Barcelona will leave Camp Nou again

Catalan Barcelona will be forced to change their home arena again. Although the team returned to their home Camp Nou last November after a two-year hiatus, the club will temporarily move to the Olympic Stadium before the start of the 2027/28 season. This step is necessary to install the roof on the reconstructed arena. As club treasurer Ferran Olivet confirmed during the general meeting, the team will finish the current season at Camp Nou. The start of the 2027/28 campaign will be held at the Olympic Stadium, and the return home is scheduled for January 2028 - for the second half of the season. Currently, the capacity of the Camp Nou is artificially limited to 62,000 spectators (only two tiers are open). That number is expected to rise to 75,000 by the end of the current season thanks to the gradual opening of the third tier. At the time of the January return in 2028, the stadium will be able to accommodate 95,000 fans, and at the start of the 2028/29 season, the reconstructed arena will reach its maximum capacity of 105,000 seats. Completing the works on time is a critical task for the management, as UEFA announced last week that in 2029 the revamped Camp Nou will host the Champions League final for the first time in 30 years. The club simply does not have the right to further delays. However, the massive project, which began in 2023, has already faced serious delays to the schedule, which has caused financial losses to the Blue and Garnet. To cover the economic impact of the delays, club members last weekend approved an additional €510m ($585m) funding package from Spotify. This increased the total cost of the reconstruction to almost 2 billion euros. The new financial tranche is structured in two stages: EUR 300 million will go directly to the completion of construction works, the scale of which has significantly increased compared to the initial plan due to the integration of new technological solutions and services. EUR 210 million is being raised through the issue of media bonds in two equal tranches of EUR 105 million. The first release took place in July 2026, the second is scheduled for October-November of the same year. The bonds have a fixed rate, a maturity of up to 10 years and are secured by future revenues from the TV rights of La Liga and UEFA tournaments. The club is confident that these investments will pay off in full. The management predicts a sharp increase in profits after the full opening of the arena thanks to increased ticket sales, the development of the VIP hospitality area, a renewed museum and other commercial activities related to the return to the modern Camp Nou. We will remind you that Barcelona went to the international break with a 100% win rate and sole first place. Flick's team scored 31 goals in 7 rounds of La Liga.