Stade de France

Stade de France
St. Denis
Full name	Stade de France
Location	ZAC du Cornillon Nord 93216 Saint Denis, France
Coordinates	48°55′28″N 2°21′36″E / 48.92444°N 2.36000°E / 48.92444; 2.36000Coordinates: 48°55′28″N 2°21′36″E / 48.92444°N 2.36000°E / 48.92444; 2.36000
Built	2 May 1995
Opened	28 January 1998
Owner	Consortium Stade de France
Operator	Consortium Stade de France
Surface	Grass
Construction cost	€290 million
Architect	Michel Macary Aymeric Zublena Michel Regembal Claude Constantini
Capacity	81,338[1]
Executive suites	172
Field dimensions	105 x 70 m
Public transit access	Saint-Denis – Porte de Paris (Paris Métro) Stade de France – Saint-Denis (Paris RER) Gare de La Plaine-Stade de France
Tenants
France national football team France national rugby union team Stade Français (some games) Racing Métro 92 (some games)

The Stade de France (French pronunciation: ​[stad də fʁɑ̃s]) is the national stadium of France, situated just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis. It has an all-seater capacity of 81,338, making it the sixth largest stadium in Europe, and is used by both the France national football team and French rugby union team for international competition. The stadium was built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, and the name of the stadium was recommended by French legend Michel Platini. On 12 July 1998, France defeated Brazil 3–0 in the 1998 FIFA World Cup Final contested at the stadium. The Stade de France is listed as a category four stadium by UEFA and has hosted matches for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, some matches for the 1999 Rugby World Cup, 2003 World Championships in Athletics, and the 2007 Rugby World Cup making it the only stadium in the world to have hosted both a Football World Cup final and a Rugby World Cup final. The facility also hosted the annual Motorsport event Race of Champions in 2004, 2005, and 2006 before the event moved to Wembley Stadium in London. The stadium hosted the 2003 World Championships in Athletics and since 1999 it has hosted the annual Meeting Areva athletics meet.

Domestically, the Stade de France serves as a secondary home facility of Parisian rugby clubs Stade Français and Racing Métro 92, hosting a few of their regular-season fixtures. The stadium also hosts the main French domestic cup finals, which include the Coupe de France (both football and rugby), Coupe de la Ligue, Challenge de France, and the Coupe Gambardella, as well as the Top 14 rugby union championship match. The Stade de France has hosted two UEFA Champions League finals in 2000 and 2006, respectively. The stadium is also used for music concerts and other sporting events. Major acts such as Roger Waters, The Rolling Stones, U2, Céline Dion, Muse, Rihanna, Coldplay, Lady Gaga, Paul McCartney, Madonna and Mylène Farmer performed here. The facility is owned and operated by the Consortium Stade de France.

History

The discussion of a national stadium in France came about as a result of the country's selection to host the 1998 FIFA World Cup on 2 July 1992. As a result of the selection, the country and the France Football Federation made a commitment to construct an 80,000+ capacity all-seater stadium with every seat in the facility being covered. It was the first time in over 70 years since the construction of the Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir that a stadium in France was being constructed for a specific event. Due to the magnitude and importance of the facility, the Council of State was allowed first hand approach to how the stadium would be constructed and paid for. The Council sought for the stadium to be built as close as possible to the capital of France, Paris, and that the constructor and operator of the facility would receive significant financial contribution for a period of 30 months following the completion of the stadium. The stadium's design was handled by the team of architects composed of Michel Macary, Aymeric Zublena, Regembal Michel, and Claude Costantini who were associated with CR SCAU Architecture.

The stadium was officially ready for construction following the government's selection of manufacturers, Bouygues, Dumez, and SGE, and the signing of building permits on 30 April 1995.^[2][3] With only 31 months to complete the stadium, construction commenced on 2 May 1995. The laying of the first cornerstone took place five months later on 6 September. After over a year of construction, over 800,000m ² of earthworks had been created and as much as 180,000 m³ of concrete had been poured. The installation of the roof, which cost €45 million, and the mobile platform also took more than a year to complete.

During the developmental phase, the stadium was referred to in French as the Grand Stade ("large stadium" or "great stadium"). On 4 December 1995, the Ministry of Sport launched a design competition to decide on a name for the stadium. The stadium was officially named the Stade de France after the Ministry heard a proposal from French football legend Michel Platini, who recommended the name.

