Rent the stadium!
When this news broke out, even Lu Yang, who was in the country, was taken aback.
Sanremo Football Club officially announced that it will lease a large stadium in the nearby provincial capital city of Imperia for a year, for all home games before Sanremo’s newly built stadium is completed.
The stadium is called "Makabaka Stadium," and after summer renovations, it is expected to reach a capacity of twenty to twenty-five thousand.
This is far larger than San Remo’s small stadium of two thousand people.
It’s worth noting that San Remo, having entered Serie B, already has many fans. Their small stadium has long been unable to meet the enthusiasm of the vast number of fans.
On one hand, it’s for the fans, and on the other hand, it’s because this is a huge revenue opportunity. In the future, ticket sales will become a very important income source for the club.
While Russell is quite wealthy, as a football club, you should learn to make your own money once you mature, right?
Of course, San Remo is a club filled with warmth and humanity.
They are still on their journey from a small village club to a large club.
During this time, warmth and humanity are definitely a strong suit.
Whether it’s the reemployment of retired players, failed youth trainees, or caring for local fans, San Remo has done a great job.
On one hand, doing this doesn’t cost much money, and it may even be a mutual demand, as San Remo lacks manpower.
On the other hand, managing the club’s reputation and brand cannot be achieved without this process of giving back to the local community.
Therefore, after confirming the stadium lease, San Remo also announced that all legitimate shops around the former Municipal Stadium, such as Brownie’s "Goal Small Bar," will be moved to the vicinity of Makabaka Stadium!
Rent will be covered by San Remo, and then deducted in installments over ten months from the revenue of these shops.
Basically, the shop owners don’t have to spend much money on secondary investment.
This considerate support has almost surpassed the extent to which a club should go.
Moreover, the shop owners who opened near Sanremo City Stadium have all made quite a bit of money.
San Remo, after all, is a tourist city. With Sanremo’s rise, the Municipal Stadium has already become a tourist attraction. And this time Russell Group renovated the stadium without demolishing the Municipal Stadium.
The Municipal Stadium has been officially planned as a tourist attraction by the local government, jointly owned by the government and Sanremo Club.
There’s no need to worry about the prospects of this attraction.
For a time, those small shop owners were proud and delighted.
Their former shops are about to be upgraded to tourist attraction shops.
And now they’re soon able to have a new, bigger and better shop.
Just ask who could be dissatisfied?
Even!
When Sanremo’s new four-star stadium is completed, these owners will also have priority in choosing shops, dirt-cheap prices, and super-long rental periods, allowing them to pick shops from the commercial facilities next to the stadium and move to the new stadium with Sanremo.
In the blink of an eye, they have tripled their opportunities!
And the configuration keeps getting higher!
This definitely feels like money falling from the sky, more profitable than demolition compensation.
This kind of move, just ask if you’re impressed!
Perhaps some might wonder why Sanremo is so good to the surrounding shop owners?
The answer is simple.
The early surrounding shop owners of Sanremo, all accounted for one by one, were die-hard fans of the team.
Like Brownie, who is a leader among the hardcore supporters.
They represent the original die-hard fans of Sanremo.
When a team prospers, die-hard fans are only a small portion and seem of little use.
But when a team is at a low point, die-hard fans are the only driving force to keep the team going!
Financial support, the cheers of fans at the stadium, always traveling with the team on away games providing a familiar warmth... they provide everything the team needs.
Die-hard fans can support the team during downturns and take leading roles during prosperity.
If a club doesn’t cherish such fans, should it cherish casual fans, negative fans, parody fans, and fair-weather fans?
Of course, with changes in backers, initial intentions of owners, primary goals of the club, any club will change.
Perhaps this club has been very friendly over the years, but in a decade, it may become something unfamiliar to fans.
That’s the biggest change Moneyball has brought to European football.
It’s also the main reason why most local European fans, especially fans of small clubs, despise Moneyball.
Money and commerce have transformed a team that everyone used to love and feel familiar with into a team whose management and players are exceptionally cold.
The once close and harmonious relationship among fans, players, and the club can never be restored.
Of course, this change won’t happen at Sanremo in a short period.
They are still young!
Sanremo also has measures to comfort other fans.
After all, Makabaka Stadium is an old stadium, previously home to Imperia Football Club, which is probably still struggling in the Italian D Division, oh no, regional league.
Even after summer refurbishments and maintenance, the overall environment remains relatively harsh, and the live experience for fans may not be great.
Therefore, San Remo has announced that any fan who buys a season ticket for Makabaka Stadium in Imperia this year will receive a thirty percent discount on next season’s season ticket when the team moves into the new stadium!