Gelsenkirchen Veltins Arena
Veltins Arena (formerly known as Arena AufSchalke) is an indoor football stadium, located in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. Opening in 2001 and designed by architects Hentrich, Petschnigg and Partners, it has the capacity of 62,271. It was built as a replacement to the outdated Parkstadion. It's the home arena to FC Schalke 04. The arena is owned and operated by FC Schalke 04.
The original site of the new stadium was chosen in the direct vicinity of the Parkstadion, on an extensive piece of property, owned by the club, known as "Berger Feld", however, due to two mine shafts running directly beneath the field, the main axis of the stadium had to be rotated to prevent the structural integrity of the stadium being compromised due to unwanted shifts and tensions. The Veltins-Arena features a Teflon-coated fiberglass retractable roof, which spans the entire stadium. The arena also features a slide-out pitch, which can be moved in and out of the stadium within four hours.
Apart from FC Schalke 04 games, including several UEFA Champions League ones (and with it the 2004 Champions League Final), the arena also hosted five FIFA World Cup games in 2006; Poland vs. Ecuador, USA vs. Czech Republic, Argentina vs. Serbia & Montenegro, Portugal vs. Mexico and England vs. Portugal. In 2008, the arena was supposed to host the Speedway Grand Prix of Germany, however the event was cancelled as the track was deemed unsafe due to adverse weatehr conditions. The opening game of the 2010 Ice Hockey World Championship also took place at the arena, as did the 2018 German Darts Masters tournament.
Concerts which took place at the Veltins Arena include Placebo, Rammstein, Biffy Clyro, Deftones, Volbeat and more. The arena also hosted a few editions of the Rock im Pott festival and one edition of Der Ring - Grune Holle Rock (renamed to Rock im Revier in 2016).
Muse appearances
- 2015-05-30 (Der Ring - Grune Holle Rock)
Arena address
Veltins Arena
Rudi-Assauer-Platz 1
Erle
45891 Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia
Germany