The stadium was officially inaugurated on 28 January 1998 as it hosted a football match between France and Spain. The total cost of the stadium was approximately €290 million. The match was played in front of 78,368 spectators, which included President Jacques Chirac, with France winning the match 1–0 with Zinedine Zidane scoring the lone goal, and the first-ever in the Stade de France, in the 20th minute.^[4] Six months later, France returned to the stadium and defeated Brazil in the 1998 FIFA World Cup Final to earn their first World Cup title. The national rugby team's first match in the facility was contested five days after its opening, on 2 February, with France earning a 24–17 win over England in front of 77,567 spectators.^[5] Philippe Bernat-Salles converted the first ever try at the stadium scoring it in the 11th minute of play.^[6]

On 24 May 2000, the Stade de France hosted the 2000 UEFA Champions League Final. In the match, which saw 78,759 spectators attend, Spanish club Real Madrid defeated fellow Spaniards Valencia 3–0. In 2003, the Stade de France was the primary site of the 2003 World Championships in Athletics. Three years later in 2006, the facility hosted another UEFA Champions League final with another Spanish club Barcelona defeating England's Arsenal 2–1. On 9 May 2009, the Stade de France set the national attendance record for a sporting match played in France with 80,832 showing up to watch Guingamp upset Brittany rivals Rennes 2–1 in the 2009 Coupe de France Final. On 22 May 2010, the Stade de France hosted the 2010 Heineken Cup Final.^[7] On 11 February 2012, a Six Nations international rugby game between France and Ireland had to be cancelled just before kick-off due to the pitch freezing as the stadium lacks under-soil heating.^[8]

Architecture

Stade de France with uncovered athletics track during the 2003 World Championships

The Stade de France has a movable stand which can be retracted to uncover part of the athletics track.^[9] The stadium was notably designed with the assistance of a software simulation of crowd in order to get an accurate observation of how it would look fully developed. The facility was also intended to inform and develop the area of the Plaine Saint-Denis, which straddle the communes of Saint-Denis, Aubervilliers, and Saint-Ouen. The primary goal was to renovate the area by building new residential and tertiary sites.

The Stadium was built without any underground heating as noted when Ireland were due to play France in the Six Nations Tournament rugby union match of 2012, in which the game had to be canceled.

In 2002, the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering (IABC) awarded a prize recognizing the unique structure of the Stade de France commenting that the Stade de France exhibited "a construction of an attractive open architecture of the city, with an elegance and natural lightness".

Roof

The last part of the metallic construction of the roof, 1997

The construction of the Stade de France's roof cost over €45 million to complete. Its elliptical shape symbolizes the universality of sport in France. Its area of six hectares and weight, 13,000 tons, is considered a technical marvel by many. It was designed to easily protect the 80,000 spectators without covering the playing field. All lighting and sound, which include 550 lights and 36 blocks of 5 speakers, are housed inside to avoid obstructing visibility. The tinted glass in the center reduces the contrast and distributes natural light. It filters out red and infrared radiation, however, it allows blue and green lights, due to their necessity involving the health of the turf.

Inside the stadium

Changing rooms at the Stade de France

The Stade de France offers athletes the best welcome ever assembled in France. All facilities reserved for them are located in the lawn, west, and are directly accessible by bus. They include local host and control, two cloakrooms of 1 200 sqm each (football and rugby), an athletic locker room of 400 m², two referees changing rooms, two rooms of Appeal, two rooms heated, offices for the delegates, the local board, an infirmary, the doping control room. Spaces are also specially designed for artists: the boxes and lounges, a rehearsal room for musicians, choirs, extras, a storage room for costumes, a relaxation area, space for sets and instruments. The changing rooms have been designed by Michel Platini ^{[citation needed]}.

Stands

The Stade de France is the biggest modular stadium in the world with three galleries.

The forum is a low mobile platform of 25 000 seats. It is reached by the level 1. It may fall 15 feet to reveal all of the running track and jumping pits. It then retains 22 000 seats. The movement lasts 80 hours, 40 people 20h/24h mobilized, and carried by ten distinct elements of 700 tons each.

