Paris Saint-Germain will have more time to refine their bid. Originally, the contenders for the purchase or takeover of the concession of the Stade de France were to submit their file in November. Finally, they will have until January 3, a new deadline, to present their offer and their projects for the future of the Saint-Denis enclosure. This will allow each candidate to fine-tune an extremely complex and expensive file.
PSG had applied for the takeover last April, responding to the call for expressions of interest launched by the State through Bercy and the Ministry of Sports. A few days later, Vinci-Bouygues became the second declared candidate. The construction group has been managing the Dionysian enclosure since its construction in 1995. He has submitted a second file for the renewal of the concession, which runs until 2025.
Huge costs, matches of the Blues and vote in the Assembly: the PSG at the Stade de France, it is badly barred
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— Le Parisien | sport (@leparisiensport) April 26, 2023
As a reminder, the State had launched two procedures in parallel: one concerns the sale of this stadium of 80,000 seats, the other on the renewal of the concession to Vinci-Bouygues (respectively 2/3 and 1/3). Three applications were selected for the purchase of the stadium. For the renewal of the concession, the Lyon-based company GL Events is in the race and would have partnered with Paris Entertainment Company, which operates the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy and the Adidas Arena.
For PSG, the priority is still to stay at the Parc des Princes, modernize it and increase its capacity to 60,000 seats. But this project is currently at a standstill, the dialogue between Anne Hidalgo and Nasser al-Khelaïfi having broken off for several months. It results from the refusal of the mayor of Paris to give up the enclosure of the Porte de Saint-Cloud when, according to the PSG, it had initially given its agreement. "Very clearly, the Parc des Princes is not for sale," the mayor of Paris told readers of Le Parisien on January 14. And it won't be sold. This is a firm and definitive position."
In the aftermath, the leaders of the PSG had estimated that "the mayor forces the PSG to leave its house". They had decided to explore alternative solutions. The construction of a new stadium, too expensive and too complicated, was quickly abandoned and the track of a move to the Stade de France remains to this day the only credible. It is still necessary to be the candidate retained by the State. This is far from being won. Purchasers must undertake to maintain the usual events of the Stade de France, namely matches of the Blues of football and rugby, as well as a minimum number of major concerts. Will this calendar be compatible with that of a club like PSG? This is one of the many questions that leaders will need to answer.
