Soccer-PSG inspired by Los Angeles as it sets out to build new stadium
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -Paris St Germain is drawing inspiration from the success of new state-of-the-art venues in Los Angeles as the Champions League title winners begin the process of building a new stadium for the team, CEO Victoriano Melero said.
PSG has outgrown the 48,000-capacity Parc des Princes, and team officials will spend a year studying potential sites in Massy and Poissy with an eye toward offering a variety of entertainment options, Melero said.
"The next challenge is a new stadium," Melero told Reuters in Los Angeles ahead of PSG's Club World Cup match on Sunday in Pasadena.
"For one year we're going to go into an analysis and make a choice for our future, and we're inspired by what is going on in the U.S. with sports facilities," he said.
"One example here is SoFi Stadium. It's incredible and much more than a sports facility - it really is part of entertainment and shows. So that is what we really want to push to diversify our revenue."
SoFi Stadium, a technological marvel that opened in 2020, is home to the NFL's Rams and Chargers and has hosted concerts by artists like Taylor Swift and Beyonce. It will play a key role in next summer's World Cup and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
The $5 billion stadium is located in Hollywood Park, a growing commercial and residential area. The 70,000-capacity indoor-outdoor stadium sits next to Intuit Dome, the high-tech NBA arena that opened last year.
PSG is looking at Massy, south of Paris, and Poissy, west of the French capital, as potential sites for a new stadium. The team will play Parc des Princes for the foreseeable future while the new stadium is built.
U.S. fans and investors have played a vital role in the stunning success of the club both on and off the field, said Adrien Frier, the French consul-general in Los Angeles.
"Paris St Germain is what you would call in the tech sector a unicorn, and it's a unicorn that has some American blood in it," he said at a reception honoring the team in Beverly Hills, where the Champions League trophy was on display.
PSG has an estimated five million fans in the U.S. and has benefited from its high-profile partnership with Nike's iconic Air Jordan brand.
U.S.-based Arctos Partners holds 12.5% of the shares of the team, with majority owner Qatar Sports Investments owning the remaining 87.5% for a club that is valued at $4.4 billion.
Melero said the team's ambitions are only growing.
"We wrote the story of the club with that cup," he said, gesturing toward the gleaming trophy.
"And right now the next move is to write the story of football with this very young team."
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; Editing by William Mallard)
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