Barcelona, Real Madrid stadium renovations place money-making interests face-to-face with football heritage
‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ blares out of Anfield. The Yellow Wall stands tall at the Signal Iduna Park. The heart and soul of every football club is its stadium. Dreams are made and dreams are shattered in these monolithic structures. They go silent when a team is losing, and erupt in joy when they score. More than a lawn on which to kick a ball, they are symbols of the club that plays within their walls. But a stadium is only as good as the brick and mortar that holds it together. And across Europe, significant changes are being made to these iconic grounds to bring them up to modern standards. Most recently, Spain’s two biggest clubs – Real Madrid and FC Barcelona – have spent millions on significant renovations to their stadiums.
Real Madrid’s Estadio Santiago Bernabéu has been undergoing renovations since 2019. These include a new outer facade with projectable screens, a retractable roof and pitch, as well as expanded seating and amenities. The entire project has a reported cost of nearly €1 billion, according to MARCA. The new Santiago Bernabeu is set to be inaugurated in December 2023. Despite it being set to remain as Real Madrid’s home, a lot of effort is being put into ensuring the Bernabeu is capable of hosting events 365 days a year. The ground was remodeled to feature acoustics capable of hosting concerts: Taylor Swift is set to perform at the venue in May 2023. A shopping center and hotel will be incorporated into the stadium’s structure. The goal of these renovations is for the Santiago Bernabeu to have a life beyond football.
Barcelona’s Camp Nou, officially branded as Spotify Camp Nou, has just begun renovations of its own. The stadium, which is already the biggest in Europe, is expected to reach a maximum seating capacity of 105,000. Renovations to all three tiers of seating are planned, along with the installation of a retractable roof. The club also sees tremendous money-making potential from improvements to their stadium. Naming rights were sold to Spotify last year for a fee in the region of €300 million, according to The Guardian. Matchday revenue will also increase with the stadium’s much higher capacity. While these renovations are going to provide a more comfortable and modern experience for fans in the stadium, a small bit of football hory will be lost in the process. The Camp Nou and Santiago Bernabeu have been omnipresent symbols of the game for decades of football, and now they will suddenly appear a different beast. While still resting on the same plot of land, these stadiums will feel vastly different. The focus away from football and towards other ventures marks a turning point as these stadiums become mere tools of corporate money-making rather than prestigious sporting venues.
Clubs like Tottenham Hotspur have chosen to start from scratch rather than simply renovating. In 2015, construction on a brand new stadium commenced. Completed in 2019, the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is a state-of-the-art arena, one of the most modern in Europe. But a lot was lost with this change. White Hart Lane, the club’s home since 1899, is gone. Demolished, its foundational structures now lie underground beneath the new stadium.
And there is a good chance many more of football’s iconic stadiums disappear or take on new looks in the coming years. Most notably, Old Trafford in Manchester and San Siro in Milan. The roof of the Theatre of Dreams is prone to leaks under the frequent rains of Manchester. Rodent infestation is also a problem, while the ground’s hospitality facilities lag behind its rivals. The club is looking to either renovate the ground or build a new one in its place. However, plans are still a way off due to uncertainty over the club’s ownership.
The 80,000-seater San Siro has hosted Italian football for more than a hundred years, but co-tenants AC Milan and Inter Milan are set to soon move out. Reportedly frustrated having to pay rent on the ground, as well as the poor condition of parts of its infrastructure, the pair of Milan clubs have set their sights on a new stadium dubbed ‘the Cathedral’. The San Siro is set to remain standing until at least the 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, but its future post that date is uncertain.
To the most die-hard football fans, their club’s home stadiums are like “meccas”, visiting the stadium and watching a match is almost like making a pilgrimage. As football moves into the future, a club’s desire to modernize its home is understandable. But with renovations and new stadiums becoming increasingly common, a lot of football heritage is set to be lost.
Nandan Patil is an intern with The Indian Express sports desk
