a new entity aimed at enhancing the non-football activities at the revamped Bernabéu. Several concerts have been scheduled for the stadium next year, including a double-header from Taylor Swift.
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