Flamengo dreams of creating a stadium on the grounds of the Federation, in Jasumetro – 07/09/2022

The controversial topic at the club, until recently, Flamengo’s dream of building their own stadium became unanimous in Javea, after Justice forced the consortium that runs the Maracana (formed by the duo Fla-Flu) to host. Vasco x Sport, for Série B, the day after Fluminense x Corinthiansfor Série A, and two days on Flamengo x Tolima, opposite Editors.

Several options are being considered (Parque Olímpico, Deodoro and the former Terra Encantada area), but the main object of desire of Rodolfo Landim and his peers is a plot of land in União, in Gasómetro – an exceptional location in terms of access, with train, metro, Avenida Brasil and tunnels connecting Zona Sul downtown. The Rio city government tried to buy this area, but it ended up being forgotten.

During the three years of the franchise, Flamengo and Fluminense spent R$90 million with Maracanã – only R$2 million monthly maintenance costs. With the stadium practically abandoned since the end of the Olympics, in 2016 (the previous concessionaire, led by Odebrecht, stopped investing in it), several renovations had to be carried out, totaling R$18 million worth so far.

Some examples: 1 million R$ was spent on the electrical part only; 1.5 million R$ to maintain coverage; 4 million Brazilian reals in the park; R$ 8.4 million (so far) from the grant to the state (which was not paid by the former federation); R$ 3.6 million in sets of dutch lamps to provide a lack of sunlight in certain areas of the lawn etc. Improvements have also been made in IT systems, CCTV (closed circuit television), automation, rainwater reuse, solar system revitalization (abandoned since Rio 2016) etc.

Thanks to the sale of its properties (funds, sponsors, bar and restaurant franchises, events, etc.), Operation Maracanã (even with a year and a half without an audience due to the pandemic) is still paying for itself, with a small surplus, reinvested in the stadium. Box office receipts and stationary advertising do not go into this account, and they go directly to the club’s coffers.

What prompts Flamengo to start building his own arena is, in fact, the certainty that interventions like those that have occurred now will be inevitable in the future. As a public good, the Maracanã will remain at the mercy of all kinds of political interests, even when it is auctioned off.

An example of this just happened with Mineirão, who is under a contract with Consórcio Minas Arena until 2032 and has just “offered” the governor of Minas, Romeo Zima, to Ronaldo Finomino, as the current owner of the Sea trip The Saudi Football Association revealed in an interview with Tino Marcos, during the celebration of the twentieth anniversary of the fifth championship, which was promoted by the Brazilian Football Confederation.

Flamengo is doing well to start building their stadium, as they already have all the main participants (from São Paulo, Rio Grande do Sul, Bahia, Parana, etc.) the least. Let the Maracana remain for the politicians and become the Colosseum in Rio.