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{{Short description|Football stadium}}
{{Update|date=September 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2017}}
{{Infobox venue
|       stadium_name = BayArena
|         logo_image = [[File:BayArena logo.png|180px]]
|              image = Bayarena Leverkusen 2020.jpg
|              image_size = 250px
|           location = [[Leverkusen]], [[North Rhine-Westphalia]], Germany
|             opened = 2 August 1958<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.bayer04.de/b04-eng/en/1429.aspx?guid=1429-EF048EA5-C439-4A7A-A6CF-846495EE8A3C |title= History of the stadium |access-date=9 May 2013 |publisher=[[Bayer 04 Leverkusen]]}}</ref>
|            surface = Grass
|          renovated = 1997, 2009{{citation needed|date=January 2024}}
|  construction_cost = [[Euro|€]]70 million <br />(renovated 2009)<ref>[http://www.max-boegl.de/boeglnet/web/show.jsp?nodeId=1000507&lang=de BayArena] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719062331/http://www.max-boegl.de/boeglnet/web/show.jsp?nodeId=1000507&lang=de |date=19 July 2011 }}, architect: Max Bogl [http://www.max-boegl.de/boeglnet/web/binary.jsp?nodeId=1135&binaryId=1001042&disposition=inline Spektakel unterm Spanndach]{{dead link|date=January 2018|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>
|          architect = [http://www.max-boegl.de/boeglnet/web/show.jsp?nodeId=1000&lang=en Max Bogl]
|       former_names = Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion (1958–1998){{citation needed|date=January 2024}}
|            tenants = [[Bayer 04 Leverkusen]] (1958–present)<br />[[Germany national football team]] (selected matches)
|   seating_capacity = 30,210 (league matches){{citation needed|date=January 2024}}<br /> 29,412 (international matches){{citation needed|date=January 2024}} |owner = [[Bayer]] |operator=Bayer 04 Leverkusen|website=https://www.bayer04.de/en-us/page/bayarena|publictransit=[[Leverkusen Mitte station|Leverkusen Mitte]]
}}
'''BayArena''' ({{IPA|de|ˈbaɪʔaˌʁeːnaː|-|}}) is a [[Association football|football]] [[stadium]] in [[Leverkusen]], [[North Rhine-Westphalia]], Germany, which has been the home ground of [[Bundesliga]] club [[Bayer 04 Leverkusen]] since 1958.

==History==
The stadium was originally known as ''Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion'' ({{IPA|de|ˌʔʊlʁɪçˈhaːbɐlantˌʃtaːdi̯ɔn|pron|}}; {{langx|en|Ulrich Haberland Stadium}}), named after a former chairman of [[Bayer|Bayer AG]], the club's founders.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bevec |first=Benedikt Dorian Franziskus |date=2015 |title=The smart arena – An analysis of how Bayer 04 Leverkusen can use smart products to enrich the user experience and improve revenues during football matches in their BayArena |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/279187738_The_smart_arena_-_An_analysis_of_how_Bayer_04_Leverkusen_can_use_smart_products_to_enrich_the_user_experience_and_improve_revenues_during_football_matches_in_their_BayArena |journal=Munich Business School |pages=10–11 |via=Research Gate}}</ref> Its original capacity was 20,000.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The BayArena: A guide to the house that Bayer Leverkusen built |url=https://www.bundesliga.com/en/bundesliga/news/the-bay-arena-a-guide-to-the-house-that-bayer-leverkusen-built-6657 |access-date=2024-10-28 |website=www.bundesliga.com |language=en}}</ref>

In 1986, a rebuilding project began to convert it into a modern facility; the project continued over the following decade and was completed in 1997, creating a modern all-seater stadium with a capacity of 22,500.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bay Arena: A Stadium With a Long History |url=https://www.bayer04.de/en-us/news/bayer04/bayarena-a-stadium-with-a-long-history |website=bayer04.de |publisher=Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH}}</ref> The stadium was renamed ''BayArena'' in 1998.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hoogerwaard |first1=Stephan |title=BayArena - Bayer 04 Leverkusen |url=https://www.stadiumjourney.com/stadiums/bayarena-bayer-04-leverkusen |website=Stadium Journey |publisher=Stadium Journey LLC |access-date=10 November 2018}}</ref> The former name was then used for the youth team stadium next to it.

In 1999, a hotel attached to the stadium was completed, with some rooms having a view of the pitch.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hoogerwaard |first1=Stephan |title=BayArena - Bayer 04 Leverkusen |url=https://www.stadiumjourney.com/stadiums/bayarena-bayer-04-leverkusen |website=Stadium Journey |publisher=Stadium Journey LLC |access-date=10 November 2018}}</ref> The stadium complex also includes a restaurant, which also overlooks the pitch, and conference facilities.

The city of Leverkusen originally bid to become a venue for the [[Football World Cup 2006|2006 World Cup]], with an expanded Bay Arena as the site.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}} However, the city, Bayer Leverkusen, and the German [[2006 FIFA World Cup Organizing Committee|organizing committee]] soon agreed that expanding Bay Arena to the [[FIFA]]-mandated minimum 40,000 capacity for [[Football World Cup|World Cup]] matches would not be practical, and the city withdrew its bid.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}} Instead, it was agreed that Bay Arena  would be the main training facility for the [[Germany national football team|German national team]] during the 2006 finals.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}} [[Jürgen Klinsmann]], former national coach, however decided against Leverkusen and opted for Berlin as the main training facility.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}} As compensation, BayArena would supposedly host two national matches, though they were never played.

