GironaGirona is overjoyed these days, after experiencing a doubly historic June 19, with the promotions to the First Division and the ACB of Girona de Fútbol and Bàsquet Girona. Sunday night will be remembered forever, because they were two very pursued milestones. In Montilivi they had lost the elite for three years, a category that filled them so much that their feelings practically forced them to regain it. In Fontajau, the disappearance of Akasvayu left a wound in men’s basketball that has taken 14 years to heal. The sporting feats of Girona and Bàsquet Girona are added to the presence in their main categories of Uni Girona and Girona Club Hoquei. The 4 teams in the city play in Primera. The data is crazy. “It’s a source of pride this weekend,” said Marta Madrenas, the mayor of a city in Primera.
40 million euros
If there is no color in the emotions section, there are only positive things in the economic aspect of placing the city in the elite of the sport. The first assessment by the Girona Chamber of Commerce puts the monetary impact – both direct and indirect – at 40 million euros, which means a double rise for the city and the demarcation. “It should also be borne in mind that Girona is the only average city to have football in the League, men’s basketball in the ACB and women’s basketball in the elite; in the whole of Spain, only there are Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia “, specifies the managing director of the Chamber, Eduard Torrent.
The 40 million is just an initial figure, but the calculations are based on a fairly solid basis: the study he did months after Girona FC rose to the top state division. The Chamber estimates that, from this impact, up to 25 million euros will correspond to football. Five years ago, following the promotion of Girona to the First Division on June 4, 2017, the Chamber of Commerce already carried out a first study on these impacts. In that case, focus exclusively on football. The analysis put the team’s share of the biggest clubs in the state at 22.5 million euros. “Now, however, we are talking about more than 25 million, because during this time we estimate that the brand image of Girona FC has grown by 3 million more; and this is seen above all in everything that moves through networks. social “, concretizes Eduard Torrent.
The remaining millions will be provided by men’s basketball – the first estimate is 15 million euros, but could reach 20 – and women’s basketball or hockey. More brand image, more revenue for shops, hospitality and tourism for the fans who will be playing the matches and also more budget for the clubs are some of the variables that are taken into account and which we review below.
The four variables in the study
To analyze the economic impact of this historic milestone over the next season, the House analyzes four main variables. The first is the direct impact of the parties. That is, the expense that fans make in stores and hotels before and after the match. The second is the indirect impact, that is, the one that will be generated “in all those productive sectors that are in some way or another related to it”, Torrent specifies.
The third variable is brand impact; flat and short, the value of the image. In the case of basketball, for example, the managing director does not hide the value of Marc Gasol “as an international icon, because few teams have a director-player like him.” Torrent also recalls that Girona and the region are attractive (with the Costa Brava-Pyrenees tourist brand). “There will be people who will come to the city for the first time to watch the matches, but who will later return to Girona or the territory to spend their holidays there, and this impact, which is what is generated from the brand, it will also have great growth, “he said.
There will be people who will come to the city for the first time to watch the matches, but who will later return to Girona or the territory to spend their holidays there ”
Eduard Torent Managing Director of the Girona Chamber of Commerce
In fact, Eduard Torrent remembers that, only during the days of the final four of the LEB Or, each of the teams that came from outside (Lleida, Estudiantes and Palencia) have come to move “between 600 and 800 fans”. “And this, of course, has already been noticed in the revenue generated by the hospitality and trade sector,” said the managing director of the Chamber. “With average teams like ours, very close to the territory, that’s also important,” says Torrent. And last but not least, the last impact is what is known as transfer. It is linked to the growth of the club’s budget, which, as Torrent points out, “in the case of football will go from 10 to 50 million euros, and this will undeniably affect the territory.” In fact, Pere Guardiola, one of the owners of Girona, already warned before the final against Tenerife on Catalunya Ràdio that this “is a match of 50 million euros, the size of the budget in Primera”.
In the study carried out in 2017 to analyze the promotion to Primera del Girona, just wearing the Costa Brava-Pirineu de Girona logo up its sleeve generated a media effect of more than 8 million euros. The sectoral impact was more than 6 million for the local economy: 1.03 in hospitality, 1.38 in catering, 1.26 in other tertiary sectors and 2.59 in domestic consumption. This calculation comes from the nights that the rival teams have to do in Girona and the 750 people between the staff, the technical body and the management, the 75 members of the refereeing body and the 3,000 media that follow the news of the visiting teams. The number of rival fans who made at least one meal in the city was also estimated at 15,000, to which must be added the 40,000 Girona fans who consume in bars and restaurants before matches and who may not do so in in case of not having left his team. Here we must add the jobs that are being maintained and the new ones that are being created, amounting to almost 7 million euros.
Are Montilivi and Fontajau ready?
The relegation of Primera in 2019 caused Girona to dismantle the retractable bleachers it installed as a result of the promotion two years earlier (it only maintained that of Preferent). Now, with the return to the elite, the white-and-red club will expand the capacity of Montilivi: it will go from the current 11,200 spectators to 13,400 thanks to the fact that it will recover one of the two stands mentioned. Specifically, that of Gol Nord. The club has prepared a remodeling of the stadium that will be done little by little. In fact, it was already starting to modernize, but the damn loss of status caused the project to slow down suddenly. “We have to start thinking about improving the stadium and we will need the help of the City Council so that all this is viable,” Delfí Geli, the president of Girona, told RAC1.
The club has prepared a remodeling of the stadium that will be done little by little. In fact, it has already begun to be modernized, but the damn loss of status caused the project to slow down suddenly.
It should be remembered that Girona City Council is the owner of Montilivi, although the concession is currently in the hands of Girona, because it reached an agreement in 2018 for the next 50 years. Clubs such as Barça, Madrid, Atlético de Madrid and Sevilla will visit the stadium in the 2022/23 season, an aspect that will lead to a greater demand for tickets and a growth in subscribers.
For his part, Fontajau is accustomed to top-level matches and will have no problem hosting the Girona Basketball matches at the ACB, as he exceeds all the requirements of the competition, which are stricter than those asks for the Euroleague to host the matches of Uni Girona. The capacity will also be slightly increased, because there must be a minimum of 5,000 spectators, a fact that is met with the placement of the Grada Jove, as happened during the final four. The demand for subscribers will also increase, as will the prices for a card.
The Sports City should be a reality
On the other hand, LaLiga’s agreement with CVC will give Girona an injection of 32 million euros, of which 70% will have to be allocated to infrastructure. The club intends to define once and for all where it will build the future Sports City. Right now, as the Girona newspaper, negotiates the purchase of land in La Massana (Vilablareix). “Everything has to be done and this is very motivating. It is the project of our life. This project will change the history of Girona”, explains Ignasi Mas-Bagà, the general director of the entity.
Looking for investors
Bàsquet Girona has presented the Club Empresa to the Girona business community, a new project that it wants to serve to involve the city’s business fabric by a club that is committed to being important in the social field. “We’ve had a very exciting last 48 hours, but it doesn’t stop there and we want to keep creating excitement. Next season we will have 30 teams and we would like to see you in Fontajau “, said Gasol at the event held in the Auditorium. For 1,950 euros (excluding VAT) the company that contracts this service will have an immediate visual impact, positioning its logo on the APP and on the screens of the pavilion, among other advantages. A similar call was made by Ferran Soriano, CEO of City Football Group. “We need companies in Girona to get involved in Girona, as Gosbi has done.” After the double ascent, it is the ideal time.
