A recent Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) report shows that Turkey has completed 18 stadium projects in the last decade. This amounts to 48 percent of all the major global stadium projects in Europe putting Turkey on top of that ranking.
Turkey is followed by Poland and Russia, both of which undertook 14 major new stadium projects since 2007. The list continues with Germany with 8 stadiums, England with 6 and France with 5.
With an additional 12 stadiums to open in the next few years, Turkey is on an overdrive when it comes to stadium building. Turkey’s Minister of Youth and Sports Akif Çağatay Kılıç recently announced that Turkey spent $3.4 billion for the 30 stadium projects in 27 cities that Turkey initiated in the last three years.
This nationwide revamp of Turkey’s sporting infrastructure could provide a huge boost to the nation’s capabilities in winning the right to host world’s biggest tournaments.
A spokesperson from the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) said that the new prevalence of modern multipurpose stadiums means the country could ‘easily host international competitions’, such as the World Cup and European Championship.
“Most of the Turkey’s stadiums were made in the 1950s and were not big enough for modern demands of match operation, spectator comfort, media facilities and fan engagement,” the spokesperson said. “Clubs were unable to earn additional income on their matchday revenues because of the poor infrastructure.
“Now the Sports Ministry and the Housing Estate and Construction Department of the Prime Minister’s Office (TOKI) are working together to destroy the old stadiums and construct new residential buildings, shopping centres, parks and modern 15,000-50,000 capacity stadiums on the old land, improving these areas of the city.”
The spokesperson said that a number of the stadiums have been built to minimise their negative environmental impact by using low-carbon materials and introducing rainwater harvesting and renewable energy sources.
The ‘30 stadiums in 27 cities’ project has been inspired by the success of the Kadir Has Stadium in Kayseri Municipality.
More insights on Turkey’s stadium overdrive is expected at Coliseum Summit EUROPE, March 29-30, 2017 at Budapest, Hungary.
Continue to follow Coliseum Summit, a global series of stadium and arena business conferences, for latest updates from around the world.
30 STADIUMS IN 27 CITIES
Cities with newly-completed stadiums
- Afyon (Capacity: 15,000)
- Antalya (Capacity: 33,032)
- Bursa (Capacity: 43,877)
- Eskisehir (Capacity: 33,000)
- Gaziantep (Capacity: 33,000)
- Konya (Capacity: 42,059)
- Mersin (Capacity: 25,534)
- Sivas (Capacity: 27,532)
- Trabzon (Capacity: 41,461)
- Istanbul (Galatasaray) (Capacity: 52,647)
Cities with stadiums under construction
- Adana (Capacity: 33,000)
- Batman (Capacity:15,000)
- Çorum (Capacity: 33,000)
- Diyarbakir (Capacity: 33,000)
- Giresun (Capacity: 20,000)
- Hatay (Capacity: 25,000)
- Izmir Karsiyaka (Capacity: 33,000)
- Izmir Göztepe (Capacity: 33,000)
- Kocaeli (Capacity: 33,000)
- Malatya (Capacity: 25,000)
- Manisa (Capacity: 25,000)
- Sakarya (Capacity: 25,000)
- Samsun (Capacity: 33,000)
- Ankara (Capacity: 18,000)
- TİRE (Capacity: 13,500)
Other projects are currently in the bidding phase f.e.
- New Ankara (Capacity: 40,000)
- New Izmir Menderes (Capacity: 40,000)
- New Ordu (Capacity: 27,000)
- New ELAZIĞ (Capacity: 23,000)
- New EDİRNE (Capacity: 22,000)
- New GİRESUN (Capacity: 22,000)
- New ÇORUM (Capacity: 15,000)
- NEW İZMİR ALSANCAK (Capacity: 12,000)
- NEW MANİSA TURGUTLU (Capacity: 12,000)
- NEW NEVŞEHİR (Capacity: 11,000)
- NEW BEYKOZ (Capacity 10,000)