Only a handful of clubs in the world could ever have come up with an idea like this. In fact, perhaps Barcelona was, and still is, the only one, in keeping with the idea that offering spectacle and entertainment is almost a moral obligation for anyone with the chance to play on a football pitch. So why not, the club’s executives must have thought, build an amusement park inside their newly renovated stadium? Yes, you read that correctly: Barça is seriously considering building an amusement park in the new Camp Nou, which reopened a few months ago after a long, and rather troubled, renovation process. A process that, for that matter, is not yet finished. But let’s take it in order.
Barcelona is preparing to put a new commercial project to a vote, one that would take shape inside the stadium, now officially known as Spotify Camp Nou. At the Assembly next Saturday, September 19, club members will be asked to approve an agreement with Babylon Park Spain SL, the company that would be granted a concession to build and operate amusement facilities inside the stadium for a period of more than five years. It is the length of the agreement that makes approval by the Assembly necessary before the project can go ahead.
Babylon Park is an international company specialising in indoor entertainment and theme parks. It was founded in Israel, where it developed several venues in Tel Aviv, Haifa, Glilot, Ashdod and Beersheba, before expanding beyond the country’s borders. In Europe, its first park opened in London, in the Camden Town area, inside a venue spread across three underground levels. Another centre is located in Belgrade, Serbia.
As reported by the Catalan newspaper Mundo Deportivo, a Babylon Park facility is already operating inside the Westfield Parquesur shopping centre in Leganés, just outside Madrid. It occupies around 1,200 square metres and combines attractions aimed at different age groups. Among them is the only indoor roller coaster in the Madrid region, along with a drop tower, flying chairs and other attractions for older visitors. The offering also includes games for children, classic and modern arcade machines and more than a hundred recreational stations, from driving simulators to basketball games and air hockey. Babylon Park also has rooms for birthday parties. If the agreement with Barcelona is approved, that model could be replicated inside the new Camp Nou, creating a new entertainment hub within the club’s stadium.
The club will provide further details of the agreement during information sessions for members ahead of the Ordinary General Assembly on September 19. The aim is to arrive at the vote with all the information needed for representatives to consider the deal and approve it. The agreement with Babylon Park is part of the broader process of developing the commercial potential of the new Spotify Camp Nou. The stadium will not simply be the place where Barcelona play their matches, but also a space designed to host activities and services that can broaden the visitor experience while, at the same time, creating new revenue streams for the club.