To understand the origin of the stadium desertion, you have to go to Gironde. In 2010, France was designated as the host country for Euro football 2016, which prompted several cities to build new, larger stadiums. In Bordeaux, the Matmut Atlantique, which cost 220 million euros, opened in 2015. Space is lacking in the city center, so the sports building is installed in the north, in the Bordeaux-Lac district, difficult to find. ‘access. Result today: the stadium is half empty. 22,000 spectators on average will see the Girondins de Bordeaux play in Ligue 1 this season, out of 42,000 places.
The Matmut Atlantique rings hollow, as these words from Girondins de Bordeaux supporters describe: “It’s gloomy. It’s not a great atmosphere, given the matches they play for us, it’s not great “, “It’s a little sad, but it also goes with the level of play of the team. Obviously, that does not make the supporters want to come when there are not good results”, “It will fill up if the players manage to level and if there is a little more investment in everything that comes with it. I preferred Chaban, [le stade Chaban-Delmas, proche du centre-ville accueille désormais comme résident le club de rugby l’Union Bordeaux Bègles] there was a little bit of an arena atmosphere, it was much more electric, much more passionate. We’ll see if it gets back to that at some point. “
What if we filled our stadium again to try to end the year well? @girondins home ?# Objectif40k #AllAllStadia ⚪️ https://t.co/PpXT4jKnYg
– DIABATE 3️⃣3️⃣ (@ diabate33) December 14, 2021
It’s sad for the atmosphere but it is especially problematic for the finances of the stadium. In six years, the operator has recorded a deficit of 15 million euros. And he is sounding the alarm: we have to review the contract with the Bordeaux Metropolis, which owns it.
According to the president of Bordeaux Métropole, Alain Anziani, the economic model is not the right one: “The idea that a stadium today can only live on ticketing revenue is a misconception. If you just say ‘you just have to bring spectators into a stadium to cover the costs’, you don’t. will not succeed, or the amount of tickets must be increased very significantly. ”
“A stadium must be able to generate other types of resources than box office revenues.”
Alain Anziani, President of Bordeaux Métropoleto franceinfo
The operating company, which is notably owned by the Vinci group, makes the same observation. She obviously defends the existence of the stadium: without it, there would not have been Euro matches in the South West or huge concerts like those of Muse or Mylène Farmer. The problem is the imbalance of this public-private partnership. At the start, the Girondins de Bordeaux club had to be more invested. This is what Loïc Duroselle, president of the Matmut Atlantique stadium, explains: “It was planned that the operation be shared with the Girondins de Bordeaux, that was not the case at all. Today, we each have our sales teams, our management teams, our communication teams, we are doubling and so that is not a model that is sustainable over time. So we have to come back to these fundamentals of the contract and I think it will be a winner for everyone. “
There are other stadiums in the same case, such as Le MMArena at Le Mans, inaugurated in 2011. It is the first stadium, in France, to have adopted the name of a company, those of the insurance companies which pay it nearly ‘one million euros per year. This is called “naming”. Except that ten years later, MMA decides to retire. The stadium is not filling up after years of sporting and financial collapse at Le Mans Football Club. Bad news for the city of Le Mans, which must compensate for the losses.
The most emblematic case is undoubtedly the Stade de France. One of the most iconic in Europe, built for the 1998 World Cup. The emblem of French football satisfies no one: neither the State which owns it, nor its partners, starting with the Blues, nor the French Football Federation who must pay eight million euros because the France team plays four times a year in Saint Denis. It costs two million euros per match at the FFF. For Noël le Graët, the president of the Federation, there is no question of renewing this contract which ends in two years: “We pay two million and we rarely have two million in revenue. If we don’t make money on our own show because we are the ones creating it, we are not balancing what we owe to the Stade de France. ”
“The Stade de France, I have nothing against, it is the economic model that does not suit us.”
Noël Le Graët, President of the FFFto franceinfo
For its part, the State must ask itself the more global question of the future of the Stade de France since the 30-year concession signed with Vinci and Bouygues is coming to an end in 2025. A report must be submitted in January 2022 to find out the best option for the future. The government will have two priorities: the stadium must remain a sports venue while weighing less on public finances. The bill has reached several hundred million euros since 1995, between the maintenance of the stadium and especially the compensation paid to the operator.
According to independent journalist Jérôme Latta, who has worked a lot on the issue, the initial error in these stadium projects was to copy the English or German model. Countries where stadiums always fill up, even in the smallest clubs. In France, it will always depend on the state of form of a team. Without victory, no public and therefore large empty stadiums. An economic model that is too risky for clubs without the support of the State and communities.
However, public funding for stadiums is not necessarily a bad thing, says Jérôme Latta: “Direct or indirect funding from local communities helps to maintain an organic link with the clubs, to prevent them from becoming private entities in the hands of owners who will no longer consider these clubs as historical, collective heritages at all, cultural, local, rooted in their territory. ” For the journalist, the only solution is to return to smaller stadium sizes to find the electric atmosphere of matches, regardless of the poster.