ORn investment map takes shape in Spanish soccer. Reforms of stadiums, sports cities, debt cancellation, innovation laboratories or digital strategies. The clubs reveal to EFE the plans they are preparing to invest 2.1 billion euros of the agreement with the CVC fund.
LaLiga’s agreement with CVC Capital Partners, a British investment fund with previous experience in the sport in rugby, volleyball, tennis, Moto GP and Formula 1 competitions, will put on the table a loan of close to 2,100 million euros without interest , in exchange for the value of 9% of the audiovisual rights generated by the competition for the next 50 years.
The injection of capital, pending the signing of the definitive contract with the 38 clubs that did accept -Real Madrid, Barcelona and Athletic rejected the agreement-, will be carried out through a company called LaLiga Impulse, of which CVC would have 9% of the capital. The fund’s representative, Juan Arbide, explained in September that they will remain in the company for a maximum of 10 years, and then they will look for another investor to take over.
Waiting for the arrival of the funds, whose first 40% was scheduled for this month of October but has not yet reached the clubs – LaLiga sources clarified to EFE that they are “adjusting details” of the agreement so that the signature takes place and the money is released and they ensure that the process “is well advanced” – the teams already prepare their investment projects.
They do it knowing what are the rules on which that financing will depend: 70% must be allocated to infrastructure, 15% to debt reduction and only the remaining 15% to transfers, as long as the money invested in signing is recovered. in the next four years.
La Real is committed to innovating
With these premises, the LaLiga Santander clubs reveal their forecasts to EFE. The current leader of the competition, the Royal Society, expects to receive some 107 million to “accelerate” its previous investment plans, marked by “a structural development plan” that includes a 4,000-person mini-stadium in the sports city of Zubieta and a building for the women’s team.
They also aim to create a laboratory of innovation for sports, physical condition diagnosis facilities and a space for training in digital skills with which they will create a job bank for athletes.
The Seville, third in the table after Real Sociedad and Real Madrid -which did not sign the agreement- calculates to receive an amount greater than the 100 million euros, to be invested in the “comprehensive” reform of the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán stadium, a commitment from the president Jose castro, and the expansion of the sports city José Ramón Cisneros Palacios, for which more land will be acquired.
Behind them is the Atlético de Madrid, which would be the club that would receive the most amount, as it is the most relevant in terms of the value of its television rights after Real Madrid and Barcelona, but when consulted by EFE the club has not confirmed the amount it will receive or the projects it intends to undertake .
The rojiblanco CEO, Miguel Angel Gil Marin, expressed in a forum of the soccer industry that a part would be oriented to develop the environment of the Wanda Metropolitano stadium. “The club wants to offer its fans a true city of sports and entertainment,” Atlético’s largest shareholder told EFE in August.
About 100 million euros expects to receive the Betis, which with the 15% allocated to the workforce has been able to keep its stars and will apply another 15% to pay debt. The rest, about 70 million, will be applied mainly to reforms in the Benito Villamarín that allow “greater use throughout the year,” explains the general director of business to EFE. Ramon Alarcon, with events or a reform of the museum to enhance its tourist claim.
Of those 70 million, about 25 will be for the new green-and-white sports city in Dos Hermanas. On the other hand, the club plans to spend 15% of the amount of infrastructure on a broad digital transformation project, which ranges from making “personalized promotions” to its followers to creating “a digital membership.”
From the sixth onwards
The Vallecano RaySurprise of the start of LaLiga in sixth place, he will receive between 20 and 30 million, whose application is under study, but which he will spend in the stadium and the sports city, sources from the club’s management confirmed to EFE.
For his part, Osasuna has 52 million, of which 15 will be to cancel old debt and 6.5 to buy back part of the land of the sports city of Tajonar, in addition to a digitization plan, according to the calculations of the board of directors headed by Luis Sabalza, whose Continuity depends on the outcome of the December 19 elections.
Again the ‘new’ Mestalla
Valencia expects to receive about 120 million, of which “the majority of the investment” will be used to finish the New Mestalla, whose works have been paralyzed for twelve years, as confirmed by the club in a letter signed by the president Anil murthy and sent to the Generalitat. The club needs between 100 and 150 million to finish its stadium and will present a plan in December.
The Spanish will receive about 80 million from the agreement. Far from losing its head betting on millionaire signings, the blue and white entity will use most of this amount to reinforce its infrastructures: about 50 million will be used to improve the Sports City Dani jarque and 15 to cancel financial debt.
An amount close to 30 million anticipates obtaining the Majorca. The club is working on a plan to decide where it will be used, sources from the Balearic club explain to EFE, who intend to dedicate it to the stadium, although the projects are not closed, as it is municipally owned. They will also apply something to the sports city and in internationalization, with the Asian market as a key.
Villarreal will receive about 108 million. The club has its playing field, the Estadio de la Cerámica, recently renovated, but they could invest it in closing the corner of the south end and preferably, and cover the cover. That will require acquiring the homes in that location.