Access to the gallery is through with 22 bridges and can be found at level 3 with a concentration of restaurants, entertainment areas, shops and central station security.

18 staircases lead viewers to the upper gallery located at Level 6.

The evacuation of 80 000 spectators on the porch out in less than 15 minutes.

Field

Located at 11 meters below the court, the playing area measures 9 000 square meters (120 meters long and 75 meters wide) to a grassed area of 11 000 square meters. Nearly one billion seeds were sown to produce the first pitch in 1997. Today, the grass comes in rolls of 1.20 mx 8 m. Changing the pitch calls for three days of preparation and five days of installation. The change takes place several times a year, depending on the programming stage. Unlike many other stadiums, the Stade de France was built without under pitch heating, as the stadium was constructed on the site of an old gasworks,^[10] and there were concerns it could cause an explosion.

Giant screens

As part of its policy of renewing its infrastructure, the Stade de France added two new big screens in September 2006. Covering an area of 196 sqm each, these screens are the largest located in a stadium in Europe.^{[citation needed]} The new displays have a surface 58% greater than the previous screens installed in 1998. The newer giant screens are each composed of 4 423 680 LED (Light Emitting Diode) for a self-made images more fluid, faster, and more particularly bright.

Concerts

Tenants

The Stade de France has no regular tenant other than the French national football and rugby teams. Repeated attempts to convince a professional football or rugby team to move there have failed so far. Paris Saint-Germain has remained at Parc des Princes under pressure from its parent company (pay-TV network Canal Plus) and the Paris city government.

However, the Paris rugby club Stade Français have now established themselves as a semi-regular tenant. They began by scheduling their Top 14 home fixture on 15 October 2005 against Toulouse at Stade de France. Stade Français's president, Max Guazzini, publicly said that the club would have to sell 25,000 to 30,000 tickets to break even. Three weeks before the match, 61,000 tickets had been sold, setting a French record for tickets sold to a league match for any sport, including football. The final attendance was 79,454, smashing the national attendance record for a league match in any sport by more than 20,000. Five minutes before the end of the Toulouse match, Guazzini announced to the crowd that Stade Français's scheduled home fixture against Biarritz in March 2006 would also be held at Stade de France.^[11] The Stade-Biarritz match broke the attendance record from earlier in the season, with 79,604 present.

Guazzini then booked the Stade de France for the same two league fixtures in 2006–07. The Biarritz match on 16 October 2006 drew 79,619, making this the third consecutive Stade Français fixture at the Stade de France to set an all-time French attendance record. The record was broken yet again at a match against Toulouse match on 27 January 2007, with 79,741 filling the stands. Stade Français went on to schedule three home matches at Stade de France in the 2007–08 season. For the 2008–09 season, they booked Stade de France for three home league matches and a Heineken Cup pool match. The number of Stade Français home matches at Stade de France increased again for 2009–10, with five Top 14 fixtures already announced for the stadium.

Even with the lack of a regular league tenant, the stadium's revenue increased greatly in 2007, as it was used extensively during the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France, where it hosted numerous pool matches, a quarterfinal match, both of the semi finals and the final.

The Lille OSC football team played all its "home" games in European competition during the 2005–06 season, both in the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Cup, at the Stade de France because its own stadium was then under renovation, and the only nearer alternative on French soil, Stade Félix-Bollaert, was not available as that ground's occupant, Lille's local rival Lens, was also participating in the UEFA Cup. The Stade de France has hosted the Champions League final on two occasions: 2000 (Real Madrid 3 Valencia 0), and 2006 (Barcelona 2 Arsenal 1).

Future developments

France's governing body for rugby union, the French Rugby Federation (FFR), announced in November 2010 that it would not renew its deal to use Stade de France for international rugby matches when it expires in 2013. FFR also stated that it planned to build a new stadium of its own in the Paris region.^[12]

