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German Bundesliga football team FC Köln will continue playing at the RheinEnergieStadion until at least 2034 after signing a new 10-year lease agreement with the City of Köln and stadium owner Kölner Sportstätten.
As was previously the case, the lease includes a differentiation clause depending on whether FC Köln is in the Bundesliga or the 2.Bundesliga, with operating costs to be adjusted annually in accordance with “consumer price developments”.
The club is currently 17th in the Bundesliga with three matches of the season remaining. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Kicker has reported that the previous contract was worth around €10m (£8.5m/$10.7m) a year.
The new agreement also includes a commitment to build a new space entitled Club 78. Part of the existing office space of Kölner Sportstätten will also be converted into loge areas, which will be marketed by the company during major events outside of match days, and by the club on match days.
As part of the talks over a new deal, discussions were held regarding further modernisation of the stadium, which will be a host venue during this summer’s UEFA Euro 2024 tournament in Germany.
Mayor Henriette Reker said: “I would like to thank everyone involved who contributed to this good result for the football club and the city. It’s good that a viable, future-oriented solution was found for both sides.”
Philipp Türoff, managing director at FC Köln, added: “The stadium has considerable economic importance for FC. In an intensive negotiation process, we succeeded together in negotiating a good, cooperative basis for the future use of the stadium and the consistent further development of the stadium experience.”
The club’s previous lease deal at RheinEnergieStadion, which has a capacity of 50,000, had been due to expire this summer.
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