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January 19, 2010
Portugal told to consider razing new soccer stadiums
Further evidence that stadiums built for mega-events like the Olympics and the World Cup are white elephants as soon as they're built: Elected officials in Aveiro and Leiria, Portugal are saying those cities should consider demolishing stadiums built for the 2004 European soccer championships to save on maintenance costs and make way for more useful development.
To be fair, it doesn't sound like either city is going to jump at this idea, and either way, razing the stadiums isn't going to wipe out the $214 million in construction debt the two cities took on. And replacing them with shopping malls or business centers, as former Portuguese economy minister Augusto Mateus suggests, isn't necessarily going to help, given that those could end up just diverting development that would otherwise happen elsewhere. (Caveat: I'm not as up on the latest in Portuguese land use politics as I really should be.) Still, that they're even having this debate should be a bit of a red flag to cities being told that new stadiums will help put their cities on the map — once again, be careful of "on the map" for what.
Not surprising at all. Portugal is a football-mad country, but club attandances are very top-heavy as only three first division clubs get more than 20,000 fans per game.
http://billsportsmaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/portugal_liga2009-10_attendances08-09_d.gif
The two stadiums in Leriria and Aveiro are around 30,000 seats each and the local clubs average nowehere near 5,000 fans per game, so the government had to wonder what would happen to the stadiums after Euro2004 was over.
In fact, the new stadiums have helped to exacerbate the divide between the big clubs and the small clubs. The three biggest clubs ("The Big Three") all got new massive stadiums as part of Euro 2004 prep and some of the smaller clubs use new 30,000 seat stadiums as well. However, the big clubs that get large turnouts and regualrly play in financially-rewarding continental tournaments can afford stadium upkeep while the smaller clubs get around 3,000 fans in a 30,000 seat stadium and are losing so much money trying to maintain these white elephants.
Posted by Chris A. on January 19, 2010 12:48 PM