Two companies tasked with PSG new home hunt

Article posted by Coliseum, February 14^th, 2023

Image: Paris Saint-Germain

The Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain F.C. (Paris) has commissioned an American company as well as a Canadian company to study the possibility of building a new stadium after the City’s authorities and their home ground – Parc des Princes owners (Council of Paris) – said they were against selling the ground.

The Legends Hospitality will carry out the research and will scout for sites alongside the Canadian real estate advisors Colliers.

‘FRANCE 24’ stated that the PSG have played there for almost 50 years but Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said in January that the stadium “is not for sale” and “will not be sold” to the Qatari-owned club – the Qatar Sports Investments.

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The Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain or simply PSG, is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football.

The 48,583-capacity Parc des Princes is an all-seater football stadium in Paris, France. It is located to the South-West of the French capital, inside the 16^th arrondissement, near the 20,000-capacity Stade Jean-Bouin and the 15,000-capacity Stade Roland Garros.

The Council of Paris is the deliberative body responsible for governing Paris, the capital of France.

The Qatar Sports Investments is a closed shareholding organization founded in 2005 and based in Doha, Qatar. Revenues generated from ventures of QSi are reinvested into Qatar’s sport, leisure and entertainment sectors.

New York (US)-based the Legends Hospitality is a food, beverage, merchandise, retail, and stadium operations corporation serving entertainment venues and companies. Formed in 2008, the Legends are a joint venture of the Yankee Global Enterprises and Jerry Jones of the National Football League (NFL) team Dallas Cowboys.

Toronto, Ontario (Canada)-based Colliers is a leading diversified professional services and investment management company. With operations in 65 countries, its 18,000 enterprising professionals work collaboratively to provide expert real estate and investment advice to clients.

‘FRANCE 24’ further stated that the PSG have made acquisition of the ground in the City’s leafy Western suburbs – a condition for carrying out modernization and expansion works to the tune of 500 million euros ($536 million).

In November last year, the PSG President Nasser Al-Khelaifi said that the PSG were “no longer welcome” at the Parc des Princes, adding they were looking for “other alternatives”.

Renovating a nearby horse racing track is reportedly one option.

Inaugurated in 1897, then remodeled in 1972, the former velodrome, with its 48,000-capacity, has been home to the club since 1974.

The current 30-year lease began in 2014.

The Legends Hospitality runs Los Angeles’ 70,000-capacity Sofi Stadium and Dallas’ 80,000-capacity AT&T Stadium – both in the United States – and has worked with the English Premier League clubs Tottenham Hotspur F.C. and the Liverpool F.C. – both in the United Kingdom.

Lock Horns

‘lequipe.fr’ stated that the PSG and Mayor Hidalgo are locking horns over the former’s home ground issue. The former is very keen to buy their home ground the Le Parc des Princes in Paris, France, and the latter in no mood to sell it to the top gun as the Paris City Council argue that the club is offering “peanuts money” to buy the stadium.

The Qatar Sports Investments has put up a rider before they move forward with renovating the above venue prime among them being capacity expansion from the present circa 47,000 seats to almost 60,000 – they want to buy the stadium.

‘lequipe.fr’ further stated that in order to bury the hatchet, the Paris City Council is planning to hold talks with the top-flight’s Qatari owners in the near future.

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