Ambitious plans to rejig Max-Morlock-Stadium

Article posted by Coliseum, January 18^th, 2022

Image: City of Nuernberg, Cornelia Trinkl, Detlef Stenger, & Christian Vogel (left to right)

Plans are being drawn out for the further development of the Max-Morlock-Stadium in Nuremberg, Germany.

The ‘City of Nuremberg’ stated that the Max-Morlock-Stadium holds a very special place in the sports landscape of the City of Nuremberg and its residents’ hearts. However, the current structure of the stadium is now 30-years-old. A feeling shared by the 2. Bundesliga team 1. FC Nürnberg whose home pitch is the Max-Morlock-Stadium as well as visitors to the arena.

The 50,000-capacity Max-Morlock-Stadium is a stadium in Nuremberg, Germany, which opened in the year 1928. It is located next to Zeppelinfeld (Nazi party rally grounds). Since 1966, it has been home stadium to the German Bundesliga club 1. FC Nürnberg. During the 1972 Summer Olympics, it hosted six football matches.

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The 1. FC Nürnberg or simply Nürnberg is a German association football club in Nuremberg, Bavaria (Germany), who currently competes in the 2. Bundesliga.

The ‘City of Nuremberg’ further stated that the need of the hour is to lend a futuristic touch to the facility. The City of Nuremberg, as the owner of the sports ground, injects considerable amount of money every year to upgrade the venue and bring it in line with safety-related protocols. Investments to the tune of 30 million euros can be expected in the next 10 to 15 years. The venue getting rejected as a European Championship venue best manifests the fact that it needs to be redecorated pronto. Despite the investments made by the City of Nuremberg, it is being left behind by the more spiffy and swanky stadia.

Stated the Mayor of Nuremberg, Marcus König, “The stadium is an important landmark of the City of Nuremberg and holds a lot of emotional value for the people. We will have to adopt concrete strategies to develop the sports facility and make it avant-garde as well as develop the surrounding areas.”

Remarked the Mayor of Nuremberg, Christian Vogel, who is also the First Plant Manager of the municipal company Frankenstadion Nürnberg (FSN), “Now is the time to take a decision whether to continue pumping millions in the maintenance of the existing stadium or to rehabilitate the same and bring it to the standard of the state-of-the-art venues. We will have to provide an enchanting experience to fans and also reconfigure it in such a manner that it can hold several other big-ticket events. We will have to keep the sustainability quotient high and make it a cutting-edge facility. I want to do that by submitting a comprehensive proposal to the City Council on January 26^th so that a concrete decision can be taken on the same.”

A needs-based analysis will have to be done and a feasibility study will also have to be carried out. The FSN will be in a position to take a decision based on the study conducted and the same will be presented to the City Council and the public before further decisions are taken.

In the whole stadium repurposing process, the 1. FC Nürnberg as the main tenant of the venue and other stakeholders has been included so that later a decision can be taken on the sponsorship aspect as well as the financing model of the facility revamp exercise. The stadium and its surroundings will have to be included in the feasibility study so that along with the stadium being modernized, a decision can be arrived at developing a sports district.

Added Mayor König: “The whole stadium development is a very significant exercise for our City and will open up a geyser of opportunities for our City and the entire district. If the City Council gives the go-ahead, we will adopt the above mentioned process. We will consult experts, and hold a brainstorming session with the FCN and other stakeholders. And, of course, we will take the citizens and fans’ views into consideration.”

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