Naples – What was supposed to be a morning dedicated to solidarity has transformed into a clear political and industrial stance. On the sidelines of the presentation of the "Sanghe Pe Napule" campaign, Tommaso Bianchini, Chief Revenue Officer of SSC Napoli, drew a clear line between the ambitions of Aurelio De Laurentiis' club and the recent proposals put forward by the Manfredi administration regarding the future of the Maradona Stadium.
While Palazzo San Giacomo had been full of optimism and plans to upgrade the Fuorigrotta stadium, the club's response was a cold shower: Napoli doesn't want to renovate, it wants to rebuild.
"No to patches": the closure of the municipal project
Bianchini's words sound like an unequivocal rejection of the maintenance or partial renovation plan recently proposed by the City Council. "We want to build a new stadium, not patch up the current one," the Napoli manager declared. The use of the term "patch" is not accidental: it underscores the inadequacy of any intervention that isn't radical.
For the club, the current structure is no longer amendable, but represents an obstacle to growth. The position is clear: the era of structural compromises is over, the club is seeking a definitive, proprietary solution, effectively distancing itself from the negotiating table to simply manage the existing structure.
The 70 million hole and the corporate knot
The core of the problem isn't aesthetic, but economic. Bianchini precisely quantified for the first time the damage resulting from the current Maradona setup: "From our perspective, we lose around €70 million a year without a new stadium." The structural deficit stems from the inability to generate revenue from the corporate sector, which now accounts for 50% of top European clubs' revenues.
"I'm talking about a museum, a skybox, experiences: a very useful ecosystem," Bianchini explains. While the City Council thinks in terms of capacity and usability, Napoli thinks in terms of cash flow. Without modern hospitality areas that are open 7/7, the club is forced to play catch-up with its rivals, starting with a significant financial handicap.
Reassurances to fans and a warning about the future
In his speech, Bianchini also sought to defuse one of the fans' long-standing fears: the high ticket prices associated with the construction of a new stadium. "With a company-owned stadium, it's not true that we would raise prices like crazy," he assured, explaining that the increased revenue would come from luxury services (corporate) and not from the popular sector.
The final remarks, however, sounded like an ultimatum. Praising the work of Aurelio De Laurentiis, Bianchini noted that "Napoli is performing miracles, but they won't last forever." A clear message to the city and its politicians: the victories achieved so far are the result of virtuous management that has made up for the lack of infrastructure, but to remain firmly among the elite of world football, concrete is needed, not just talent.
Source EDITORIAL TEAM
Comments (1)
The article describes a complicated situation between the club and the city administration. It's clear that Napoli needs a new stadium, but there are also many financial issues to consider. I hope a solution can be found.