Global Fútbol

Real Betis’ Estadio Benito Villamarín is already one of the biggest and best stadiums in Spain, but Los Verdiblancos aren’t resting on their laurels and understand the need to develop their main piece of infrastructure even further. In order to achieve this, the club have launched an international competition in architecture for a new stadium redevelopment project.

The redevelopment project will centre around the design of a new Preferencia Stand, while there will also be a need to develop interior and exterior elements on the other three sides of the ground and to work on a roof to cover all four stands. Los Verdiblancos want to develop a wide range of leisure and entertainment experiences for matchdays and non-matchdays and want the stadium to be built with new technologies, sustainability and inclusivity in mind.

In order to ensure they are presented with the best ideas possible, Real Betis have opened up their search internationally. Architecture firms from around the world can apply so long as they present paperwork by March 21st 2023. The club will then pick the very best option to suit its needs, with construction then scheduled to begin in June of 2024 and with the budget for the stadium set at approximately 70m euros.

This stadium project is one of the key pillars of the Real Betis Strategic Plan 2022-2026, so the club want to make sure they end up working with the best in the business.

As Real Betis CEO Ramón Alarcón explained: “The main piece of infrastructure that we want to develop is the new stadium, which is going to be the financial lung of the future of Real Betis and a source of great pride for the Béticos who visit their home. It is going to be a very modern home, adapted to modern times, and we’re going to install the necessary facilities and resources to make people want to come here every day.”

Expanding on the desire to make the Estadio Benito Villamarín a 365-day-per-year venue, Alarcón added: “Every day the service on offer will be different. Logically, on a matchday the focus will be on the game, but the rest of the days we can organise a multitude of events and commercial areas that will bring thousands of people to the Estadio Benito Villamarín every day. That’s one of the ways to make the stadium an emblem of our brand and a financial lung.”

Continued improvements to the Estadio Benito Villamarín

The Estadio Benito Villamarín was opened back in 1929 and has gone through several redevelopment projects over the years, with the last major one taking place in 2016 and 2017 when the South Stand was knocked down and rebuilt.

As well as that, the club have invested significant resources in making the stadium as modern as possible. They were one of Spain’s first clubs to carry out the installation of a multi-operator 5G infrastructure, with the aim of improving the connectivity problems typically associated with large-scale venues. Los Verdiblancos also boast one of the best pre-match lights shows in all of European football, with musicians taking to the pitch ahead of each home game to further electrify the incredible atmosphere. Real Betis take inclusivity very seriously too, for example launching an audio description system for visually impaired people or providing free sensory kits to fans with autism.

All of these initiatives have already improved the matchday experience at Real Betis, and now the club’s international competition in architecture will ensure that the stadium redevelopment project is as successful as possible to give Béticos a stadium to be proud of and to give the club a venue that they can generate further revenue from.