Allianz Arena Munich - Facts, facts, facts
It is an institution in German and international soccer and for many the most beautiful stadium in the world: the Allianz Arena in the Bavarian capital. FC Bayern Munich plays its home matches in the Allianz Arena in front of up to 75,000 spectators. The UEFA Champions League final in 2012 (FC Bayern Munich against Chelsea FC) and the numerous matches of the 2006 World Cup are hard to forget. The contract for this soccer coliseum was awarded to the bidding consortium Alpine Bau Deutschland GmbH as general contractor in conjunction with the architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron and the general planner HVB Immobilien AG.
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Update: 11.11.2022
On Sunday, November 13, 2022, the first American football game in the history of the Allianz Arena will take place in the afternoon. The Seattle Seahawks will face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with their superstar Tom Brady. Preparations have been underway for weeks to ensure that an NFL game can take place in the Allianz Arena. After FC Bayern Munich’s regular match operations had to be maintained until the winter break, the foundations for the goal posts, for example, were poured many months ago. A few days before the NFL match, the corresponding poles for the field goals and extra points were then erected.
Because the Allianz Arena is not designed for American football, many alterations had to be made. For example, a soccer pitch is shorter but wider than a football pitch. In addition, numerous adjustments had to be made with regard to safety and there were also many changes to the interior design. Friends of sport are also talking about historic dimensions and the Allianz Arena is looking forward to another passionate sport. Incidentally, the City of Munich’s leasehold agreement normally stipulates that for 90 years (mainly) only football may be played in the arena. However, after it could not be ensured that an NFL match could also be held there due to the upcoming renovation work at the old Olympic Stadium, all sides agreed on the Allianz Arena. It was said that they absolutely wanted to bring the NFL to Munich.
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When it comes to the Allianz Arena, you almost only hear big names. The Allianz Arena in Munich seems to be the perfect stadium for one of the best soccer clubs in the world. FC Bayern Munich provides its fans with countless highlights season after season and the German national team has also been very successful in Munich. But what is behind this arena and why can we look forward to the matches in Munich’s Allianz Arena for the 2021 European Championship?
Construction of the Allianz Arena began in 2002, with the foundation stone being laid on October 21, 2002. A few years later, in April 2005, the construction work was completed. The first test match in the arena took place between FC Bayern Munich and TSV 1860 Munich on May 19, 2005 in front of around 30,000 spectators. The official opening match was the friendly between the Lions and 1. FC Nürnberg on May 30, 2005. One day later, the opening match II took place between FC Bayern Munich and the German national team as part of an unofficial friendly, which Bayern won 4:3.
The reason for the presence of the two big Munich clubs in the Allianz Arena was the ownership structure. The arena is owned and built by Allianz Arena München Stadion GmbH, which is now wholly owned by FC Bayern München AG, but at the time was owned in equal shares by the aforementioned AG of the German record champions and TSV München von 1860 GmbH & Co KGaA. On April 27, 2006, however, the shareholder TSV München von 1860 GmbH & Co. KGaA had to sell its shares to FC Bayern München AG for 11 million euros. The reason for this was financial problems. A short time later, however, the club waived the option to buy back the shares.
The total construction costs of the Allianz Arena amounted to 286 million euros. The total costs, which also include the financing costs, amounted to 340 million euros. In addition, around 210 million euros had to be invested by the public sector for the development and infrastructure.
Highlights of the Allianz Arena
This arena offers numerous highlights. First and foremost is probably the capacity, which has been increased over the years to up to 75,000 seats. Of course, this includes not only the stands, but also standing room and box seats. This would also have been an important factor in the bid for the 2021 UEFA European Championship finals if Munich had not opted not to bid in favor of London. Incidentally, Berlin’s bid to host the finals was rejected.
Officially, the Allianz Arena has a capacity of 70,000. This makes it the third largest stadium at this European Championship. Only Wembley in London and the Olympic Stadium in Rome are larger. But it is not only the capacity of the Munich arena that is astonishingly large. The associated multi-storey parking lot and the esplanade are also huge. With 9,800 parking spaces, the parking garage is the largest parking garage belonging to a stadium in Europe.
The façade of the Allianz Arena – a statement
We are talking about one of the largest LED façades in the world. A total area of 26,000 square meters is illuminated by more than 300,000 LEDs in theoretically more than 16 million colors. This makes the Allianz Arena one of the largest LED façades on the planet, alongside the Burj Khalifa in Abu Dhabi and the T-Center in Vienna.
