Eintracht Frankfurt to run Commerzbank Arena

Article posted by Coliseum, November 21^st, 2019

Image: sbp

German sports club Eintracht Frankfurt and the city of Frankfurt has reached an agreement – for the next 15 years the club will become Commerzbank Arena’s single operator.

The capacity of the arena will be increased to 60,000. Frankfurt is one of the cities which will host Euro 2024 and is working on how to get the stadium ready for the international men’s football championship.

It is a very important moment for Frankfurt because the current management’s contract expires on June 30, 2020. The city and Eintracht have arrived at a consensus as regards the operation model.

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It is expected that Eintracht will take over the reins of Commerzbank Arena in Germany which is commonly known by its original name Waldstadion. If the same materializes, Eintracht will control the event calendar year round (with option to sublet for events), and only 20 percent of available dates will be left to the municipality.

Eintracht will also pick up the tab to refurbish the infrastructure – the cost of operation and repairs. The club has decided to bring about a sea change in the digital infrastructure in the coming years. Over the last 15 years, the technology has become passé and needs to be replaced.

To this regard, the city will also have to put in some money. Both sides have decided that the upper tier of the north-western stand will be converted into terracing which will help to boost the capacity of the facility to 60,000. After all, a 20,000-strong wall of supporters would be matched by very few worldwide.

It is also expected that the municipality will improvise the stand which houses the hospitality space and Eintracht offices. The development is expected to take place until mid-2023.

“We are pleased that after long and not always easy discussions with the city, we have found a model of cooperation that works not only for us, for the city, but also for the fans, audience and partners of the stadium as a win-win situation. Today’s agreement ensures that the stadium’s commercial exploitation rights will be transferred in full to Eintracht Frankfurt, and that the stadium will also be much more perceived as the home of Eintracht in the future,” remarked Eintracht board member Axel Hellmann.

Though the city and Eintracht have signed on a memorandum of understanding, they are yet to initial on a full contract. Before putting their initials, the deal will have to be approved by the appropriate committees.

The changes will be partially implemented when the tournament comes to Germany. UEFA will certainly offer visitors to savor an exalted hospitality experience and cutting-edge digital infrastructure. It is not likely that the international seating capacity will be increased from the current 48,000.

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