We don’t know who will be in the cast of the next season of “Loups-Garous” on Canal+, after a very good first draft, but among mentalists, spies or lawyers, we could well see a member arriving from the management of PSG. The latter is rather skilled when it comes to conveying messages and playing with other actors, such as the Paris City Hall. In short, the ideal candidate. And, rather than the Thiercelieux forest, let’s head towards the Parc des Princes for this new part.
For many months, the historic PSG arena has been synonymous with bickering between the owner of the premises (the Town Hall) and the tenant (the club), who wants to own its stadium. Impossible answers the Town Hall. In February, Anne Hidalgo, the city councilor of Paris, even reaffirmed “the belonging of the Parc des Princes to the heritage of the City”, once again refusing the sale of the stadium to the Rouge et Bleu. So if he cannot have the Park, in particular to expand its reception capacity, Nasser La Menace has only one word in mind: a “new stadium”. And, as the months pass, the threat seems to become clearer. Paris does not miss an opportunity to remind us of this.
Like Monday morning, early on, during a press conference at the Parc des Princes to present a study on the economic and social impact of PSG in Île-de-France. In the midst of figures, each more impressive than the last (turnover, club value, average annual growth, etc.) which would make any dream seller on LinkedIn jealous, Christophe Lepetit, head of economic studies at the Center for Sports Law and Economics (CDES), who came to present the study, slipped in a small negative figure which did not fall on deaf ears: a 1% drop in “visitor impact”, or people from outside Île-de-France who come to see PSG at the Parc.
“Reception capacity at its maximum”
While match day revenues have increased sevenfold since QSI came to power in 2011 (168.5 million euros in the 2023-2024 season alone), how can we explain this decline? “This is explained in particular by the fact that today we have a reception capacity which is at its maximum,” explains Christophe Lepetit. On the visitors’ side, we will probably have a little difficulty doing more than that. At constant scope, new solutions will have to be imagined. » Like, for example, by any chance, a new stadium? Bingo!
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Even if the economist repeated several times that he was not mandated by PSG to comment on a possible change of stadium, he still explained that the current Parc des Princes was an obstacle in the development of the Parisian club. “If we want to increase this impact, we will have to find growth drivers, and growth drivers today require a capacity greater than 47,000 [places]continues the economist. There is a form of competitive disadvantage, compared to Real, Barça or the big European clubs. If we want Paris to continue to grow and remain at the highest level, we must support this growth, which requires, I think, a project around the stadium. »
Especially since the Parc des Princes, beyond its limited number of places, is starting to get old. And must undergo a whole bunch of blockages, carried out by the Town Hall throughout the seasons. “It’s still a building that is more than fifty years old, concrete is not eternal,” explains an internal source at the club. Since QSI arrived at PSG, the club has invested 80 million euros to renovate it. But the work we are talking about today, and which affects the structure, will be out of proportion with what has been done in recent years, and will necessarily involve the owner of the stadium. We will not be able to keep the Park in this state for another ten years. »
“They recorded the departure”
So, rest assured, the Parc des Princes is not “collapsing” “in different places”, as indicated by Mourad Sefiane, behind the pro-PSG X account La Source Parisienne, very followed and well informed of what is happening. goes behind the scenes of the club. He assures us that he “exaggerated the line” and that it was “only an image to say that things were not going well and that this stadium is getting old and needs to be renovated”. “We love the Park, it’s sentimental, but at the structural level it is no longer in keeping with the situation, it is high time that we restore it,” he adds.
« This summer, the Parc des Princes hosted Olympic events in the best possible conditions, replies the Town Hall. Athletes and spectators praised the excellent condition of the stadium. The Park has proven that it meets the highest standards. The City of Paris reminds that it is available to PSG to discuss the development, expansion and modernization of the Parc des Princes. »
In this little game of “it’s not me, it’s you”, Paris seems to have already made its choice: “The subject is closed since the club is going to leave, they have confirmed the departure”, assures Mourad Sefiane. Monday morning, Victoriano Melero, the general director of PSG, who accompanied Christophe Lepetit, implied it again: “We said it, we repeated it, one of the conditions for the future stadium is to ‘be the owner of it. So the position has not changed, and today, we continue to work, to prospect, to see all the possible options to have the stadium of the future for Paris Saint-Germain. »
“PSG is the Park”
To accommodate this new arena, the sites of Gonesse, Aulnay-sous-Bois, the Saint-Cloud racecourse, and even Montigny-le-Bretonneux, on the other side of the world, were cited. Without this delighting PSG supporters, the overwhelming majority of whom absolutely do not want to leave the Park:
« I have the impression that it’s a bit the same as when you want to privatize a public service, you let it rot a little and then justify its closure, explains a subscriber from Auteuil. It’s a bit the same when we are told about places very far from Paris, Montigny-le-Bretonneux, to scare the supporters and finally announce a place which is much closer than expected, in order to make the pill easier to pass. We want to get the club and the Town Hall to agree so that PSG continues to play at the Park. We don’t want to leave the Park, PSG is the Park.” »
Far be it from us to want to darken the day of PSG supporters, but that seems to be in jeopardy. “There are no discussions at the moment between the club and Paris City Hall, everything is at a standstill,” we are told within PSG. The club is therefore working on other options than staying at the Park. » To the point of already having unofficial figures on the impact that a move to this or that city could have. The departure is therefore close, we must prepare the boxes. And it’s not the werewolf speaking.
