What to do with a large stadium without a professional club? While the question of the future of the Matmut Atlantique, the stadium where the Girondins de Bordeaux play, is on everyone’s lips after the administrative demotion of the football club to Nationale 2 (fourth division), the mayor of Bordeaux, and first vice-president of the Métropole, Pierre Hurmic (EELV), answered questions from 20 MinutesThe elected official, who had denounced the construction of this stadium while he was in opposition on the municipal council in the years 2010-2015, believes that it is a priority to look into the sale of the stadium, operated by SBA, but owned by Bordeaux Métropole.
With the relegation of the Girondins de Bordeaux to the fourth division, the question now arises of the future of the Matmut Atlantique stadium, which has become a major concern for the city and the metropolis since the beginning of the summer…
You say that it’s been the big problem since the beginning of the summer, in my opinion it’s been the big problem since its construction! This stadium was badly born, it was completely useless. UEFA and Michel Platini had come to convince the mayor of Bordeaux at the time [Alain Juppé] that to host the Euro 2016 football tournament, it was absolutely necessary to build a new stadium. And what’s more, a stadium with 42,000 seats, a size calculated solely according to the attendance at the Euro matches, but totally disproportionate compared to the attendance at the Girondins matches, which was 25,000 spectators per match at the time. We had the Chaban-Delmas stadium, which had been brought up to standard for the football World Cup [en 1998]and which could have perfectly hosted the events of this Euro. But we gave in to the excessive demands of UEFA, when other cities refused. I had rebelled, from the start, against the construction of this oversized facility.
What shocked you the most, the construction of the stadium itself, or the form, that is to say the choice of PPP – Public Private Partnership – chosen for the construction?
Everything! This stadium is what we call a “white elephant”, it is the very principle of wasting public money: a big investment for sporadic events, with funding that is based on thirty years. Because the second scandal is this PPP funding. Nobody does it anymore. We inherited this from the Anglo-Saxon models, and everyone knows that local authorities lose a lot of money in these PPPs, by getting into debt for thirty years.
Alain Juppé nevertheless stressed at the time that this stadium had not cost very much?
Indeed, 180 million euros at the time was not an extravagant cost for a stadium. [il s’agit du coût de construction, le coût du PPP qui dure jusqu’en 2045 a été évalué avec l’entretien et l’exploitation à 310 millions d’euros]. But it’s still 180 million euros too much. Once the stadium was built, Alain Juppé, in the city council, said to me: “Mr. Hurmic, you have to recognize that this stadium is beautiful!” I replied that it would have been ugly, but above all that it did not take away from the fact that it was useless. One can be beautiful and useless.
Is it even more so today?
It is even more so today, events have rather proven me right. Today, we have this stadium on our hands, and everyone is losing money. SBA, the operator, wants to renegotiate the contract, the Girondins are unable to pay a rent of more than 4.7 million euros, and the community is also losing money, since we pay for part of the equipment, and that, currently, we are also paying for the failures of the resident club…
How much does it cost the metropolis today?
With the unpaid rents that the metropolis no longer demands from the resident club [4,7 millions d’euros par an]it costs the community around ten million a year. It’s madness for a useless stadium.
Many questions are being asked now, for example whether the Girondins will continue to play in this stadium or not?
For the moment, they have asked to continue playing there. I want to say that it is still better that someone plays there, rather than having an empty stadium. But it is ridiculous to have a fourth division team playing in a stadium sized for Ligue 1. If this is not to be done, the city of Bordeaux has proposed the Sainte-Germaine stadium where we can attract a capacity of 5,000 spectators, or why not the Moga stadium in Bègles.
Speaking of Bègles, are you going to ask that UBB come and play more matches at Matmut Atlantique?
UBB does not want to be the resident club of Matmut. It will continue to come and play a few big matches there, derbies, but that’s all. This will feed the treasury of the big stadium.
Precisely, what can be done to improve this cash flow?
As of today, there is not much on the table, except that SBA wants to renegotiate the contract. I think we will have to look at other models, like the one in Lyon, where the club owns the stadium, and has created activities for people to come and spend the day there. I think a private partner can find the right economic model.
So you would be in favour of the metropolis selling the stadium?
As mayor of Bordeaux, I am completely in favour of this, because I believe that public money has no place in this type of adventure.
Are there any contacts established with a potential buyer?
Not to my knowledge. I heard this rumor like you. [que l’Américain Fenway Sport Group serait sur les rangs pour racheter le stade, mais ne serait pas d’accord sur le prix proposé.] But at this point it’s just a rumor.
How much would the stadium be worth?
SBA had valued it a few years ago at 140 million euros. I think we need to find an acceptable starting point, and an interested partner.
If you don’t find a buyer, what are you going to do with this venue to keep it alive?
We will have to find more big show activities, this will be part of the negotiations with SBA. We will also perhaps have to better integrate its periphery, to attract customers. We are also paying for the fact that this stadium is too far, compared to the Chaban stadium located in the heart of Bordeaux.
Will this be a priority issue in the metropolis from this fall?
Of course. This stadium exists, I am not in favor of razing it either, we must now find ways to enhance its value. We have fallen very low, but we cannot remain in the current situation, it is totally unthinkable. And if a buyer comes forward, I repeat, we must encourage him to buy.