Several candidates for the mayor of Paris have discussed selling the Parc des Princes to PSG in recent days, just days before the first round of the municipal elections. From the cost of renovation work to the outright sale price of the stadium, including the timing of any possible sale, here is what to remember from the candidates' main announcements and promises.

If it is not obviously the main subject of the electoral campaign in Paris, the matter of the Parc des Princes and its possible sale to PSG has entered the Parisian debate in recent months. Anne Hidalgo had at one time discussed a sale of the stadium with PSG, before changing her mind and antagonizing the club, which has since been studying the possibility of building a new stadium elsewhere, in Massy or Poissy.

All the main candidates for the mayoralty of Paris have expressed their desire, in recent weeks, to renew dialogue with PSG management to begin negotiations on the sale of the Parc des Princes. Rachida Dati (LR, Modem, UDI, Horizons, Renaissance) and Emmanuel Gregoire (PS, Ecolo, PC), the two main favorites for mayor of Paris, are in this case and spoke again on the subject in recent days.

On BFM TV last Thursday, Rachida Dati announced that the cost of renovating the Parc des Princes was at least 100 million euros. "On the work, today it's 100 million euros at least to redo the work. The Parc des Princes is very dilapidated," she confided, before confirming that in case of sale to PSG, it is obviously the club that would take care of paying for the work: "If you sell it to the club, obviously PSG will take care of the work. So I say it, we will begin negotiations for the sale of the Parc des Princes to PSG. Because I want this club to stay in Paris."

But the other big question is for what sum the Paris City Hall would agree to sell the stadium to PSG, and on this crucial point, the former Minister of Culture did not commit: "The figure that came out (40 M€, editor's note) was never confirmed. In reality, we never evaluated the price of the Parc des Princes. We need to launch an expertise, and today we do not have the elements in place. Mr. Gregoire (outgoing deputy and PS candidate for mayor) had met the president of PSG, but we never had the evaluation elements of the Parc des Princes."

Emmanuel Gregoire, precisely, confided in SoFoot last week and was extensively questioned about the Parc des Princes and its value. In November 2022, while he was Anne Hidalgo's first deputy, Gregoire had declared this to Le Parisien: "The sale, we did not categorically exclude it. But it's at the right price, yes. PSG proposes 40 million euros for it. That's cheaper than Paredes. Honestly?! You really think the Parc is worth less than Leandro Paredes paid 50 million euros for? It's not serious. There is a form of pressure that is not responsible."

Pressed by SoFoot on this statement, Gregoire sidestepped and did not want to give a precise price for the Parc des Princes: "I'm not going to tell you. First, because it would be irresponsible of me for two reasons. The first is that in negotiations, you discuss with the person; you don't throw the thing in the air. The second is that it's extremely regulated in law, since the value must be validated by the domains that depend on the administration of the Ministry of Finance and Budget. There are two dimensions in the value, which, as mayor, I say is a good deal for Parisians, and therefore is validated by the domains. It's between 0 and 1 billion euros, there!"

A heck of a range therefore... "Nasser said that the Parc des Princes is worth nothing without PSG, so I imagine the low end is 0," Gregoire responds. "The high end is 1 billion because that's roughly the land value of the place if we destroyed the stadium to build buildings. In fact, it won't be worth a billion; I only want to sell under particular conditions: to protect the enclosure from a heritage standpoint and to ensure that it remains a football stadium reserved for the first team. With a particular clause, which means that, in the event of the PSG company's dissolution or bankruptcy, the city has a return clause that makes it the priority buyer. We're going to offer them very convincing things."

Fully assuming today his desire to sell the Parc des Princes to PSG, Emmanuel Gregoire also made a heck of a promise regarding the timing of a possible sale of the stadium to the club: "In case of election, I said I want to finalize the negotiations by the end of the summer at the latest. To be very clear, before the start of the new season. Once I am mayor, I will take the matter personally in hand. The only thing that can cause it to fail is the amount that PSG proposes. If it is not in accordance with the heritage interest of Parisians, I will say no."

The municipal elections will take place in France on March 15, 2026 (first round) and March 22, 2026 (second round). In recent polls, Gregoire is leading in the first round but trailing Dati in the second round in a three-way or four-way race. For its part, PSG has expressed its desire to decide between Massy and Poissy by the end of 2026, unless the sale of the Parc des Princes is really relaunched by then. The coming months promise to be decisive in this matter, which has been ongoing for years.

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