Because the Camp Nou is to be renovated, FC Barcelona will be playing their home games in the smaller Olympic Stadium for three years.
The Spanish football club announced that it had finally been agreed with the city administration of the Catalan metropolis that the home games of the 2023/24 season would take place at the Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium.
Olympic Stadium significantly smaller
The relocation of the home games is necessary because the Camp Nou stadium, which is in dire need of renovation, will undergo extensive modernization from this summer. The Olympic Stadium only holds around 55,000 spectators. It was built for the 1929 World’s Fair and was the central venue for the 1992 Summer Olympics.
Barça expect the conversion to take a good three years and be completed during the 2025/26 season. Then you will “the best stadium in the world in the best city in the world in the best country in the world” have, President Joan Laporta said in late April.
Very expensive project – despite debt
At a general meeting in December, renovation expenses of up to 1.5 billion euros had been approved, regardless of the club’s horrendous debts of 1.35 billion euros. The financing of the stadium renovation through loans is fully secured, said Laporta.
Thanks to the “Espai Barça” (“Barça Square”) project, the conversion of the Camp Nou and the entire surrounding club complex, including the Palau Blaugrana sports hall, the club wants to earn an additional 200 million euros a year in the future. The Catalans’ stadium will be called Spotify Camp Nou after signing a “strategic partnership” agreement with music streaming leader Spotify.