Fiscal aid to ensure MHPArena EURO 2024 venue

Article posted by Coliseum, February 7^th, 2024

Image: VfB Stuttgart (Facebook)

The City of Stuttgart has approved an additional funding package of €20m (£17.1m/$21.8m) in an effort to ensure the MHPArena retains its place as a host stadium for Germany’s staging of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) EURO 2024.

‘STUTTGARTER NACHRICHTEN’ stated that the Stuttgart City Council approved an additional €20 million to the Stadion NeckarPark, the ownership body of the MHPArena. The grant is intended to cover a need that arose during the stadium’s renovation.

The 60,441-capacity MHPArena is a stadium located in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, and home to the Bundesliga club VfB Stuttgart. Before 1993, it was called the Neckarstadion, named after the nearby river Neckar. Between 1993 and July 2008, it was called the Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion.

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The VfB Stuttgart, or simply VfB, is a German professional sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The club’s football team is currently part of Germany’s first division, the Bundesliga.

Nyon (Switzerland)-based the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach football in Europe and the transcontinental countries of Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Kazakhstan, as well as some Asian countries such as Israel, Cyprus and Armenia. The UEFA consists of 55 national association members. Since 2022, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the FIFA and UEFA suspended all Russian national teams and clubs from any FIFA and UEFA competitions.

The 2024 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA EURO 2024 or simply EURO 2024, will be the 17^th edition of the UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international football championship organized by the UEFA for the men’s national teams of its member-associations. It will take place in Germany from June 14^th-July 14^th.

The Stuttgart City Council is the Municipal self-Government of the German State capital of Stuttgart. The City has 60 City Councilors who are elected every five years.

‘STUTTGARTER NACHRICHTEN’ further stated that the stadium’s capacity will be 39,000 during construction and 55,000 after completion. The pitch will be lowered and the stands behind the goals will be rebuilt.

In July 2020, the City Council voted in favor of an investment of €20 million from the City budget, €22.5 million from VfB Stuttgart and €22.5 million from the stadium management company.

Germany is hosting EURO 2024 and 20 countries have already qualified for the tournament. Germany has stated that no new stadiums were built for the tournament and will instead use its existing world-class venues.

The redevelopment work crux will be the main stand and will be completed ahead of the EURO 2024 start date.

The MHPArena is due to host four group stage games and a quarter-final during EURO 2024. The redevelopment work will see the stadium getting metamorphosed into one of the most avant-garde facilities in Europe.

The stadium transfigure price tag will now rise up to €139.5m. As the tenant and main user, the VfB Stuttgart will pay €61m – directly in the form of capital contributions and indirectly through higher lease payments to the Stadion NeckarPark. Separately, the VfB Stuttgart is picking up a tab of further €30m towards interior design, equipment and event technology.

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