Allianz Arena

Allianz Arena is a football stadium in Munich, Germany. According to a survey by the political and cultural magazine Cicero, the Allianz Arena in Munich is Germany's most popular sports venue. The city's two most famous football teams, Bayern Munich and TSV 1860 Munich, play here. FC Bayern Munich has played their home games in the Allianz Arena since the 2005-06 Season.

The significant financial service provider Allianz acquired the naming rights for the stadium for 30 years. However, this name cannot be used when hosting FIFA and UEFA events. These governing bodies prohibit sponsoring companies that are not official tournament partners. The stadium was referred to as the FIFA World Cup stadium during Munich's 2006 FIFA World Cup. In Union of European Football Associations (“UEFA”) club and Nations League games, the stadium is known as the Football Arena Munich and hosted the 2012 UEFA Champions League final and is about to host the upcoming 2025 final, that was moved from 2023.

Moreover, on 9^th February 2022 it was announced that the Allianz Arena will host a regular-season game of the 2022 NFL Season as a part of the NFL International Series. This will be the first ever National Football League game played in Germany.

Early History of Allianz Arena

The construction of the Allianz Arena Stadium began with the proposition of being voted to build a new stadium after architect Günther Behnisch refused to redesign and reconstruct the Olympiastadion München. The voting went with 2/3^rd in favor of the new stadium's construction for tournaments of national and international level. The stadium got designed by the Swiss architect firm Herzog & de Meuron Basel Ltd.

Government also reconstructed Fröttmaning and Marienplatz stations to begin the development of constructing the Allianz Arena stadium in Munich. The cost of construction was €340 million. In addition, the State and city also incurred approximately €210 million for area development and infrastructure development of the city.

Infrastructure

This stadium has a capacity of nearly 75,024 for domestic tournaments with standing area of total 15,794 (9,136 in the South and 6,658 in the North Stands) and for international tournaments with 70,000 seating capacity (no standing areas). The seating arrangement includes 2,152 business seats, 106 VIP boxes of various sizes accommodating 1,368 guests, Press Club with 300 seats and 227 special seats for the disabled at the main entrance / exterior ground level.

The stadium was constructed with a parking area known to be the largest of Europe's parking structures. The stadium provides four-storey parking garages with at least 9,800 parking slots, along with 1,200 parking places built into two tiers of the arena. The stadium can hold 350 coach places, and 150 parking spots are reserved for specially-abled people.

Construction

The stadium construction began on 21^st October 2002 and was officially opened on 30^th May 2005. The stadium is designed such that the main entrance to the stadium would be from an elevated esplanade separated from the parking space consisting of Europe’s biggest underground parking. Moreover, the roof of the stadium has built-in roller blinds which may be drawn back and forth during games to provide protection from the sun.

1. The total concrete used during stadium construction: 120,000 m³
2. The total concrete used for the parking garage: 85,000 m³
3. The total steel used during stadium construction: 22,000 tones
4. The total steel used for the parking garage: 14,000 tones

The firm also brought the concept of building the exterior with ETFE-foil panels that can be lit from inside and are self-cleaning. Due to the construction of this stadium, the government has made significant changes to the city's infrastructure as well.

The impressive facade consists of 2,784 inflatable ETFE plastic panels. Each of panel illuminates in red, blue or white color. Red is for Bayern Munich, blue for the TSV 1860 and white for the games of the German national team. The Stadium is known for its exterior made from inflated ETFE panels, it is the first stadium globally with a color-changing surface.

Stakeholders

• Architect – Herzog & de Meuron ArupSport
• Structural Designer – Ove Arup & Partners
• Owner- Allianz Arena Munchen Stadion GmbH
• Operator- Allianz Arena Munchen Stadion GmbH
• Tenants-   

1. Bayern Munich (2005 – present)
2. 1860 Munich (2005- 2017)
3. Germany National Football team (selected matches)

Significance

• The FC Bayern Munich museum and the FC Bayern Erlebniswelt has been located in the Allianz Arena since 2012.
• There are four team changing rooms, one for each of the two home teams and their opponents, four coach locker rooms and two referee rooms.
• There are two areas where athletes can warm up in approx 110 m² area each. The stadium also has 190 monitors and 550 toilets.
• Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, on 21 January 2014, stated that Bayern was discussing a further expansion of the Allianz Arena. FC Bayern Munich approved the installation of around 2,000 new seats in the top section of the arena, and approximately 2,000 additional tickets were to be sold in the north and south curves. It was reported that the capacity expansion to a new max.
• The capacity of Allianz Arena is 75,024 in the Bundesliga and 69,334 in the international matches, which was completed in August 2014.
• In January 2015, FC Bayern approved an expansion to increase the stadium's capacity to 75,024 for Bundesliga games and 70,000 for Champions League games.
• Allianz Arena has Europe's most significant national and international stadium parking structure.
• The construction of this stadium led to the development of the nearby city infrastructure and is located next to Fröttmaning U-Bahn station.
• The FIFA World Cup of 2006 was held in the Allianz Arena stadium.

Major sporting events hosted

• 2006 FIFA World Cup
• 2012 UEFA Champions League Final
• UEFA Euro 2020
• UEFA Euro 2024
• 2025 UEFA Champions League Final