The new old Barcelona stadium. The Catalans left the Camp Nou and faced problems.
Games at the Olympic Stadium will result in losses.
It has been a busy summer for Barcelona’s Olympic Stadium. Coldplay sold tickets to four shows at the 96-year-old arena. More than 200,000 tickets were sold on the first day alone. 53 thousand people came to listen to the Beyonce concert. And now it’s time for Barcelona to take center stage in this stadium, a temporary move to which few are happy.
Xavi expressed concern last season about this need, saying that his team will need fans more than ever, and the move from the Camp Nou will lead to the loss of the feeling of home walls, which is extremely important. But even season ticket holders were not so willing to follow the team from the Camp Nou to the Olympic.
Barcelona had 80,274 season ticket holders last season. They were given the option to delay the renewal by a year until the renovation of the Camp Nou was completed. And a lot of people took advantage of this opportunity, because only 17,552 out of 27,000 Olympic season tickets were bought. For comparison, Espanyol, which flew out of La Liga last season, sold more than 21,000 season tickets.
So the temporary relocation of Barcelona will entail not only sports consequences, but also financial ones. Profits from ticketing and related events and sales on matchdays will drop significantly. In principle, this was expected, since the capacity of the Olympic Stadium is already about half that of the Camp Nou. But the drop will be more significant than a simple scaling would suggest.
The rich history of the Montjuic stadium
Demolition work on parts of the Camp Nou began last year. At the end of the season, Barcelona said goodbye to the arena they had called home since 1957 to speed up the renovation process. When everything is finished, the stadium will be ultra-modern, the capacity will exceed 100,000 spectators, and their level of comfort will increase significantly. But Barcelona will be able to return to the Camp Nou around November 2024. And then some of the work will still continue, so the capacity will be temporarily limited to 70 thousand spectators.
The Olympic Stadium on Montjuic has always been an obvious temporary home. It is part of the rich history of Barcelona. It was built in 1927 for the 1929 International Exhibition. He was also included in the unsuccessful bid to host the 1936 Olympics, and in 1992 he still happened to host the Olympics, before which he was modernized.
It has also hosted several Copa del Rey finals. The last one took place in 2004. Some of Barcelona’s historical moments are associated with this arena. Catalan legend Lionel Messi made the first of his 778 appearances for the club in 2004 against Espanyol in this arena, because the Parrots used it from 1997 to 2009. Ronaldo also made his debut here for Barcelona after moving from PSV in 1996. The Brazilian scored twice in the Spanish Super Cup match against Atlético Madrid (5:2). At the Camp Nou, the field was then re-paved. A week later, Ronaldo scored another double there in the Cup Winners Cup match against AEK.
Undoubtedly, now the Olympic Stadium looks terribly outdated. But it also has some nice features. For example, a white tower behind the main stand, as well as an abundance of greenery in the area where it is located. It is surrounded by parks offering panoramic views of the Catalan capital. Olympic history is everywhere, such as the view of the outdoor pool, which has been preserved for public use.
The problem of moving
And yet, not many people like even the temporary relocation of the team. This is not the Camp Nou, neither in size, nor in status, nor in location. What makes Montjuïc picturesque also makes it inaccessible compared to Barcelona’s main arena. Many have speculated that this is why the club decided to delay the season ticket renewals. Not everyone is logistically satisfied with the Olympic Stadium.
Barcelona had to spend 3.3 million euros to provide additional more or less convenient transport to the stadium on match days. An additional €2.5 million has also been invested to compensate for the harmful impact that could be on the parks and green spaces surrounding the stadium.
It takes about 20 minutes to walk from the nearest ordinary urban transport hub to the Olympic Stadium. As an alternative, Barcelona will offer shuttle buses that can carry up to 4,400 people per hour. Before the match, this is still a normal figure, but it is unlikely to suit after the games, when everyone leaves the stadium at the same time.
When Barcelona played their last match against Tottenham at the Olympic Stadium, 35,224 people attended. Many took advantage of the walk to the arena. But it is unlikely that people will prefer it in rainy or winter weather.
The additional expenses of Barcelona include the payment of rent, which will be from 15 to 20 million euros. However, the vice-president of the Catalan club, Elena Fort, said that the estimate of financial losses from a temporary stay in Montjuic has been adjusted. Barcelona were originally thought to lose 93 million euros, now the losses are estimated at 55 million. In the difficult financial conditions of the club, such numbers are not encouraging, but in the long term, of course, Barcelona will only benefit from the renovation of the Camp Nou. The revenue of the renovated arena will reach 247 million euros per year, according to the club.
At the same time, none of the forecasts, of course, does not take into account the sports effect of moving, which is very difficult to feel, count, “touch”. Xavi lost only one league match last season at Camp Nou: Real Sociedad (1–2). And this happened a week after the registration of the championship.
The very walls of the Camp Nou, with its phenomenal fans, helped Barcelona win by instilling fear and insecurity in rivals. The Olympic Stadium has no such magic. And it is difficult to say what points the Catalans will miss in the season that has just begun because of this move.
