The most expensive stadium in the world

In recent decades, the importance of a cutting-edge sports facility, equipped with all comforts but also with facilities such as bars, restaurants and shops, has increasingly gained the upper hand in the world of football.

The stadiums have become fundamental assets within the corporate balance sheet, also thanks to the sale of the rights to the name that guarantees the clubs higher revenues and six-figure sponsorship contracts.

Major football clubs have invested hundreds of millions in modernizing their stadiums or, in some cases, have even built new facilities that could satisfy the most advanced corporate visions. But what is the most expensive stadium in the world, as mentioned on Football Ground Guide?

Gazprom Arena in St. Petersburg

At the moment, the biggest investment in a football stadium concerns the main stadium in St. Petersburg, the Gazprom Arena, home of Zenit. The stadium was built on the Krestovsky Island, not far from the city center, and can accommodate just under 67,000 people.

About 1.1 billion dollars have been allocated to the Zenit sports facility by the oil company Gazprom, which owns the St. Petersburg club. The arena replaced the old Kirov Stadium, which was demolished in 2005, but the works were only completed in 2017, just in time to host some matches (results given here) of the Confederation Cup and the 2018 World Cup.

One of the most important features of the system is the presence of the “retractable field”, which is the possibility of retracting the playing field with a motorized system, so as to protect it better during the harsh and snowy Russian winters. Furthermore, by securing the grass’ clods, it is also possible to host other events inside the Arena, such as concerts.

New White Heart Lane

If we talk about large investments for the stadiums, we cannot fail to mention the economic effort of almost 400 million Pounds made by Tottenham for the construction of the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The figure refers only to the sports facility, included in a larger project costing about 1 billion Pounds to organize the entire area dedicated to Spurs fans.

The stadium, which with its 62062 seats, is the second largest in the Premier League, after Manchester’s Old Trafford, was officially inaugurated on 24 March 2019, but Tottenham’s first home game in the new facility has taken place. ten days later, on April 3, against Crystal Palace.

Tottenham’s decision not to make any purchases in the 2018/2019 summer transfer window to bring all economic efforts into the construction of the Stadium has been much discussed; however, the choice of Hotspur was rewarded by the excellent result in the 2018/2019 Champions League (defeat in the final by Liverpool), demonstrating how a modern stadium, always sold out, could be one more weapon for a top club.

Allegiant Stadium

Allegiant Stadium in Paradise (Nevada) is the most expensive stadium in the world, if we expand the discussion even outside the football news. The facility, which host the Las Vegas Riders’ NFL games from 2020, has a total cost of $ 1.84 billion.