Parma, 21 August 2023 – The statements of the Managing Director Corporate, Luca Martines, made during the programme ‘Bar Sport’ aired on 12 TV Parma and hosted by journalist Marco Balestrazzi.
THE SERIE A AND THE CLUB ORGANISATION
“Serie A? The desire is there. Compared to last year, I think making a small budget more organisational means winning on the field, but also having a structure behind it that is able to sustain a Serie A championship. From the point of view of ticketing, sales, marketing, and hospitality, it’s a structure ready to make the step up to the top league. But the championship is long. Winning and starting well psychologically helps.
THE NEW STADIUM PROJECT
“The stadium? It is now in its final stages, we worked in the summer on the design and economic-financial aspects. It is very complex and articulated, we have arrived at the asseveration by one of the big four auditing companies. Out of a form of institutional respect, we wanted to wait until we returned; it was not respectful to present the project on 14 August. Towards the end of the month, there will be important news. The presentation of the final project is an administrative act, there are 670 documents, which make up the stadium project from all points of view (engineering, plant engineering, architecture). From there, there is a period for the convening of the Services Conference, a technical panel that will analyse the project and give an opinion to the Council and the City Government, approximately 60 days. At the end of this process, the City Council will give its opinion, on the basis of which it will either proceed or make any revisions. The appeal to the Ministry? What the Superintendency did was to release the entire structure and only bind the access. In the project, it was planned to preserve the entrance and the two side buildings, which also emerged from the public route. Now we are waiting for specific indications to know what the protection of the area is, which is currently a car park, the intention of the project is to make it usable to all, bringing the pre-filtering selection inside the courtyard area and reducing the impact on the road system. The economic-financial plan? Parma Calcio has made an economic-financial plan up to 2030, an unusual 7-year plan, precisely in order to properly develop the entire youth set-up. It takes a longer period of time than a 3/5 year horizon. On the stadium it is spread over a period of 90 years, a projection necessary for bankability and financeability aspects, but looking more precisely at 20 years. The concession is an issue still to be cleared. Ferrari Park? Swimming pool in Via Zarotto? This has never been discussed with the municipality, it has nothing to do with it. Never any mention of other areas of the stadium perimeter. The stadium’s revenues? The stadium’s business plan has many traditional revenue items, just like any other club. The components are always the same, because of the specificity of the stadium: ticketing, hospitality, and television rights are also a driver for sponsors, they are all typical items for any other club. A stadium done in a certain way can create more appeal for television rights. Is the stadium coming soon or not? I give it logical thought. The issue of piecemeal construction involves a partial building site, you need the consent of the public administration each time. The alternative is a single building site, it brings us closer and guarantees us a new stadium in two years. Fidenza is one of the options, we need road accessibility, and there is an issue of structure, space, parking and approvals. And it will also depend on the category.’