So much for the function. The Allianz Arena owes its less flattering nicknames of inflatable boat, car tire or air cushion partly to its shape and partly to the foil cushions (of which the façade is made). 2,760 honeycombs of 0.2mm-thick ethylene tetrafluoroethylene foil cushions make up a total area of 66,000 square meters and give the arena its characteristic appearance.
The attentive reader will now be thinking: “Wait, why suddenly 66,000 and no longer 26,000 square meters?”
This is because the roof area, which is also covered by foil cushions, is not illuminated.
Those who were familiar with the Allianz Arena in the past may remember that only the lighting colors red, blue and white were possible back then. Fluorescent tubes were used until August 2015 before switching to LED technology. According to FC Bayern, the conversion from the 8,000 fluorescent tubes to LEDs resulted in energy savings of 60 percent. The conversion took almost a year and now enables thematically appropriate lighting concepts for many events such as Christopher Street Day (rainbow colors) and Christmas. An adapted and atmospheric roof lighting concept from Zumtobel has been in use since 2019.
LEDs in RGB colors and white are illuminated on the inner end ring of the roof and in the radial joints in the roof area. It almost seems as if the stands merge with the newly illuminated roof area when lit in red. When the Munich team scores a goal, the effect lighting pulsates and is intended to give even more goosebumps when the goal is celebrated. Zumtobel also modernized the lighting of the cascading staircase and installed new balloon luminaires on the esplanade outside the arena in 2020.
The green of the Munich Arena
Where rolled turf was initially used, hybrid turf was used in the 2014/15 season. The hybrid turf concept was chosen due to the high load and time-consuming procedure of replacing the turf. This consisted of natural turf with integrated artificial turf fibers.
Due to a fungal infestation, large brown patches formed and playability was severely restricted. As a result, the decision was made to replace the hybrid turf with natural turf again in 2016. Since then, footballers at the Allianz Arena have only played on natural turf.
Since the spectators in the arena are to be protected from the sun’s rays by a textile underlay and this underlay also contributes to improved acoustics, the pitch is artificially illuminated. To say a few words about the basic lighting: the halogen lighting was also replaced by LED floodlights in 2017. The Allianz Arena also features two 200-square-meter video screens, which were the largest screens in Europe until 2017.
European Championship 2021 matches in the Allianz Arena
The Allianz Arena will host four matches during the 2021 European Championship.
France – Germany on June 15, 2021 at 21:00
Portugal – Germany on June 19, 2021 at 18:00
Germany – Hungary on June 23, 2021 at 21:00
Quarter-final Winner Round of 16 4 – Winner Round of 16 2 on July 2, 2021 at 9:00 pm
Because Germany will host the 2023 UEFA European Championship, the best teams in Europe will once again play in the Allianz Arena in two years’ time. There is also a chance that the final of the 2023 European Championship will be held in Munich. But this decision is still pending.
Munich! Soccer! Passion.
Whether you are a soccer fan or not. The Allianz Arena is undoubtedly one of the most exciting soccer stadiums in the world. However, anyone who is a soccer fan and has ever been to the Allianz Arena knows how well the concept of the arena works and how fantastic the atmosphere can be at a high-scoring and exciting soccer match in Munich. We are looking forward to the upcoming matches in Munich and, above all, to a time after the pandemic that will once again allow a full stadium with over 70,000 fans.
Click here for more information and photos of the Allianz Arena.
Find out more about Wembley Stadium in London here. Here you can find the overview of the EURO 2021 stadiums.
Update: 24.06.2021
The Allianz Arena was the venue for the final group match between Germany and Hungary. After the Hungarian government passed a law that severely restricts education on the topic of homosexuality in schools, the city of Munich wanted to set an example and let the Allianz Arena shine in rainbow colors. This was rejected by UEFA. The reason given was that no political statements may be made during the European Championships. UEFA had previously investigated the German national goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, who wore a rainbow-colored captain’s armband as captain of the national team. The investigation was dropped.
As the city was unable to illuminate the arena accordingly, it was decided to light up the nearby wind turbine, the town hall and the Munich TV tower in rainbow colors. Various initiatives also distributed rainbow masks and small rainbow flags in front of the stadium. Many fans also brought their own rainbow-colored equipment. However, this did not change the outcome of the match, as it ended 2:2 and ensured that Germany finished second in the group and qualified directly for the first final round. Hungary ended the tournament with this 2-2 draw and failed to qualify for the next round.