Athletic Bilbao is planning an expansion of San Mamés Stadium. The club aims to increase capacity in response to huge demand, but faces key decisions involving comfort, logistics, and FIFA requirements.

Refreshed design and two development paths

Currently, the home venue of Basque team can hold 53,000 fans. The club's board, led by president Jon Uriarte, has submitted a proposal to the Bilbao city council to optimize the available space. Interestingly, the stadium's architect, César Azcárate, had already foreseen this possibility during the creation of the arena's original plans.

The proposal outlines two expansion options, neither of which requires drastic or complex interference with the building's main structure. The first, more optimal option, involves adding 2,771 new seats, pushing the maximum capacity to 55,771 spectators. The alternative variant suggests 2,430 new seats. The main difference between these concepts lies in the final arrangement of the zone for people with reduced mobility.

The club is hesitating whether to maintain strict FIFA guidelines (which allocate 1% of the total capacity for disabled people and their companions, yielding only 80 new seats) or implement a more flexible model, adapting seats to actual demand. The latter solution could bring over 420 seats, although the club authorities approach it cautiously, fearing the loss of the ability to host major events under the global federation's banner.

© Athletic Club | Athletic Bilbao is planning to expand San Mamés Stadium by increasing capacity to around 55–56 thousand seats through internal optimisation rather than a full structural rebuild.

Logistics and budget during the season

Although from an architectural standpoint the planned expansion is considered a relatively simple investment, logistically it poses quite a challenge. The estimated completion time for the modernization is around eight months, which clearly rules out finishing the work during the short summer break. This means that the construction will have to be carried out concurrently with Athletic's home match schedule.

The budget for the entire project is estimated at €5.2 million. At this moment, the club is waiting for final approval from city officials, so no specific date has been set for the commencement of the works.

Surgical precision: where will the new seats come from?

The plan presented at city hall involves an extremely meticulous approach to individual sectors. Space is to be gained row by row, and the changes will affect several key areas of The Cathedral.

On the lower Stand 1, reconfiguring the layout of the substitutes' and coaching staff's benches will allow for the creation of a so-called Row 0 right behind them. This will create 116 new, exclusive VIP seats, directly integrated with the innovative Pitch Club – a special, glass-enclosed space offering fans a view of the tunnel leading to the pitch. The cost of this specific modification will be just under €47,000.

A much broader scope of work, valued at over €765,000, is planned for the premium zones. On the North and South stands, the project involves slightly reducing the distance between rows to 85 centimeters, making it possible to fit five rows where there are currently four. This adjustment will generate 377 additional seats in the south and 372 in the north. Meanwhile, for the Main and East stands, the decision was made to narrow the seats themselves by 3 centimeters. Leaving a 55-centimeter gap will provide another 28 seats there.

The biggest engineering challenge and simultaneously the most expensive part of the whole venture will be the expansion of the upper Stand 3, which will consume over €2.6 million. The plan is to add completely new rows at the very top of the stadium. Such interference with the structure will require, among other things, setting back the exterior partition walls of the facade, extending the ceiling, and comprehensively reorganizing the press area, ultimately resulting in a gain of 877 seats. The work on the highest tier will be complemented by remodeling the sector exits and restroom areas. By cutting out sections of the walls and adding suitable steps, an additional 248 seats can be squeezed into this space, involving an expenditure of about €202,000.

© INBISA | The project involves precise adjustments to seating layouts, including narrower seats and additional rows, creating extra capacity while slightly reducing comfort and requiring complex construction during the season.

A compromise to grow "Rojiblancos" family

The motivation behind such a significant financial and logistical effort is the massive interest in season tickets. Jon Berasategi, the club's general director, reported last year that there are already over 8,500 names on the waiting list. Even in the most optimistic expansion scenario, only a fraction of them will be able to enter the stadium.

The project comes with some sacrifices. The capacity increase will come at the cost of a slight drop in comfort – some seats will be slightly narrowed, and the aisles between rows shortened. However, Athletic's board believes that the chosen direction is right, justifying it with the knowledge and experience gathered over the last 10 years of the stadium's operation, running at full capacity.