For months, the future of the Parc des Princes has been at the heart of debate and tension. Paris Saint-Germain would like to extend it, but does not want to finance everything without being the owner. Paris City Council, for its part, is reluctant to pay and sell. So PSG is heading for a new location, with a huge project. The choice is between Massy and Poissy. Victoriano Melero, general manager of the Parisian club, spoke to Reuters about the SoFi Stadium (a 5 billion euro complex in Los Angeles) as a model to follow.
Melero “That’s what we really want to encourage to diversify our income.”
“The challenge ahead?
The next challenge is a new stadium. For one year we’re going to go into an analysis and make a choice for our future, and we’re inspired by what is going on in the U.S. with sports facilities.
One example here is SoFi Stadium. It’s incredible and much more than a sports facility – it really is part of entertainment and shows. So that is what we really want to push to diversify our revenue.”
Paris St Germain is what you would call in the tech sector a unicorn, and it’s a unicorn that has some American blood in it.
We wrote the story of the club with that cup (Champions League trophy). And right now the next move is to write the story of football with this very young team.”
It’s not necessarily a question of doing exactly the same thing, but the inspiration underlines PSG’s ambition. Which makes it almost unthinkable today to see it stay at the Parc des Princes, where space is at a premium. It’s hard to accept for sentimental and historical reasons. But that’s also part of club life. PSG would be far from the first to change stadiums.
Which could enable them to take another very important step forward. That’s why the project is taking so long. It’s all about striking a huge blow, with a huge complex to be used outside match nights. Not forgetting, of course, great footballing evenings.
