New lease agreement for stadium on Gellertstraße
GGG becomes tenant of the sports facility - Chemnitzer FC receives offer to rent on a matchday basis - C³ to continue marketing beyond football
The city council today approved the planned changes to the lease of the stadium on Gellertstraße. The existing lease agreement dated 18 June 2016 between the City of Chemnitz and CFC Marketing- und Stadionbetriebs GmbH/the CFC is to be terminated on 30 June 2018.
At the same time, the administration was instructed to conclude a lease agreement with Grundstücks- und Gebäudewirtschafts-Gesellschaft mbH with effect from 1 July 2018, under which the stadium would be leased to the municipal subsidiary for an indefinite period. For its part, GGG would offer the CFC to conclude a contract for matchday utilisation. In the event that the CFC is promoted to the third division again, a special right of cancellation would ensure that the club can resume stadium operations itself.
By involving GGG, it should be possible to continue to utilise the consistently positive experience gained to date from operating the stadium and the cost savings achieved in this way in the management of the stadium without any short-term problems arising in the operation of the sports facility as a result of an abrupt change of operator. In addition, the fixed costs that continue to be incurred from the operation of the stadium, which would have to be borne by the city even if match operations were discontinued, can be at least partially reduced through matchday utilisation.
Transfer for pure match operations - additional marketing by C³
The stadium on Gellertstraße has been a football stadium for over 80 years. It was modernised under the premise of creating a modern venue for Chemnitz football. The stadium now meets current requirements and will continue to be used primarily for football.
The administration therefore proposes to make the stadium available to the CFC e. V. in particular, but also to other interested Chemnitz clubs, on the same terms on match days. This would end the permanent use of the stadium by the CFC, but the CFC's match operations would remain guaranteed.
Furthermore, additional income is to be generated from marketing activities of C³ Veranstaltungsstätten GmbH outside of football. This applies, for example, to events/tournaments organised by football clubs, football holiday camps, events organised by other sports clubs with use of the pitch and/or stands, as well as conferences, congresses, celebrations and gala events. Cultural events, stadium tours, weddings, company events and the use of the car park for district festivals are also possible.
Evaluation planned
The administration was also tasked with examining whether leasing the stadium to a newly established municipal stadium operating company or having it operated by municipal offices would be more efficient in economic, technical and organisational terms than leasing it to GGG, taking into account the experience gained from operating the stadium during the 2018/2019 season.
The results of the review and the resulting proposed resolutions are to be presented to the city council in the second half of 2019 so that any necessary reorganisation of the lease arrangements can be implemented by the start of the 2020/2021 season.