Valencia Backer Juan Roig Unveils Plan For 15,000-Seat Stadium

Businessman Juan Roig's latest commitment to Spanish Basketball League (ACB) club Valencia is a project to build a 15,000-seat arena, according to Víctor Romero of EL CONFIDENCIAL. The club currently plays at Fonteta de San Luis, a municipal facility that seats 8,500, "which is no longer enough for a club that has nearly 8,000 season-ticket holders." Valencia's "on-court success, the deterioration of the court and the desire to attract top int'l basketball events" have inspired the club's principal financier to "accelerate the process." Roig's plan is to build the new arena next to the recently-built academy, L'Alqueria, in which he invested more than €18M ($21M). The goal is for the new arena to be ready by '22. To carry out the construction, Roig created a business organization called Licampa 1617, which will own the facility (EL CONFIDENCIAL, 7/18). MARCA reported Roig is personally investing €192M ($224M) in the arena, which would host sports, musical and cultural events (MARCA, 7/18).