Vivaticket to fund Lecce stadium upgrades

Article by Coliseum, published August 19, 2019

Image: leccezionale.it

Vivaticket is to part fund renovations at Italian top-flight football club US Lecce’s stadium in an expansion of the partnership between the ticketing company and Serie A newcomers, according to Ticketing Business News.

The team needs to implement improvements at Stadio Via del Mare before the start of the Serie A season to meet league requirements.

In a recent press conference, Lecce president Saverio Sticchi Damiani gave assurances that the key improvements will be made in time for its opening game and that it would not need to find a temporary home.

Amongst the improvements are new seats in different areas of the stadium, an enhanced floodlight system, replacement of railings that separate the stands from the pitch with a plexiglass barrier system and renovation of the area for disabled fans and all toilet facilities in the stadium.

Vivaticket and the club will foot the estimated €4m bill for the improvements, with the Best Union-owned operator – which became Lecce’s ticket partner last year – to bring non-football events to the arena in return.

Francesco Sponziello, financial manager of Vivaticket, told reporters: “We invest with pleasure, we have built the business plan, eventual contents and events that can be organised.

“This is our responsibility and we do it all over the world. We would also be a partner in event management. The goal is to attract new people to the territory, as financial director I renew the company’s availability to the project.”

The club has insisted that no events are allowed to take place on the football pitch to avoid damage, which means the capacity is likely to be up to 9,000.

Lecce president Sticchi Damiani said: “As things stand, we are unable to build spaces dedicated to commercial zones or restaurants, so the only alternative business plan would be making the stadium more suited to hosting concerts and events.”

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