Santos tweaks Vila Belmiro stadium deal

Image: WTORRE and Santos FC

Brazilian football club Santos FC is adjusting the terms of a Memorandum of Understanding struck with WTorre S.A for construction and management of the club’s new stadium in São Paulo, Brazil.

Santos said changes have been made in terms of revenue share with WTorre, which will operate the new stadium, as well as over concession rights.

The total investment for the demolition of Vila Belmiro and the construction of the stadium is estimated at R$700 million ($124 million), according to a projection recently made public by WTorre CEO Marco Siqueira.

Once started, the reconstruction is expected to last 24 to 30 months. The new stadium will seat 30,108 fans nearly doubling the current capacity of 16,000.

Santos FC is a Brazilian sports club based in Vila Belmiro, a bairro (neighborhood) in the City of Santos, São Paulo, Brazil. It plays in the Campeonato Paulista, the State of São Paulo’s premier State league as well as the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the top flight of the Brazilian football league system.

The 16,068-capacity Estádio Urbano Caldeira, also known as Vila Belmiro, is an association football stadium located in the Vila Belmiro neighborhood of Santos, São Paulo (Brazil) and the home of Santos FC.

WTorre S.A. is a Brazilian construction and real estate development company founded in 1980. It provides engineering services including construction, real estate development, infrastructure, and logistics solutions serving clients in Brazil.

Among the changes in the new MOU are three major points for the new board, which requested changes to the previous document.

One of those is that WTorre will no longer have concession rights to the stadium for 30 years. According to the agreement, the new Vila Belmiro will be owned by Santos.

The club and the company will jointly manage the arena, with WTorre being responsible for operations, due to its expertise in the stadium sector.

Another new feature is the division non-football related revenues. Santos had a minimal share of the profits, which displeased the board of directors.

Under the terms of the new agreement, the club will be entitled to percentages ranging from 55% to 70% of the net profits obtained from the operation of the facility unrelated to football. These will come from naming rights, stores, VIP boxes and parking.

A third change considered essential by the Santos board of directors is that, in the new arena, the owners of VIP boxes and reserved seats will continue to have their seats guaranteed and special seat holders will have priority in the pre-sale.

Chairman of the board of directors, Fernando Reverendo Vidal Akaoui, said, “Today, there was a greater detailing of not only the conceptual design of the stadium, which showed that the board members really liked what they saw, but also the details of the partnership.

“Significant changes were made, which benefited Santos FC. There were also very sensitive adjustments regarding the percentages in the distribution of profits from games and events at the new stadium.”

A pre-sale process for season tickets and corporate boxes, which is aimed at raising money needed for the start of work, is expected to kick off soon.

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