João Borges: Dragão revamp needed as facilities fell short of expectations | OneFootball

João Borges, vice-president of FC Porto, spoke about the second phase of interventions at Estádio do Dragão resulting from the partnership with Ithaka: “It has been transformative, bringing together skills that, while very different, are completely complementary. FC Porto defines the strategic vision and operational planning. We know our fans, our stadium, and our long-term competitive needs. Ithaka contributed capital and the necessary discipline to execute a renovation of this scale, and together, we selected Legends, one of the leading operators of sports facilities worldwide.”

The second phase of works at FC Porto’s venue will begin after the end of this season and will focus, among other aspects, on increasing and improving hospitality seats and areas, with a project to replace the roof also under consideration.

“The timing of this renovation was absolutely critical. In recent years, the football industry has changed significantly. Match day revenues, especially those from premium hospitality and food and beverage, have become a decisive factor for the financial stability of clubs. At FC Porto, the stadium experience has always been very strong, but the infrastructure was no longer fully aligned with expectations, nor with the commercial potential we know we have,” explained João Borges, in statements to the club’s media.

“We were reaching a point where the match day atmosphere needed to evolve to keep up with other major European clubs, enabling us to deliver more and better experiences to our members and fans. At the same time, the opportunity arose to partner with Ithaka, a moment we could not let pass. This combination allowed us to improve the stadium, strengthen recurring revenues, bring financial resilience, and ensure that our future will be secured for the coming decades,” added the FC Porto official, who recalled that this transformation also aims to “equip Estádio do Dragão with the capacity to host the world’s biggest events, whether it be the 2030 World Cup or concerts by the biggest stars in the entertainment world.”

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.