Industry News

Bayern Munich reveals €10m upgrade plans for Allianz Arena

German Bundesliga football club Bayern Munich has announced that it is to carry out €10m ($11m/£8.5m) worth of upgrades at its Allianz Arena home stadium during this summer’s off-season.

According to ESPN, the work will take place during a 10-week period and will be finished in time for the start of the 2017-18 season in August.

The project includes the installation of the largest LED video screens in Europe, as well as improvements to the 75,000-seat venue’s floodlight system, which the club said will allow it to bid to host Uefa’s Champions League final.

Uefa, football’s governing body in Europe, has strict requirements for stadia that want to stage the final of its showpiece club competition and only a handful of venues across the continent meet this criteria.

Jurgen Muth, chief executive of Allianz Arena Munchen Stadion, told the club’s official magazine: “There’s only a few European cities and stadia that can fulfil all the requirements for a final. Therefore, I am quite certain that we’ll get another final within the next 10 years.”

The Allianz Arena hosted the 2012 Champions League final between Bayern and Chelsea in front of 62,500. The Olympic Stadium, which was Bayern’s home until 2005, held the competition’s final three times in 17 seasons between 1979 and 1997.