The most expensive football stadiums in the world: From 2007 to 2016, Russia was building a new home field for Zenit – Gazprom Arena. In nine years, construction costs have increased sixfold, and the St. Petersburg stadium has overtaken other similar projects in Russia in terms of costs.
Most Expensive Football Stadiums in The World
We decided to find out what place in terms of value Gazprom Arena ranks in the world and made the top 10 most expensive football stadiums.
10. Gazprom Arena – $ 685 million
- Completion year: 2016
- Location: St. Petersburg, Russia
- Architect: Kisho Kurokawa Architects & Associates, Japan
- Capacity: 68,000
- Owner: Government of St. Petersburg
- Gazprom Arena is the home field of the Zenit football club and Russian national football team.
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Over the nine years of construction of the Gazprom Arena, the project cost has grown from 6.7 billion to 43 billion rubles. Representatives of anti-corruption organizations believe that the real cost of the project is even higher – up to 50 billion rubles
. But even if you believe the official statements, the Gazprom Arena stadium turned out to be the most expensive in Russia. In terms of construction costs, it surpassed even the Luzhniki, which accommodates 13,000 more people.
9. Emirates – $ 700 million
- Completion year: 2006
- Location: London, UK
- Architect: HOK (Populous)
- Capacity: 60,000
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Emirates is the home arena of Arsenal Football Club. This is one of the most spacious stadiums in England. In terms of seats, the Emirates are second only to Wembley, Old Trafford, and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The new stadium replaces Arsenal’s previous home arena Highbury. After the tragedy at Hillsboro, Highbury was rebuilt in accordance with new safety requirements – the standing terraces were replaced with individual seating.
This reduced the capacity of the stadium and led to losses due to the decrease in the number of tickets sold. To compensate for the losses, the club raised the cost of season tickets.
This led to a drop in attendance. The construction of the new stadium was supposed to solve the problem of capacity, increase revenue from ticket sales, and use other commercial opportunities that the site provides (rent, sale of rights to a sponsor name).
And so it happened: in 2006, the last season at Highbury, Arsenal earned $ 57 million in ticket sales, and in 2016 at Emirates, $ 130 million. The new stadium also boosted broadcast revenue (up 156%) and commercial opportunities (up 224%). Arsenal’s total revenue increased 163%.
8. London (Olympic Stadium) – $ 843 million
- Completion year: 2012
- Location: London, UK
- Architect: Philip Johnson of Populous Architecture Company
- Capacity: 60,000
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This Stadium was built to host the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. After the Olympics, the stadium was leased to West Ham United football club. The Hammers have played home games there since 2016.
The amount of $ 843 million spent on construction is not the final price of the project. Another 349 million was spent between 2012 and 2016 to adapt the stadium for football matches.
Reconstruction of the structure was required (adaptation of the field to UEFA requirements, replacement of the roof and strengthening of supports), reconstruction of corporate premises, sewer systems, stands, as well as replacement of panels of lighting projectors.
The interior design of the stadium was also changed: the black and white colors were replaced with white, blue, and burgundy, corresponding to the colors of West Ham.
7. Soldier Field – $ 861 million
- Completion year: 2003
- Location: Chicago, USA
- Architect: Holabird & Roche, Wood + Zapata, Lohan Caprille Goettsch Architects
- Capacity: 61,500
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Soldier Field hosts the matches of major football tournaments. For example, the games of the CONCACAF Gold Cup were held here in 2007, 2011, 2013, 2015, in 2019 the stadium will host the final of this tournament. The rest of the time, Soldier Field is the home arena of the Chicago Bears, the American football club in the National Football League.
The original Soldier Field was built in 1924 for $ 13 million ($ 190 million if inflation is taken into account) but was rebuilt in 2002 with funds from the Chicago Bears and the city budget. The reconstruction of the stadium was carried out by the method of facades – the facade of the building was preserved, and the internal premises were completely destroyed and rebuilt.
The project received mixed reviews among architects and civil society activists. He was criticized for the design that stands out from the landscape of the area, the destruction of the historical appearance of the stadium, and inappropriate financial costs.
Due to the changes in the appearance of the stadium after the reconstruction, the arena was excluded from the national historical monuments of architecture. The capacity of the stadium has also decreased – from 66,944 to 61,500 seats. Soldier Field is one of the smallest stadiums in the National Football League in terms of seats.
