Genoa unlocks 90-year Ferraris deal ahead of €108m redevelopment

Genoa City Council has approved a new 90-year lease arrangement for the Stadio Luigi Ferraris, giving Genoa and Sampdoria long-term certainty at the venue while advancing plans for a major redevelopment.The agreement includes free building rights for the first 50 years, while the city will retain at least 20 days of free stadium use each year for its own events.Mayor of Genoa Silvia Salis said: “From the beginning, I wanted the Ferraris redevelopment to combine two objectives: to give Genoa the modern and safe stadium it deserves and to maintain this heritage in public ownership.“With this measure, we are continuing in the chosen direction, creating the conditions for significant investment and establishing the obligations of those who will carry out the work and maintain the facility over time.”The long-duration concession is intended to make the redevelopment more investable by giving operators greater certainty over how the stadium can be managed and monetised across several decades.The project is expected to cost around €108m and is set to be privately funded, with Genoa and Sampdoria no longer seeking financial support for the development.The Ferraris has also been included among Italy’s strategic national works, providing government support to the wider redevelopment process as the country prepares to co-host Euro 2032 with Turkey.Salis said: “I am thinking of the fans, who must be able to experience matches in a more welcoming and accessible stadium, of those who will attend concerts and events, but also of those who live in Marassi and experience the Ferraris every day.”The commercial strategy extends beyond football, with plans to position the renovated stadium as a venue capable of hosting concerts, events and wider community activity throughout the week.That year-round use will be important to the project’s financial model, particularly with the city retaining public ownership while private investment funds the modernisation.The stadium currently holds around 33,000 spectators and is Italy’s oldest major football venue, having opened in 1911. Genoa have played there since its opening, while Sampdoria have used the stadium since 1946.The city plans to put the technical-economic feasibility project, financial plan and draft agreement into the tender process later this year.Salis said: “We continue to work towards the 2032 European Championship bid, with the goal of leaving the city with a facility capable of meeting its needs for many years to come.”Genoa aims to award the redevelopment contract by the end of March 2027, with construction targeted for completion by the end of March 2031 ahead of Euro 2032.