Top14 Rugby Side Racing 92 Announces $460M Stadium's Inauguration Date

Top14 rugby side Racing 92 announced that its new stadium, located in the Paris-La Défense quarter, “will be inaugurated in Sept. ’17,” according to David Opoczynski of LE PARISIEN. The club and the builder, Vinci, announced on Monday the new inauguration date “that was originally scheduled for Jan. ’17.” Club President Jacky Lorenzetti “hoped to introduce the stadium in Jan. ’17, but said that the bankruptcy of the subcontractor in charge of roof construction caused delays” (LE PARISIEN, 5/2). LE FIGARO’s Gilles Festor reported the new stadium will “be the largest event center in France, far ahead of the 20,300-seat AccorHotels Arena de Bercy.” A club statement said, “Our goal is to offer an exceptionally unique experience to 40,000 guests seated in the concert configuration, or to 31,000 Racing 92 supporters.” Construction costs for arena and the 38,000 square meters of office space was fixed at €400M ($460M), including €220M ($253M) for just the arena and €180M ($207M) for the office space (LE FIGARO, 5/2).