ALLIANZ ARENA
The Allianz Arena is a football stadium in the north of Munich, Germany. The two professional Munich football clubs FC Bayern Munich and TSV 1860 München have played their home games at Allianz Arena since the start of the 2005–06 season. Both clubs had previously played their home games at the Munich Olympic Stadium since 1972, where FC Bayern Munich played all of their games and TSV 1860 München most of their games.
The large financial services provider, Allianz purchased the rights to name the stadium for 30 years. During the 2006 World Cup it was known as FIFA World Cup Stadium Munich.
The stadium will be the venue for the 2012 UEFA Champions League Final.
The arena facade is constructed of 2,874 ETFE-foil air panels that are kept inflated with dry air to a differential pressure of 0.038 hPa. The panels appear white from far away but when examined closely, there are little dots on the panels. When viewed from far away, the eye combines the dots and sees white. When viewed close up however, it is possible to see through the foil. The foil has a thickness of 0.2 mm.
Each panel can be independently lit with white, red, or blue light. The intention is to light the panels at each game with the colors of the respective home team, or white if the home team is the German national football team. (In the US, a similar scheme will be used for the new Meadowlands Stadium, which will light up in blue for the Giants, green for the Jets, and red for a concert.)
To light Allianz Arena up for one hour costs about 50 Euros (75 USD). Roller blinds installed under the roof may be drawn during games to provide protection from the sun.
The stadium is located next to the Fröttmaning U-Bahn station. This is on the U6 line of the Munich U-Bahn.
2006 FIFA World Cup
The stadium was one of the venues for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. However, due to sponsorship contracts, the arena was called FIFA World Cup Stadium Munich during the World Cup.
The stadium is located at the northern edge of Munich's borough of Schwabing on the Fröttmaning Heath. It is the first stadium in the world that has a full changing color outside.
Thanks to Keith Woods for the photos of the tunnel ,dressing room and the pressroom.
