Barcelona turn to fresh funding as Camp Nou costs rise

The Spanish champions will raise the money through two separate debt arrangements, with the financing aimed at completing the stadium project and covering a revenue shortfall caused by delays to the work.

The first 300 million euros will come through project finance debt linked to the stadium's existing securitisation structure. The loan will be repaid from future Camp Nou income, including revenue from the new VIP hospitality areas, and will have a 30-year maturity.

The financing will be secured against future stadium revenues rather than Barcelona's wider club assets. Talks with potential investors have already taken place, with Goldman Sachs handling the process.

Barcelona will also arrange up to 210 million euros in senior debt against future television revenues from La Liga and UEFA competitions.

That money will be issued through two 105 million-euro media note deals. One was placed in July, while the second is expected before the end of 2026. The arrangement has a 10-year maturity and is designed to help Barcelona manage the cash-flow problems created by the stadium delays.

Work on the new Camp Nou began in 2023, with the original plan calling for the project to be completed in 2026.

The renovated stadium will have a roof covering the entire ground and an increased capacity of around 105,000.

However, Barcelona vice-president Ferran Olive told the club's general assembly that the full project will not be completed until the 2028-29 season.

Barcelona are expected to play at the Olympic Stadium in Montjuic during the first half of the 2027-28 season while the roof is completed. Olive said the club is budgeting for a return to Camp Nou in January 2028, although that could happen earlier.

Olive and club president Joan Laporta have pointed to the war in Ukraine, wider economic conditions, rising costs and supply-chain problems as factors behind the delays and increased expense.