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's operating company, but in April 2006 sold this to Bayern for €11 million 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. During the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the stadium was referred to as FIFA WM-Stadion München. In UEFA club, Nations League and international matches, it is known as the Fußball Arena München, and it hosted the 2012 Champions League Final and is scheduled to host the 2025 Champions League Final, 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

Night fell over Bavaria, casting a long shadow across the Autobahn. Across the highway, the Allianz Arena pulsed with the rhythmic energy of eighty thousand fans, its red glow piercing the dark. In the distance, where the Silver Arrows once conquered the tarmac at Hockenheim and the Nürburgring, the silence was heavier—filled only by the cooling tick of engines and the memory of speed. It was a quiet reminder that while Germany celebrates sporting giants in different arenas—the stadium for passion, the track for precision—both stand as monuments to national engineering, separated by mere miles but worlds apart in tradition.

Reader's Guide

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. The stadium is designed so that the main entrance to the stadium would be from an elevated esplanade separated from the parking space consisting of Europe's biggest underground car park. 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. Patrons may park their cars in Europe's largest parking structure, comprising four four-storey parking garages with 9,800 parking places. The stadium is located next to the Fröttmaning U-Bahn station on the U6 line of the Munich U-Bahn. From the subway station just south of the arena, visitors approach the stadium through a park that leads to an esplanade rising gradually to the entrance level.

Did You Know?

• 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, and white for the Germany national team or neutral venues.
• Total concrete used during stadium construction was 120,000 m³, and total steel used was 22,000 tonnes.
• The stadium has 550 toilets and 190 monitors.
• On clear nights, the stadium can be spotted from Austrian mountain tops up to 50 miles (80 km) away.