Allianz Arena

Lore & Background

Bayern Munich have played their home games at the Allianz Arena since the start of the 2005–06 season. The club had previously played their home games at the Munich Olympic Stadium since 1972. 1860 Munich previously had a 50 per cent share in the stadium, but, in 2006, sold this to Bayern for €11m to help resolve a serious financial crisis that saw 1860 facing bankruptcy. The arrangement allowed 1860 Munich to play at the stadium while retaining no ownership until 2025. However, in July 2017 Bayern terminated the rental contract with 1860, making themselves the sole tenants of the stadium. The large locally based financial services provider Allianz purchased the naming rights to the stadium for 30 years. However, this name cannot be used when hosting FIFA and UEFA events, since these governing bodies have policies forbidding corporate sponsorship from companies that are not official tournament partners. During the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the stadium was referred to as FIFA WM-Stadion München (FIFA World Cup Stadium, Munich). In UEFA club, Nations League and international matches, it is known as the Fußball Arena München [ˈfuːsbal ʔaˌʁeːna ˈmʏnçn̩] (Football Arena Munich), and it hosted the 2012 and the 2025 Champions League Finals—the latter originally awarded to Munich in 2022—as well as matches during UEFA Euro 2024. Since 2012, the museum of Bayern Munich, FC Bayern Erlebniswelt, has been located inside the Allianz Arena. In 2022, it hosted a first regular season National Football League (NFL) American football game played in Germany as part of the NFL International Series.

In Their Own Story

The only significant event involving McLaren described is the performance of Kimi Räikkönen at the Nürburgring during the 2002 European Grand Prix. Räikkönen finished third after qualifying efforts and race strategy, while his teammate David Coulthard tested aerodynamic packages at Jerez prior to the event. The source highlights a dramatic moment where Juan Pablo Montoya took pole position but lost the lead to teammate Ralf Schumacher at the start, only for Rubens Barrichello to pass Ralf on the first lap and win from there. Michael Schumacher finished second, just 0.294 seconds behind his teammate. The narrative emphasizes the new track layout's impact on racing dynamics, with drivers like Takuma Sato noting the 'good feeling' of being unsighted at the first corner, contrasting with Montoya's view that it was 'too slow'.

Reader's Guide

Effective with the city's approval of modifications that was granted 16 January 2006, the legal capacity of the stadium increased from 69,000 to 71,000 spectators (including standing room). The lower tier can seat up to 20,000, the middle tier up to 24,000, and the upper tier up to 22,000. 10,400 of the seats in the lower tier corners can be converted to standing room to allow an additional 3,120 spectators. The total capacity includes 2,000 business seats, 400 seats for the press, 106 luxury boxes with seating for up to 174, and 165 berths for wheelchairs and the like. From the second half of the 2005–06 Bundesliga season, the arena was able to accommodate 69,901 spectators at league and DFB-Pokal games, but because of UEFA regulations, the capacity remained at 66,000 seats for UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup games. Bayern Munich limited capacity during their league and cup games to 69,000. The partial roof covers all seats, although winds can still blow rain onto some of them. Prior to the 2012–13 season, Bayern Munich announced that capacity had been increased to 71,000 for domestic matches and 68,000 for UEFA matches, with the addition of 2,000 seats in the upper tier of the arena. Allianz Arena also offers three-day-care centres and a fan shop, the FC Bayern Munich Megastore. Merchandise is offered at stands all along the inside of the exterior wall inside the area behind the seats. Numerous restaurants and fast-food establishments are also located around the stadium. There are four team locker rooms (one each for the two home teams and their respective opponents), four coaches' locker rooms, and two locker rooms for referees. Two areas are provided where athletes can warm up (approx. 110 m2 each). There are also 550 toilets and 190 monitors in the arena. On 28 April 2013, FC Bayern announced it would be selling 300 more tickets in the Südkurve starting with the 2013–14 Bundesliga season. On 21 January 2014, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge declared that FC Bayern was discussing a further expansion of the Allianz Arena. About 2,000 new seats were to be installed in the upper tier and about 2,000 more tickets in the Nord- and Südkurve. In August 2014, it was reported that the capacity expansion was completed leading to a new maximum capacity of 75,024 in the Bundesliga and 69,334 in international matches. Approval was given in January 2015 to expand the stadium'

Did You Know?

• The stadium construction began on 21 October 2002 and it was officially opened on 30 May 2005.
• The primary designers are architects Herzog & de Meuron.
• Total concrete used during stadium construction: 120,000 m3; total steel used: 22,000 tonnes.
• The arena facade is constructed of 2,760 ETFE-foil air panels that are kept inflated with dry air to a differential pressure of 3.5 Pa.
• Each panel can be independently lit with white, red, or blue light; red for Bayern Munich, blue for TSV, white for the Germany national team or neutral venues.