==2011 FIFA Women's World Cup==
On 30 March 2007 Bayer AG agreed on the extension of the stadium to a capacity of over 30,000. Construction works began end of 2007 and were expected to be finished at the beginning of the 2009–10 season.
On 30 September 2008, Bay Arena was selected as one of nine venues to be used during the [[2011 FIFA Women's World Cup]] to house three group and one quarterfinal match.

===2011 FIFA Women's World Cup matches===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: left;;" width="100%"
|-
!Date
!Time ([[Central European Time|CET]])
!Team #1
!Result
!Team #2
!Round
!Spectators
|-
|28 June 2011||{{center|15:00}}|| align=right|{{fbw-rt|COL}}||style="text-align:center;"|{{center|0–1}}||{{fbw|SWE}}||{{center|[[2011 FIFA Women's World Cup Group C|Group C]]}}||style="text-align:center;"|21,106
|-
|5 July 2011||{{center|18:15}}|| align=right|{{fbw-rt|NZL}}||style="text-align:center;"|{{center|2–2}}||{{fbw|MEX}}||{{center|[[2011 FIFA Women's World Cup Group B|Group B]]}}||style="text-align:center;"|20,451
|-
|6 July 2011||{{center|18:00}}|| align=right|{{fbw-rt|AUS}}||style="text-align:center;"|{{center|2–2}}||{{fbw|NOR}}||{{center|[[2011 FIFA Women's World Cup Group D|Group D]]}}||style="text-align:center;"|18,474
|-
|9 July 2011||{{center|18:00}}|| align=right|{{fbw-rt|ENG}}||style="text-align:center;"|{{center|1–1 (3–4 [[Penalty shoot-out (association football)|pen.]])}}||{{fbw|FRA|1974}}||{{center|[[2011 FIFA Women's World Cup knockout stage#Quarter-finals|Quarter-finals]]}}||style="text-align:center;"|26,395
|}

==Design==
As the new stadium design was planned in the 80s,{{vague|date=January 2024|reason=80s?}} it was based on the design of the then [[Ruhrstadion|Ruhrstadium]] in [[Bochum]]. A steep single-tier football stadium without a running track with seating for 35,000 spectators.{{vague|date=January 2024|reason=this is not a full sentence.}} The stadium was intended{{by whom|date=January 2024}} to be constructed section by section over time in order to save costs and grow with the demands of the club, starting with the east stand in 1986, the west in 1989 and the north in 1991.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}} In the middle of the rebuild, the demands of modern football stadiums changed. Suites and VIP Areas became necessary, a family friendly section as well as design modification to all-seater following the Bundesliga riots of the 1990s{{vague|date=January 2024}} and the demands for international matches.

As a lesson from the World Cup 1994 in the USA the north section was redesignated as a so-called "Family Street", the first section of a German stadium aimed at attracting a younger audience. This concept proved to be a rousing success{{according to whom|date=January 2024}} and demanded{{who|date=January 2024}} the moving of the Family Street to the larger east section for the 1996–97 season.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}} In the process the BayArena was the first stadium in Germany to turn into an all-seater and to remove part of the fences which had separated the tiers from the pitch, starting again in the east and later expanded to the whole stadium.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}} Due to the demands for larger VIP areas, the original plans for closing the gap in the south with a stand the same layout as the north were dropped in 1995.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}} Instead the south section was built as box suites, making the stadium unique in the Bundesliga with its South American style horseshoe design.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}} With the work finished in 1997 the BayArena was judged{{by whom|date=January 2024}} as the most comfortable and modern stadium in Germany.

The expansion and renovation of 2007–2009 added a second tier over the east, north and west sections, new VIP suites between the two tiers, a new oval roof covering all seats as well as the complete rebuild of the club's main facilities in the west section.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}} It also saw the reintroduction of pure standing areas for the home supporters in the corner north/east.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}} After summer 2013, the pure standing area was stretched over the complete first rows of the north section of the stadium.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Schema BayArena.svg|{{center|BayArena layout}}
File:Bay Arena Leverkusen 002.jpg|{{center|BayArena in 2005}}
File:BayArena.jpg|{{center|BayArena in 2007}}
File:Leverkusen BayArena 3.jpg|Interior of the BayArena
File:Leverkusen BayArena 6.jpg|Office of Bayer 04
File:Leverkusen BayArena 4.jpg|Office of Bayer 04
File:Leverkusen BayArena 8.jpg|Office of Bayer 04
File:Leverkusen BayArena 2.jpg|Office of Bayer 04
File:Leverkusen BayArena 9.jpg|Office of Bayer 04
File:Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion 2013-12-08 main stand.JPG|BayArena next to the currently-named Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion used for youth teams
</gallery>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|BayArena}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100612144525/http://www.bayarena.de/ Official Homepage] {{in lang|de}}
* [http://www.leverkusen.com/guide/index.php?view=00020 BayArena] {{in lang|de}}
* [http://www.stadiumguide.com/bayarena.htm The Stadium Guide]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160304073807/http://www.webdesign-koeln-leverkusen.de/stadium/ Pictures from stadium expansion in Leverkusen 2008]

{{Bayer 04 Leverkusen}}
{{Bundesliga venues}}
{{UEFA Europa League Final venues}}
{{2011 FIFA Women's World Cup stadiums}}
{{Authority control}}

{{Coord|51|2|18|N|7|0|8|E|type:landmark|display=title}}

[[Category:Bayer 04 Leverkusen]]
[[Category:Football venues in Germany]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Leverkusen]]
[[Category:Sports venues completed in 1958]]
[[Category:Sports venues in North Rhine-Westphalia]]
[[Category:Outdoor arenas]]