German Bundesliga football club Eintracht Frankfurt is set to increase the capacity of Deutsche Bank Park after receiving permission to add an extra 11,000 standing spaces.
Mike Josef, head of the sports department for the City of Frankfurt, handed over a building permit to the club ahead of yesterday’s (Sunday’s) 2-1 home defeat against SC Freiburg. The expansion would take the stadium’s total capacity to around 60,000.
Josef said that construction work will start in the “late autumn”. Deutsche Bank Park first opened in 1925 and has since undergone several renovations.
Its most recent renovation project was carried out ahead of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, where it hosted five matches including the quarter-final between Brazil and France. The City of Frankfurt had previously committing to expand the stadium’s capacity to around 60,000 by the 2023-24 season at the latest, and work now appears set to begin later this year.
“We’ve been fighting for a few years to get more standing room,” said Eintracht spokesman Axel Hellmann. “Back then, we fought to ensure that there was still standing room at all 18 years ago – when planning the stadium. now we have achieved another major goal.”
Josef added: “We are opening a new chapter in the cooperation between the City of Frankfurt and Eintracht Frankfurt. I have the building permit for the expansion of the stadium for 11,000 new standing places. The stadium capacity will thus be increased to 60,000. Construction will start in late autumn, when things really get going. Many thanks for the good cooperation.”
Deutsche Bank replaced fellow financial services company Commerzbank as the naming-rights sponsor of Eintracht’s home stadium back in 2020. Deutsche Bank’s seven-year contract runs through to at least June 30, 2027.
Deutsche Bank Park will host NFL games in the coming years after the American football league recently announced plans to stage its first regular-season fixtures in Germany. Munich’s Allianz Arena will host the league’s first German game during the 2022 season before the two venues alternate hosting for the following three years.
Image: Patrik Meyer/CC BY-SA 4.0/Edited for size
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