French champions Paris Saint-Germain confirmed on Friday that they are in the running to buy the Stade de France, the centerpiece for next summer’s Olympics.
The French government has launched a call for tenders to find a buyer for around 600 million euros ($635 million) for the 81,500-seat stadium, the largest in France, whose current lease expires on July 1, 2025.
PSG’s announcement follows a so-far unsuccessful bid by the club’s Qatari owners to buy the Parc des Princes, which has been their home for almost 50 years, from Paris City Council in order to expand.
“We are candidates for Stade de France,” said a PSG source, confirming a report in French sports daily L’Equipe, adding that they have yet to make an offer.
The cost of the Stade de France, which was built for the 1998 World Cup final, is estimated at 647 million euros by the French government in 2021.
The current lease has been held since 1995 by a consortium that includes French business groups Vinci and Bouygues.
Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera said selling the national stadium was an option, as well as granting a new operating lease.
The deadline for tenders will expire on April 27 with bids to be reviewed next year for a possible handover of the stadium in 2025.
PSG currently play at the 48,500-seat Parc des Princes, their home since 1974.
The club signed a 30-year lease for the Parc in 2014 but recently said it would try to find a new home if it failed to buy the stadium from Paris City Council.
The Ligue 1 leaders are now looking to make a significant upgrade at the venue, but only after they have full ownership.
The president of PSG, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, announced last November that the club had made an offer to buy the Parc des Princes, which was rejected because it was less than the asking price of the board.
Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo told Le Parisien newspaper that the stadium was “not for sale” but said she could work with PSG on potential renovations if the Parc de Princes remained in council ownership.
PSG wants to expand the capacity of the Parc des Princes to 58,000 with renovation work estimated at around 500 million euros.
This remains PSG’s choice with the acquisition of Stade de France as their second choice. A third possibility is the construction of a new stadium near Poissy, a town on the western outskirts of Paris.
If PSG wins the tender to buy the Stade de France, they will have to share the complex with other actors including hosting matches organized by the French football and rugby federations.