Allianz Arena
From Freepedia
The Allianz Arena is a football stadium located in the north-Munich district of Fröttmaning. It opened end of April 2005 and is the new home to the German football clubs TSV 1860 München and FC Bayern München. The stadium will also host the opening game of the 2006 World Cup. It replaced the Olympiastadion which had been used by the two clubs since 1972, and was designed by the Swiss architectural firm Herzog & de Meuron.
The Allianz Arena has a capacity of 66,000 , 3 day-care centres, fanshops and restaurants with a total area of about 6,500 m². Next to the stadium is Europe's biggest car park, which can accommodate 10,500 cars.
The exterior shell is made of 2,874 0.2mm thick ETFE diamond shaped foil panels, each of which can be individually lit in different colours (red, blue or white), allowing a spectacular display of patterns. More very detailed information about the building can be viewed at the Facts & Figures section of the official website.
The Allianz group, a large financial services provider, paid to name the stadium for the next 30 years. However, during the 2006 World Cup it will be known as "FIFA WM-Stadion München", as the FIFA does not allow any sponsoring of stadium names. FC Bayern München will also be required to cover up the stadium name during its Champions League season matches due to similar restrictions by the UEFA.
The total construction cost was 340 million €, half of which was paid FC Bayern München and half by TSV 1860 München.
