Dfinal straight line to try to find a solution to an old dispute between Stade Bordeaux Atlantique (SBA), the operator of the Matmut Altantique stadium, and Bordeaux Métropole, owner of the premises. “SBA filing for bankruptcy is a very plausible prospect,” announces a source close to the matter. And could, according to our information, take place in the coming weeks.
The operator faces a financial impasse. No major concerts or major (inter)national matches are planned for the 2025 financial year, even though these are the only events that allow it to earn money. Especially since discussions on the conditions of the contract signed with the Metropolis are at a standstill. An old story that turns into a disaster scenario. Yet another consequence of the descent into hell of the Girondins de Bordeaux.
Epilogue
Despite an exceptionally surplus 2023 financial year (108,000 euros profit for a turnover of 25.2 million), the operation of the stadium is weighed down by the deficits accumulated since 2015: 20.50 million euros, three times more than what was planned in the economic model. Until now, the threat of filing for bankruptcy has often been raised. “But this time, we don’t see how we will avoid it, we are approaching the epilogue,” fears a metropolitan elected official. Because the failure of SBA would see the entire financing plan for the enclosure collapse like a house of cards.
The original sin is to be found in the public private partnership (PPP) which links Bordeaux Métropole, the owner, and SBA, a subsidiary of Vinci Fayat (two thirds, one third respectively). The two groups put forward the cost, 180 million euros, and built the stadium. To which are added conventions linking the club and SBA on one side, the Metropolis on the other. The terms were as follows: since its inauguration, the Metropolis has paid 11 million euros to SBA each year. The operator undertakes to pay 4.5 million euros to the community as “guaranteed revenue”, regardless of their turnover.
Furthermore, the Girondins, resident club, were supposed to pay 4.7 million euros in rent to the Metropolis. A concrete contract for the latter, which thus offered itself a brand new stadium with 42,000 seats for 1.8 million per year. To the great dismay of SBA which, for ten years, has denounced the conditions that are too favorable to the institution.
We
This was without taking into account the glorious, and ultimately costly, uncertainty of sport. The Girondins de Bordeaux were the first to place themselves under the protection of the commercial court. Rent deferrals amounting to 20 million euros were granted to the club by the community to save what could still be saved. The Metropolis and the operator found themselves against the wall in the context of legal recovery.
Lenders can demand immediate repayment of what remains to be paid
These two do not have the same legal reading of the contract which binds them: the community considers that it remains valid despite the demotion to amateur level of the Girondins, when the company considers it to be obsolete. A conciliation launched at the end of 2023 failed. SBA agreed to rent the stadium free of charge to the club (which only pays technical costs), further straining its finances.
To make matters worse, Matmut announces in December its renunciation of the naming contractwhich allows him to give his name to the stadium in exchange for an annual rent of 1.9 million euros paid to SBA. The contract expires in July 2025 and no other company will add its name to a stage that is too inconspicuous. As for Vinci Stadium, which was responsible for programming concerts at Matmut (Mylène Farmer, Depeche Mode, etc.), it has just lost its flagship: the operating contract for the Stade de France won by GL Events. Which has the effect of transforming this event subsidiary into an empty shell.
Crash
“The president of the Metropolis is on a hard line with SBA, which is asphyxiated. I don’t see how we avoid the crash,” comments a mayor of the city. The Metropolis does not discover the looming scenario. In the event of SBA's failure (bankruptcy filing followed by recovery or liquidation), the burden of the debt contracted by the operator with banks to finance the construction of the stadium will be automatically transferred to the Metropolis.
Lenders can demand immediate repayment of what remains to be paid, around 100 million euros. This is not neutral in times of budgetary restrictions, but not insurmountable for a community with an annual budget of 2 billion. A first aspect which promises a long legal drama.
More delicate, the Metropolis will have to take charge of the management of the stadium, which is not its job. In the short term, this should not change anything for the Girondins de Bordeaux. The Metropolis could have to deal with a “white elephant”. The definition of which is as follows: “A prestigious achievement which ultimately proves more costly than beneficial and whose operation or maintenance then becomes a financial burden. »