Reportedly, the FFR had become increasingly frustrated with several aspects of the deal. According to rugby journalist Ian Moriarty, "The deal with the Stade de France has been a disaster for the FFR financially over the years, forcing France's powerbrokers to look across the English channel at the RFU's Twickenham cash cow with ever increasing envy."^[13] Reports vary widely as to how much the FFR must spend to rent out the stadium, but estimates range from €3 million^[13] to €5 million^[14] per match. Although the Stade de France and Twickenham are roughly the same size, the rental expense means that the FFR reportedly makes about one-third as much from a Stade de France sellout as does the RFU from a sellout at Twickenham.^[14] In addition, the national rugby team does not enjoy primacy at the Stade de France; the national football team and major concerts take priority. FFR had to move two of its 2010–11 home Tests to Montpellier and Nantes due to fixture clashes with the national football team.^[13] Also, former FFR president Serge Blanco claimed that the 2009 Top 14 final had to be moved from May to June because of a conflict with a concert by French rock icon Johnny Hallyday.^[12]

In June 2012, FFR announced that it had selected the site for its new ground, tentatively known as Grand Stade FFR.^[15] The 82,000-seat stadium, featuring a retractable roof and slide-out pitch, will be built on a former horse racing track in Évry, about 25 km south of Paris. The new stadium, estimated to cost €600 million, is currently slated to open in 2017.^[13]

Access

Although located at the crossroads of auto-routes A1 and A86, it is not advisable to go there by car unless you have reserved parking. The Stadium was built with a very limited number of parking spaces, which is why public transportation is considered the primary means of getting to the stadium. River shuttles are provided by the Canal Saint-Denis.

Public transport

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Stade de France.

• Stade de France Website
• Stadium Guide Article
• Stats for all rugby matches played at the Stade de France
• Rugby World Cup 2007
• Le Stade de France 3D model (GoogleSketchup)

Events and tenants
Preceded by Rose Bowl Los Angeles (Pasadena)	FIFA World Cup Final Venue 1998	Succeeded by Yokohama Stadium Yokohama
Preceded by Camp Nou Barcelona	UEFA Champions League Final Venue 2000	Succeeded by San Siro Milan
Preceded by Yokohama Stadium Yokohama	FIFA Confederations Cup Final Venue 2003	Succeeded by Waldstadion Frankfurt
Preceded by Commonwealth Stadium Edmonton	IAAF World Championships in Athletics Venue 2003	Succeeded by Helsinki Olympic Stadium Helsinki
Preceded by Atatürk Istanbul	UEFA Champions League Final Venue 2006	Succeeded by Olympic Stadium Athens
Preceded by Telstra Stadium Sydney	Rugby World Cup Final Venue 2007	Succeeded by Eden Park Auckland
Preceded by Olimpiysky NSC Kiev	UEFA European Football Championship Final Venue 2016	Succeeded by 2020 Final Venue

v t e Tourism in Paris Rive droite Arc de Triomphe Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel Bois de Boulogne Carnavalet Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie Champs-Élysées Élysée Palace Faubourg Saint-Honoré Hôtel de Ville Jeu de Paume La Madeleine Louvre Montmartre Musée Grévin Grand Palais & Petit Palais Opéra Bastille Opéra Garnier Orangerie Palais-Royal Père Lachaise Cemetery Place de la Concorde Place des Vosges Place Vendôme Centre Pompidou/Beaubourg Sacré-Cœur Saint-Eustache Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois Saint-Jacques Tower Stade Roland Garros Trocadéro Tuileries Musée des Arts et Métiers Rive gauche Catacombs of Paris Café Procope Champ de Mars Eiffel Tower Hôtel Matignon Institut de France Latin Quarter Les Invalides Palace & Jardin du Luxembourg Musée du quai Branly Musée de Cluny Musée d'Orsay Musée Rodin Muséum national d'histoire naturelle Panthéon Palais Bourbon Saint-Germain-des-Prés Sorbonne Île de la Cité, Île Saint-Louis & Seine Bateau Mouche Conciergerie Notre Dame Pont Alexandre III Pont d'Iéna Pont Neuf Sainte-Chapelle Parisian Region Chantilly La Défense Disneyland Paris Écouen France Miniature Fontainebleau Malmaison Musée de l'Air Parc Astérix Provins Rambouillet La Roche-Guyon Saint Denis Basilica Saint-Germain-en-Laye Sceaux Stade de France Vaux-le-Vicomte Palace & Gardens of Versailles Vincennes Events and traditions Bastille Day military parade Fête de la Musique Republican Guard Nuit Blanche Paris Air Show Paris-Plages Landmarks List of tourist attractions Paris syndrome