Evangelos Marinakis, the billionaire owner of Nottingham Forest, has announced ambitious plans for a new £210m stadium construction project in Greece.
The Greek businessman submitted plans for a 53,000-capacity arena that forms part of his broader strategy to expand his football empire across Europe.
Marinakis owns several major sporting franchises, including Premier League club Nottingham Forest, Olympiacos, and Rio Ave FC, among others.
The new Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium will be located in Piraeus, Greece, and is designed to become the largest football stadium in the country.
Plans for the venue include a “2,000-square-metre Media Centre with a 320-seat auditorium, alongside 1,000 square metres of dedicated media workspaces.”
The stadium will also feature a bioclimatic roof, while one side of the ground will be dedicated to a multi-level hospitality offering across more than 100 luxury suites.
The design draws comparisons to the San Francisco 49ers’ Levi’s Stadium, with a strong emphasis on premium facilities for supporters.
Marinakis said: “The project, which will cost more than €250m, will be financed by Olympiacos and by me personally. It will become our theatre of dreams, and it will be open 365 days a year.”
He added that the completed venue would be “the largest and most modern football stadium in the country, a technological marvel of which Olympiacos, Piraeus, and all of Greece will be proud.”
Analysts have noted that the reported cost is considered relatively modest given the spiralling outflows typically associated with stadium projects of a comparable scale.
Marinakis is simultaneously driving a separate £130m redevelopment of the City Ground, the home of Nottingham Forest in the Premier League.
That project could see the historic ground expand from its current capacity of 30,000 to a substantial 52,500 seats, transforming its standing in English football.
The City Ground is currently ranked as the 24th largest stadium in English football, a position the redevelopment would dramatically improve upon.
Together, the two projects represent an extraordinary level of personal investment from Marinakis into the infrastructure of his sporting portfolio across Europe.