Ball – “The current stadium stops our revenue” (SC Braga)

The municipality halted the remodeling of Estádio 1.º de Maio, as it realized that the project was a rebuild. Antonio Salvador insists on the merits of the project, defends it with all his might, and guarantees that if nothing is done “soon the city council will have two 1.º de Maio stadiums” in deterioration, the existing stadium and the “municipal stadium”. “

“Twenty years ago this stadium was a big lift for SC Braga, because 1.º de Maio its conditions weren’t great, if only the place was more central. But the current stadium does not work for football. It makes Braga known in the world, because it is a work of art, the people who had to decide, decided this aspect, but surely it is a stadium removed from the city center, it has no commercial terms of profitability, and today football, in addition to the game, has an aspect that must Families explore it. “This is an obstacle to the growth of our club,” Antonio Salvador told Diário do Minho TV.

“Today SC Braga fulfills its obligations to the state and professionals, but this stadium is not very good. Times are different, things change and even for our partners the stadium is not good and we have to live with that. It’s stagnation in revenue growth that we need. When people say: “Braga must be a champion”, you need to understand that the members’ money does not even go to football, it remains 100% in the club, in sports. What is there is revenue from sponsors, funds and TV operator, people have to realize that other clubs…. And I don’t even like to talk about other clubs that were 25 years ahead of us, with an academy given by the Autonomy, a stadium given by the Autonomy, renovated for the Euros by the Autonomy… All that was built here was the club to pay. That is why it was important to return to 1.º de Maio, it was an important project for the club, a project for the city and the city and not only for the service of the club.”

Another slogan was the necessity of changing stadiums. “Mr president [da Câmara] He said he wanted to sell the municipal stadium because he could not afford the costs and what he paid to build the stadium. As far as I know, the payment ends now. But he said the stadium’s annual maintenance costs are 250/300 thousand euros. SC Braga spends another million euros on maintenance, because it pays for the light, keeps the lawn, and pays for the entire rebuilding area! What the room does is general preservation. This stadium will be 20 years old, and let me tell you something: either the city council will take conservation measures on that stadium or soon we will have a second stadium 1.º de Maio! He warns that the people of Prague should be aware of this.”

He adds: «If the main institutions of the city are not aligned, then in this case SC Braga with the municipality, nothing can be done. This stadium issue is clear: We came up with a replacement only because the mayor said he would sell the stadium. It is necessary to realize that we have a contract until 2030, and if until then, as the president said, he honors the commitment, he will have to negotiate with the new owner of the stadium. SC Braga cannot risk arriving in 8 years and not knowing what will happen. With the addition of 3,000 athletes to Braga, the club will have to understand what will happen after the contract expires. I don’t even know if I’ll be here in 2030, but everyone who works should predict the future of SC Braga. That is why we found a solution for the municipality, in 2020, to redesign the 1st of May, reduce the capacity to 20 thousand seats, in a modern and functional stadium in which the facades are maintained, a stadium not only for one match but for all days, for entertainment and culture. If political power advances side by side with SC Braga, I have no doubt that it will be the greatest act of the city of Braga in the last twenty years”, he asserts.