Bay Arena (Leverkusen)

Bay Arena is a football stadium in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, which has been home to the Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen since 1958.

Basic information

Arena capacity: 30,210 spectators 

Address: Bismarckstraße 122-124, 51373 Leverkusen, Germany

GPS coordinates for the navigator: 51.0382 ° N, 7.0023 ° E 

Year of construction: August 2, 1958 

Cost of construction: 70 million euros 

Field: grass 

Bay Arena Seating Plan

The three sides of the stadium are bunk sections, separated by a series of executive boxes. They are called Nordbereich, Ostbereich, and Westbereich due to their geographical location. There is another piece of ground, Sudbereich, which does not coincide with the rest of the stadium. This is because it is there that the hotel is located with several rooms overlooking the field.

Away fans

Outbound fans who make the trip to Bay Arena are located in the southwest corner between the south booth, which contains many executive boxes and the western section, which is considered the main booth.

Able to accommodate some 2,500 travel supporters, the area is fenced off from the home and is essentially located opposite the northern stand of Leverkusen Ultras to create a better atmosphere throughout the stadium.

The fact that the area feels relatively compact when it is full also helps create a sense of fellowship among traveling believers. Being on a two-level basis, while the lower section is much larger, sometimes the fans at the exit can sit in the neighboring unit, if demand requires it, and the distribution at the exit needs to be increased.

Where to buy tickets?

Honestly, Bay Arena ticket prices are tricky. The site itself is divided into six different sections, and Leverkusen’s games are also classified according to the level of opposition. All these things affect the price of your ticket, as well as how old you are. We did our best to simplify this a little lower:

• Adults: Cat A = 15-68€/Cat B = 15-46€/Cat C = 15-32€;
• Concessions: Cat A = 10-52€/Cat B = 10-35€/Cat C = 10-24€.

How to get Bayer Leverkusen tickets?

As in most major football clubs, the official website of Leverkusen is the best place to start tickets. After that, you can call the ticket office directly or pick up tickets at official stores throughout the city.

How to get there?

Leverkusen is located in the North Rhine-Westphalia region of Germany. Here are some of the usual transportation options that you will want to use to get to the ground:

Train

A trip from London to Leverkusen takes about five hours by train. You would like to get Eurostar from St. Pancras International to Bruxelles-Midi before taking the ICE train to Cologne. From there, you will take the domestic train to Leverkusen Mitte and you can see the stadium from the train station.

Bus

Most local buses in Leverkusen stop at Bismarckstraße near the ground. Buses 201, 233 and 25 5 are the ones worth paying attention to.

Car

Bay Arena is located in the center of Leverkusen, next to the A1 and A3 motorways. There is no exit to the ground on A1, so take the A3 and exit at exit 24 before following the signs.

By plane

Cologne/Bonn Airport is about an hour from Leverkusen by train, while Düsseldorf Airport is about an hour and a half away and can also be reached by train.

Taxi

A taxi from Leverkusen Mitte to Bay Arena will take a little more than five minutes and will cost about € 9. The taxi rank is located at Flensburger Straße/corner of Bismarckstraße corner.

The traffic flow around Bay Arena has changed to protect residents in the vicinity of the stadium. A comprehensive traffic management plan was implemented, which Bayer 04 developed together with representatives from Leverkusen, the police and other experts, and it is constantly updated. Bayer 04 asks all visitors traveling by car to use the free parking at the Kurtekotten shuttle bus stop. In addition, match tickets entitle the holder to free rides on match days for the local Rhine-Sieg and Rhine-Ruhr transport networks, which does not apply to print@home tickets.

Information on the relevant tourist area is available at http://www.vrsinfo.de and http://vrr.de zu finden.

Roadworks in and around Leverkusen

“This season, we again faced with the problem that this or that complex of road works in Leverkusen and its environs presents,” said Bayer 04 Event Manager Stefan Rem. Of particular note is the continued construction of the new Dunn bridge on Bismarckstrasse in Leverkusen. “The arrival and departure of shuttle buses across Am Stadtpark has been successful since the start of construction work and will continue in the future,” added Rem.

According to experts from the city of Leveckesen and the local transport company wupsi, this allows football fans to be moved faster using the shuttle bus parking, especially after the game. Traffic on Bismarckstrasse will use the Dhünn narrowed bridge during construction work, which was expected to continue until the end of the 2017/18 season — on match days that are not possible due to the large traffic flow, especially with a lot of route and service buses. “We are also very closely monitoring the situation with the autobahn and are constantly in contact with the Straßen NRW road management. We will continue to provide traffic information updates on our website and in our newsletters in anticipation of home games”, Rem explained.

Free parking in Kurtecotten

Bayer 04 provides free parking in Kurtekotten — two hours before the start at the Chempark S-Bahn station. Access to the car park via Otto Bayer Strasse (Cologne).

Buses run two hours before driving between the car parks and the Am Stadtpark terminus. From there it is a short walk to Bay Arena. After the game, buses leave from the same place two hours after the game for a return transfer to parking lots.

Train station stops

Since mid-year, major road works have been going on around the bus station at the Leverkusen Mitte railway station. “Due to the expansion of the railway station, the bus station temporarily moved for the next few years,” Rem said. Relevant signs reflecting the current state of work will advise supporters on the best and fastest route to BayArena.

• Bahnhof Opladen (Bahnhofstr., 51379, Leverkusen);
• Bahnhof Shlebush (Moosweg 2, 51377 Leverkusen).

