New €92m stadium to be built in Venice

The Italian city of Venice is set to gain a new €92m stadium that will host live music and sporting events.

The 18,500-capacity stadium, which can be expanded to 25,000, will host home games for Serie A football club Venezia FC, as well as concerts and rugby fixtures.

The new venue will be located in the wider ‘Bosco dello Sport’ development in Tessera – a €310m multifunctional hub in the northern part of the city, designed to integrate sport, social life, education and wellbeing.

Construction is set to begin in July, and the stadium is projected to be complete in the summer of 2027.

The plans were developed by Maffeis Engineering and Populous, which were awarded the contract by the consortium of companies consisting of Costruzioni Bordignon, Fincantieri Infrastrutture and Ranzato Impianti. The consortium won the tender in March 2024.

“It is a stadium that has not been built in Italy for decades”

The cost of the stadium – which is almost 20km from Serie A club Venezia’s historic Stadio Pierluigi Penzo – will be met by €47m from the Venice Municipality’s surplus and €45m as a loan. The loan has become a necessity since a plan to divert post-COVID funds towards the project was barred by the European Union two years ago.

Overall, for the construction of the entire Bosco dello Sport work, Venice Municipality will take on a debt of €65m, compared to €95 initially planned.

“It is a stadium that has not been built in Italy for decades,” said Venice’s mayor, Luigi Brugnaro, who presented the stadium plans at a special event attended by media and dignitaries. “I am truly proud and excited to present this project today, it is a symbol of rebirth and an example of a city that wants to make it.

“After 50 years of chatter and unfulfilled promises, the time has finally come for us to have one of the most modern and cutting-edge stadiums in the world. It will be an important project not only for our metropolitan area, but for the entire country.”

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