They calculate in the grenade receive about 48.5 million from the agreement, which they will invest in renovating Los Cármenes, for which they have to sign a long-term agreement with the City Council, since the current one is renewed every year. They will also expand their sports city.
Among the teams in the lower zone of the table, the Elche CF could receive about 30 million, which it will allocate to the modernization of the Martínez Valero, the purchase of land for a sports city and the creation of a residence for the quarry. “It will not be used for something specific, but rather helps the different projects that the club had in mind or even underway,” the entity’s president, Joaquín Buitrago, told EFE.
The Cadiz you will get about 30 million. Of these, the 21 corresponding to infrastructures and digitization, the majority will be invested in the sports city of El Rosal. Of the rest, about 4.5 million to debt payment and another similar amount to expenses in the sports staff.
Of the 70 million expected to receive the Levante, the remodeling of the Ciutat de ValenciaWith the first phase built, it is the destination that is the most relevant, but also the new sports city of Nazareth, slowed down by bureaucratic procedures but that the club wants to launch as soon as possible.
The Alaves announced in September that it was entitled to 71 million euros; and various information attribute some 80 million to the Celtic and 65 million to Getafe. None of these clubs, when consulted by EFE, has confirmed the amount or what they will allocate these investments to.
Pending the final signing of the agreement and the first transfers to take place, the clubs in the first category of Spanish football are preparing their plans to transform their infrastructures with this millionaire loan from the British investment fund.
In second also
A sports city with hotel to host foreign clubs in Las Palmas, new infrastructures for Dizziness (Gijón) and sheet metal and paint for many stadiums. Several LaLiga Smartbank clubs share their investment plans with EFE with the amount they will receive from the agreement with the CVC fund.
LaLiga’s agreement with the British investment fund will not only reach the big boys. Of the 2,100 million euros without interest, in exchange for the value of 9% of the audiovisual rights generated by the competition over the next 50 years there will also be an amount for the clubs in the second category of Spanish football.
Pending the arrival of the funds, which have not yet been paid to the clubs but will do so as soon as the final agreement is signed, the team managers are already preparing their investment projects, with rules: 70% to infrastructure, 15% to debt reduction and only the remaining 15% to transfers.
Among the projects, the one of the Unión Deportiva Las Palmas stands out, which plans to dedicate 26 million of the 37.5 that will correspond to it in the ‘Barranco Seco Center’ plan, a high performance center and a hotel for 100 people where other teams come to do their preseason taking advantage of the benefits of the Gran Canaria climate.
“We want to be luxury hosts for clubs that choose Gran Canaria as a privileged destination. We aspire to be tractors of the positioning of this island in the world in the sector of top-level sports tourism,” said the president of the entity, Miguel Ángel Ramírez .
Sporting warns that plans have not yet been finalized and refers to a future press conference. Some of his projects for El Molinón would require an agreement with the City Council. A players residence or a sports hall in Mareo are old dreams that could be reactivated, or the buyback of the facility itself, which since 2001 is municipal property and would have a cost of about 12 million euros.
His neighbor and rival, Real Oviedo, asks “not to launch bells to the flight” on the bottoms. “We are looking at how we can make the best investment,” its spokesperson, Fernando Corral, said in mid-September.
Another of the teams of the head, the Real Valladolid, will allocate its 39 million in most to its new Sports City, according to club sources. The real Saragossa, for its part, admits to EFE that they still do not have an exact forecast of the destination of the investments.
The Malaga It will also invest 70% of its 45 million to complete the sports city, whose construction had to be stopped, still under the mandate of Qatari Sheikh Abdullah Al Thani, due to lack of funds. Modifying some of the structures of La Rosaleda and improving the waterproofing, changing the LED lighting system, the official store or the VIP area, are other possibilities.
The Girona he expects to receive about 31 million euros from the CVC issue and “the majority” should be for his sports city, they assure from the club.
Objective: rehabilitate stadiums
Without a doubt, the stadiums will be the great beneficiaries of this injection of capital. One of the surprises of this start of the season, the Ponferradina, will spend its 6 million euros on the works of El Toralin and will dedicate the 15 percent repayment of debt for the new lighting of the stadium.
On Cartagena They are very clear in which they will invest a good part of the 6 million that they estimate they will be able to receive: the integral remodeling of the façade of the Cartagonova municipal stadium, and a new electronic scoreboard, in which they will invest 2.4 million, they indicated to EFE from the club.
The same will do the Mirandés, which expects to receive between 6 and 8 million, which will be consigned in the budget of the arrangements in Anduva (his stadium) that were carried out this summer. The Burgos, recently returned to the category, will also receive 6 million.
The Leganes will receive more than 49 million euros, with which they want to expand the capacity and put a cover, as well as invest in a sports city and a residence.
