It’s been a busy summer for Barcelona’s Olympic Stadium. Coldplay sold 4 dates at the 96-year-old stadium, with over 200,000 tickets purchased the first morning they went on sale. It’s a similar story for two Bruce Springsteen performances and one Beyoncé. concert, with more than 100,000 people watching The Boss and another 53,000 people flocking to the “Crazy in Love” singer.
On Sunday it is Barça’s turn to occupy a central place, although the enthusiasm to see the current La Liga champions in their transition home is not at the same level.
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Coach Xavi Hernandez has expressed his fear at the idea of moving, saying they will need more than ever for fans to help them not waste that feeling of house merit. “It probably wouldn’t be easy,” he said at the end of last season. – However, so far there have been few responses. On Thursday, three days before hosting Cádiz for their first home game of the new La Liga campaign, tickets could still be obtained on all four sides of the stadium. Its value ranged from € 79 to € 169 for the basic ticket (not counting the various VIP packages that are still on sale), although it must be said that in August, other people flee the city to end the holidays and escape the heat.
However, those statistics are reflected in the sale price of season tickets, as fans seem reluctant to stick Spotify equipment from Camp Nou to Montjuïc, the domain of the town where the stadium is located.
Last season, Barça had 80,274 season ticket holders. He had the opportunity to postpone a year while his iconic house was renovated. . . And to the maximum it has taken advantage of it, since only 17,552 of the 27,000 season tickets that were available for the Olympic Stadium have been accumulated. Many have reached out to club members, or members, who in the past were on the waiting list and hope it will be an opportunity to climb in the queue when the team returns to Camp Nou at the end of 2024.
Given that the capacity of Montjuïc is part of that of the Camp Nou (about 50,000 compared to 100,000), there would still be a decrease, but the magnitude of the decrease is surprising. Barça hosted an average of more than 80,000 spectators at home games last season In addition to the potential sporting impact, this drop also has monetary consequences, as ticket revenues and match days plummet. On the other side of the city, Espanyol, recently relegated to second place in Spanish football, has noticed its overall season. Tickets amount to more than 21,000.
Here’s the story of how they ended up playing on the hill for a season and what that can mean for their functionality on the field and their finances off the field.
Last year work began to demolish parts of the Camp Nou and, at the end of the season, Barça said goodbye to the field it has inhabited since 1957 to speed up the redevelopment process. Once completed, the capacity will be expanded to more than 100,000 people. , and what the club boasts of being a “state-of-the-art” stadium will have a roof that will cover the 4 stands (at the moment there is only one) and total modernity: the drawbacks related to the stadiums of the XXI century.
Meanwhile, Barça will be “homeless” until approximately November 2024, when it is estimated that it will be able to go back in time to celebrate its 125th birthday, the tables will continue in progress and the capacity will be limited to about 70,000 places.
Alex Kirkland, Gab Marcotti and Don Hutchison review the LaLiga season ahead of this weekend.
Montjuïc has been the residence of apparent transience. It is part of the city’s rich history, having been built in 1927 for the 1929 International Exposition. It was also used during an unsuccessful bid for the 1936 Olympics, and before the advent of the Olympics in 1992, the stadium was modernized in 1989.
It has also hosted several Copa del Rey finals (the most recent, in 2004) and some historical moments of Barcelona. Lionel Messi played the first of his 778 festival appearances for the club in 2004, as an away player against Espanyol, who played in this stadium between 1997 and 2009 before moving to the municipality of Cornellà de Llobregat.
It was also here that Ronaldo made his debut for the club after joining PSV Eindhoven in 1996. The Brazilian striker scored twice in a 5-2 Spanish Super Cup win over Atletico Madrid as the Camp Nou pitch was being remodeled. A week later, Ronaldo scored another brace in the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup against AEK Larnaca. Barça, with Bobby Robson, would win the trophy.
Although obviously an obsolete place, the stadium still has something picturesque, at least from the outside, where a white tower rises behind the main stand. It is also located in one of the greenest spaces of the city, surrounded by parks and offering amazing panoramic perspectives of the Catalan capital. There’s Olympic history to look at, adding the stunning outdoor pool used during the Games that has been preserved for public use and overlooks the sprawling city.
Just below Montjuic is the mountainous community of Poble Sec, with Calle Blai, one of the best streets for pinxos (snacks) and drinks before or after the match. The city center is also nearby.
First of all, a silly question: this is not the Camp Nou in terms of size, stature or location. The things that make Montjuic picturesque also make it inaccessible compared to the same old house in Barcelona. Many older members consulted through ESPN warned that this was the main reason why they postponed their subscription until the reopening of the Camp Nou.
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There are obvious logistical challenges. Barça had to pay 3. 3 million euros to ensure additional and sustainable transport to the field on the right days. The city council has also invested another 2. 5 million euros to “minimize the impact that the transfer of the fites to the Olympic Stadium may have. “they only have in the neighborhood and other park users. “
The stadium is located on top of a hill and Barca “encourages people to walk the distance” from Plaza Espanya, the closest maritime center to the venue, but this walk can take up to 20 minutes.
On the other hand, Barça installed shuttles with the capacity to transport up to 4,400 people per hour, which works long before the game when other people arrive, but less after, when thousands of people faint at the same time. Montjuïc is also available, adding a funicular (a cable car on the side of a hill), and although there will also be parking for bicycles and motorbikes, roads for cars will be closed to non-residents a few hours before matches.
Barca had another dry day last week when they hosted Tottenham Hotspur as part of the annual Joan Gamper Trophy. Attendance was 35,224 people and many enthusiasts took advantage of the hot summer weather to get to the ground, but the boardwalk is probably not as pleasant. on a rainy or cold winter afternoon. Still, attendance was a big drop compared to Gamper’s last matches. More than 80,000 people watched the match against the Pumas at the Camp Nou last summer, and excluding the two years in which crowds were banned by the coronavirus pandemic, Gamper’s lowest crowd since 2010 was 55,498 against Sampdoria in 2012.
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This hole will lead to massive losses for Barça in terms of ticket revenue, even without taking into account other income from the days. They’ve already replaced the subscription price once following a slow sales trend, but it doesn’t sound like much. The resources imply that the club will pay between 15 and 20 million euros for the rental of the stadium.
Despite this, Barca vice-president Elena Fort said earlier this year that their initial estimates that the transience of staying at Montjuïc would cost them about 93 million euros in front of the game at the Camp Nou had been adjusted to 55 million euros. The club has to sell assets to sign players in La Liga, this is not ideal, even if long-term forecasts promise a large accumulation of profits when the new Camp Nou opens. “The profits generated through the [new] Camp Nou will be around 247 million euros compared to the year,” Barca said in May.
None of the projections take into account the possible sporting effect that being a tenant may have on the team or the rival. Xavi’s side lost just one league game at home last season: a 2-1 loss to Real Sociedad on May 20, a week after winning LaLiga for the first time since 2019.
After a frustrating and gripping draw at Getafe in the first week of the season, Barca begin life on Sunday in their transitional accommodation needing a win against Cadiz, who have achieved good results at the Camp Nou since returning to La Liga in 2020. winning one and tying there.
Regardless of what Barcelona do this season, winning matches will be the fastest way to make the Olympic Stadium feel at home.