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News Feature

FC Barcelona gears up for the future with €600m project

The Catalan giant lifts the lid on the “most important sports project in the world”


FC Barcelona has unveiled the blueprint for an ambitious sports district which the club is billing as “the most important sports project in Europe and the world”.

The Catalan giant has lifted the lid on the €600m (US$651.9m, £467.4m) project – called Espai Barça – which includes the development of the iconic Nou Camp stadium, a 6,000-capacity ‘Miniestadi’ for its youth teams and a multi-sports and concert centre.

The latter is being designed by US sports architects HOK and Spanish studio TAC Arquitectes, while the stadium redevelopment will be overseen by Japanese architects Nikken Sekkei and Spanish firm Pascual i Ausio Arquitectes.

Nikken Sekkei beat competition from AECOM, Arup Sport, Gensler and Populous for the design contract.

The Nou Camp’s capacity will expand from 99,000 seats to 105,000, cementing its place as the largest stadium in Europe by a distance, as well as FC Barcelona’s status as one of the biggest football clubs in the world.

“This is every Barça fan’s dream, one that will become a reality and a legacy to be enjoyed by future generations,” said a club statement. “The project will generate new opportunities for our social and economic development, increase revenue and the value of the club’s assets, boost sponsorship, improve conditions for our athletes, achieve environmental sustainability and create venues for a 21st century Barça.”

Deloitte’s most recent Football Money League revealed that FC Barcelona had become the second-richest football club in Europe, behind La Liga arch-rival Real Madrid with revenues of £426.6m (€560.8m), and the project will only increase its financial muscle.

Last year, FC Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu said that he wanted the club to be the first to generate revenues of €1bn (US$1.1bn, £727m).

Work on the Nou Camp is scheduled to start during the 2017/18 season and is expected to be finished before the start of the 2021/22 season.

Proposals to revamp the stadium and build the surrounding complex were revealed in January last year.

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