48 | SPORTS VENUES 2023/24 www.stadiaworld.com CONSTRUCTION The European stadium landscape is, of course, still dominated by the projects of the clubs from the top leagues. In Madrid, the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu is due to be completed before the turn of the year, while the Spotify Camp Nou is in the middle of demolition mode. In England, Manchester City are planning to modernise and expand their home ground, Chelsea FC is facing a total rebuild of Stamford Bridge and in Liverpool, both LFC and Everton FC are in the middle of the construction phase of their respective projects. In Italy, both Milan and Rome clubs presented advanced stadium projects, but are now back in the stage of uncertainty. Germany, on the other hand, is concentrating primarily on the upcoming EURO 2024, but in the “second row” the next generation of stadiums is already getting ready for the future. With the Merck Stadium at Böllenfalltor in Darmstadt and the BBBank Wildpark in Karlsruhe, two ultra-modern stadiums already saw the light of day in 2023.The next in line is 1. FC Nuremberg, which wants to launch an ambitious redesign project for the stadium and its surroundings – the cost of the total reconstruction of the Max Morlock Stadium alone: 230 million euros. Multifunction without athletics? What all the stadium projects (especially the big ones) have in common is that they are to be used even more as multifunctional venues in the future. As is well known, the Santiago Bernabéu is getting its own flexible turf system especially for this purpose, which can stow the pitch in the basement for non-football use, where it can continue to be lit and even sprinkled with water. In Madrid, one can thus imagine that tennis, American football or concerts will also take place in Real’s stadium in the future. The demarcation between stadium and arena is becoming increasingly blurred. The obvious loser seems to be athletics, which is often “kicked out” due to the high space requirements. Where athletes used to regularly share a stadium with football, running tracks are disappearing more and more from the typical stadium infrastructure. Above all, those responsible are hoping for an optimised atmosphere and an improved view of the pitch. Athletics, on the other hand, must henceforth hope even more that its own infrastructure is not lost even further. A focus on specialisation (for example in Berlin’s Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahnsportpark, which is fully committed to inclusion) and temporary additional solutions (such as in Budapest’s new athletics centre, which can almost triple its capacity for major events) could be the way of the future. Speaking of the future: As always, the upcoming major events determine the sports venue landscape. In Europe, these are likely to be the next European Football Championships in 2028 and 2032, for which the joint bid from the UK and Ireland and Italy respectively are considered favourites. The former wants to include the whole of the British Isles and is taking care of ambitious new construction and renovation projects in Belfast (Casement Park) and Glasgow (Hampden Park), among others. Italy has adopted the slogan “Nuovo Rinascimento” (“new renaissance”) for EURO 2032 and is Construction report: Stadium and arena projects in Europe Whether it’s Manchester, Milan or Madrid – Europe has a lot to offer in terms of stadium and arena infrastructure. The trend towards increased multifunctional use of venues continues unabated. Budapest’s Nemzeti Atlétikai Központ is one of a few newly opened Athletics stadiums. Picture: Budapest 2023
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