6. Brazilian National Stadium – $ 900 million
- Completion year: 2013
- Location: Brasilia, Brazil
- Architect: Castro Mello
- Capacity: 72 788
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The National Stadium is the home arena of the Brasilia Football Club. It also hosts international football matches and concerts.
The modern stadium is a reconstruction of the Mane Garrincha arena, built-in 1974. In Brasilia, it was planned to host the 2013 Confederations Cup and 2014 World Cup matches, but for this, it was necessary to increase the capacity of the local stadium.
It was decided to dismantle the old arena and build a new one in its place. Reconstruction began in 2010. Initially, the cost of the project was estimated at $ 300 million, but by the end of the work, the costs had tripled – up to $ 900 million.
5. Olympic Stadium (Montreal) – $ 1.1 billion
- Completion year: 1976
- Location: Montreal, Canada
- Architect: Roger Tayybert
- Capacity: 56,040
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The Olympic Stadium is the largest arena in Canada. In 1976, the stadium hosted the Olympic Games. After the Olympics, the stadium hosted matches of various sports, including football.
The arena was the home ground of the Montreal Manic football club from 1981-1983 and hosted matches of the CONCACAF Champions League in 2009 and 2015, the 2015 Women’s World Cup, and a number of other football tournaments. Now the “Olympic Stadium” claims the right to host matches of the World Cup – 2026.
4. Wembley – $ 1.5 billion
- Completion year: 2007
- Location: London, UK
- Capacity: 90,000
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It is the second-largest stadium in Europe after Camp Nou. This stadium hosts major sporting events, including home matches for the England national football team, and FA Cup finals and semi-finals. In 2020, Wembley will host several matches of the European Football Championship.
Wembley was built on the site of an old stadium of the same name. Construction lasted from 2003 to 2007. At the time of completion, Wembley was worth 798 million pounds (1.17 billion in inflation). The high cost of the stadium was influenced by the complexity of the project.
For example, one of Wembley’s architectural features is a 133-meter steel arch that supports the roof of the stadium. The arch replaces the columns that would limit the viewers’ view. The increase in costs as construction progressed was due to delays due to litigation and staff strikes.
3. “Mercedes-Benz Stadium” – $ 1.6 billion
- Completion year: 2017
- Location: Atlanta, USA
- Capacity: 42,500
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Mercedes-Benz Stadium is a multisport venue. It is home to two teams at once – the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League and Atlanta United of the Major League. In 2019, Mercedes-Benz Stadium hosted the 53rd Super Bowl match, the decisive game in the National League.
According to initial estimates, in 2011 the construction of the stadium was supposed to cost $ 700 million, but in 2012 the amount increased to $ 947.7 million. In December 2014, the Georgia state government approved an increase in the budget for the construction of the stadium to 1.2 billion, and in 2016 the final cost of the facility was estimated at 1.6 billion.
The increase in cost is due to delays in construction due to the complex design of the stadium: mechanical curtains are installed in the arena, allowing the arena to quickly transform from 71,000 to 40,000 seats and an eight-panel sliding roof that can be opened or closed in just eight minutes with the push of a button.
For comparison: it takes 20 to 60 minutes to close or open the roof of the only indoor stadium in Russia, Gazprom Arena.
2. Tottenham Hotspur Stadium – $ 1.8 billion
- Completion year: 2019
- Location: London, UK
- Architect: Populous
- Capacity: 62,062
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Tottenham’s new home arena was built on the site of the former Spurs stadium, White Hart Lane. Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is the largest stadium in England after Old Trafford.
Over the course of the construction of the stadium, costs increased from £ 400 million to £ 850 million. Some estimates put the costs in excess of £ 1 billion. The increase in the cost of building the stadium is due to exchange rate fluctuations after Brexit, changes in the design of the stadium, hiring additional workers, and an increase in the cost of building materials.
1. “Yankee Stadium” – $ 2.3 billion
- Completion year: 2009
- Location: New York, USA
- Architect: HOK (Populous), Foster and Partners, Nathaniel Lichfield and Partners
- Capacity: 47 309
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Baseball and football matches are held at Yankee Stadium. The stadium is the home arena of the New York Yankees Baseball Club and the temporary home field of the New York City Football Club.
The new Yankee Stadium replaces the original New York Yankees, built-in 1923. The architects recreated the external design and the field of the old stadium but changed the internal structure – for the convenience of viewing, the stands were made shallow, equipped with wider seats, and increased aisles.
In addition to the costs of the arena itself, the cost took into account the creation of related infrastructure – gyms, swimming pools, training rooms, a park.
