São Paulo to replant pitch during concerts, Morumbi shut till January | OneFootball

While some people are still debating whether São Paulo should play its last two games of the season at Vila Belmiro, the internal discussion within the club shows that the debate has already gone much further than that.

AVANTE MEU TRICOLOR has learned that there is a possibility the club will take advantage of the break in football in November for concerts to carry out plans to replant the pitch. The problem is the time it will take for the new turf to settle: up to two months.

In other words, if the assessment by those responsible after the concerts is that the best option is indeed to replace the grass, a pessimistic scenario projects the club’s return to its home only at the end of January.

Then, more problems arise. That’s because the Brazilian football calendar in 2026 will be changed. Competitions will start earlier. The Campeonato Paulista could begin on January 11 (the Paulista Football Federation is working to hold the first round on the 8th). And the Brasileirão, which will be most affected, has its opening round on the 28th of the same month.

Once again, in a pessimistic scenario, the club could be without Morumbi for up to four home games combined from both competitions. That is, if there are no delays.

Internally, the matter is being handled with caution and there is no official confirmation, partly to avoid causing outrage among the fans. And the promise is that the deadlines could be accelerated.

Moreover, the possibility of being without its stadium for so long has sparked criticism, including internally, of the partnership with Live Nation. In June, Tricolor announced the renewal of its agreement with the concert promoter until 2031. President Julio Casares even promised changes such as moving the stage setup behind the goals, in an attempt to make assembly and disassembly easier and to protect the pitch. In addition, the partner could finance the construction of permanent tunnels connecting the circulation rings to the field, speeding up public access during concerts and once again preserving the turf. This change, in fact, could be carried out during this closure period, according to internal sources.

São Paulo will no longer play at Morumbi in this edition of the Brasileirão. The club is expected to play its remaining four home games at Vila Belmiro, the stadium of rival Santos, with whom it has a gentleman’s agreement for mutual stadium use. For now, only the first two matches, against Flamengo and Bragantino, have been officially scheduled at the Santos ground. But Tricolor has already received approval from the coastal team and has requested the change from the CBF.

“I don’t know if what I think is important, but when I arrived, I already knew. It’s been a while, it’s not like I woke up today and found out, so it’s been a long time and it’s an issue I can’t comment on, it’s a decision that’s already been made. In December I can give my opinion on what I think we should do and we’ll see if they accept it or not,” said coach Hernán Crespo, resigned.

The Argentine coach and the fans may be upset, but the truth is that holding concerts at Morumbi represents an important source of income for the club, which is extremely in debt. Last year, thanks to musical events, the stadium was the main source of revenue in the financial report (surpassing professional football). Now, the estimate is for net revenue of R$ 20 million from performances by Oasis and Imagine Dragons (twice each), as well as Dua Lipa and Linkin Park. That’s more money than the club earned from all its home games in the Brasileirão (R$ 15.5 million).

Imagine Dragons: October 31 and November 1 Linkin Park: November 8 Dua Lipa: November 15 Oasis: November 22 and 23

São Paulo vs Flamengo – 11/5 – Vila Belmiro – 32nd round São Paulo vs Red Bull Bragantino – 11/8 – Vila Belmiro – 33rd round São Paulo vs Juventude – 11/23 – Venue TBD – 35th round São Paulo vs Internacional – 12/3 – Venue TBD – 37th round

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