Visit to Commerzbank Arena

The Athletic Club delegation, made up by Board members, Fede Arruti and Iñaki Villanueva, as well as by the General Secretary, Juan Ignacio Añibarro, visited the Commerzbank Arena, home of the Eintracht Frankfurt this Wednesday. At the visit, which lasted five hours, they met with Stephan Bauer, Engineer and Services Manager.

The most positive points, as board member Iñaki Villanueva points out, have been extracted from ‘VIP Boxes, the Business Centre, the car park and bus access all the way to the changing rooms, I believe they could be applicable ideas for the new San Mamés’. There are 80 VIP Boxes ‘with a capacity of between 6 and 22 persons, with a total of 900. The Business Centre, with a series of terraces and lounges that face the pitch, has a capacity of 1,900 people’. These areas can also be used during the week.
As for the 1,700 space parking lot, ‘spaces are all covered as the car park is underground; with the right to one space for every 2 people with access to the VIP Boxes or Business Centre’. Likewise, the access for team buses to the players’ changing rooms is also underground, with all that entails when it comes to security and ease of equipment handling.

Architecturally, Allianz Arena gave a better impression, but it shows that the Frankfurt stadium is conceived as a ground not only for today, but with a view to the future. The television and radio commentator’s positions have good visibility, but they are also not sheltered and are located at the highest point of the stadium. The accesses are well-thought out, as it is an exterior ground, with turnstiles 300 meters from the entrance. The Commerzbank Arena has a cover, ‘although it’s only used once a year or when there’s a special event’.