Disabled parking

Disabled car parking is opposite Bay Arena next to McDonald’s Restaurant. Access to this car park is exclusively for disabled drivers with a European parking sign in the European Union. We ask all disabled fans who do not have a blue badge to use the parking for shuttle buses in Kurtecotten.

Hotels of Bay Arena

Leverkusen is not one of Germany’s most popular cities to visit, but they still have more than a few hotels. Here are some of our favorite options.

RheinRiver Guesthouse — £60+

Rheinstraße 54, Hitdorf, Leverkusen, 51371

As the name suggests, this boutique hotel is located on a river six miles from the stadium. It has a garden, a meeting room, twenty-six guest rooms and free Wi-Fi.

Lindner Hotel BayArena — £70+

Bismarckstr. 118, Leverkusen, NW, 51373

This hotel is actually part of Bay Arena, some with field views. It features a fitness center, self parking, conference room and free Wi-Fi.

Kasino Hotel — £80+

Kaiser-Wilhelm-Allee 3, Leverkusen, NW, 51373

This hotel is about half an hour walk from the ground. It has a restaurant, bar, self parking, terrace and garden, meeting room and free Wi-Fi.

Pubs and Bars Near Bay Arena

Leverkusen is a bit of an industrial city in terms of its origin, so there are some decent drunkards you might want to discover before you go to watch the match.

Winners’ Place im Lindner Leverkusen

Bismarckstraße 118, 51373 Leverkusen

The Winners’ Place is a sports bar that is part of the Linder Hotel on Bay Arena itself. In addition to a decent selection of drinks, TVs and a good atmosphere, it also offers a selection of snacks.

Havana

Bismarckstraße 200, 51373 Leverkusen

Not far from the ground is a Cuban-style bar with an interesting menu and many cocktails. This is not the largest of the places, so it is usually very busy before the match.

Carmens Taverna

Wiesdorfer Place, 68, 51373 Leverkusen

Carmen’s Taverna is a small quaint bar in a mall near the ground. It has a good menu and many different drinks.

Food

Bay Arena is known to be the first stadium in Europe to have a McDonalds restaurant, and, as expected, this is usually a hectic trade on match days.

There is also the Pille Sportbar, which has a good selection of dishes, but most options can be found in the halls. With Bayer Gastronomie, fans can buy the usual fast food options like french fries, pretzels, and hot dogs, although this must be done using a cashless card system.

Facilities

The modernity of the earth means that the facilities here are excellent. There are all the usual places where you could buy food and drinks in the ground, plus great views from almost everywhere.

Hospitality

Bay Arena offers 7 receptions per day of the match, but if you do not want to register for a year, then the Event Box North, which you can book with your stay at the hotel, will probably be the most suitable for you. At your disposal are special service staff, hot and cold buffet dishes, four parking spaces for 14 guests and great views. If you are more, then Event Lodge East offers almost the same offer, but can accommodate from 30 to 60 guests minus the connection to the hotel.

Private rental

There are at least 11 apartments and executive boxes that can be used for conferences, product presentations and business meetings. If you’re interested, leave the club on the line and they will let you know what exactly you can do. They can serve up to 800 people.

Design

Since the new design of the stadium was planned in the 80s, it was based on the project of the then Ruhrstadium in Bochum. A cool single-level football stadium without a treadmill, designed for 35,000 spectators. The stadium was to be built section by section over time in order to save costs and grow in accordance with the requirements of the club, starting from the eastern stand in 1986, the western in 1989 and the northern in 1991. In the middle of perestroika, the requirements of modern football stadiums have changed. Suites and VIP zones have become a necessity, a section for families, as well as a design modification for all places after the riots in the Bundesliga of the 1990s and the requirements of international matches.

As a lesson from the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the United States, the northern part was renamed the so-called Family Street, the first part of the German stadium aimed at attracting a younger audience. This concept was very successful and required moving Family Street to the eastern part of the city during the 96-97 season. In the process, Bay Arena was the first stadium in Germany to turn into a station wagon and remove part of the fences that separated the tiers from the field, starting again in the east and then expanding to the entire stadium. Due to the need for larger VIP zones, the original plans to narrow the gap in the south using a booth with the same layout as in the north were canceled in 1995. Instead, the southern part was built in the form of boxing suites, which made the stadium unique in the Bundesliga with a horseshoe design in a South American style. With the completion of work in 1997, Bay Arena was recognized as the most comfortable and modern stadium in Germany.

Expansion and reconstruction of 2007-2009 they added a second level above the eastern, northern and western parts, new VIP apartments between two levels, a new oval roof covering all places, as well as a complete reconstruction of the club’s main facilities in the west section. It also saw a restoration of clean permanent areas for home supporters in the north/east corner. After the summer of 2013, the clear standing area stretched over the full front rows of the northern part of the stadium.

History

The stadium was originally known as the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion, named after the former chairman of Bayer AG, the founders of the club. Its initial capacity was 20,000.

In 1986, a restoration project began to turn it into a modern facility. The project continued intermittently for the next decade. The project was completed in 1997, making the stadium ultra-modern with a capacity of 22,500 people. The stadium was renamed Bay Arena in 1998.

In 1999, the hotel was built, attached to the stadium, some of the rooms had views of the field. The stadium complex also includes a high-class restaurant, which also overlooks the pitch, and conference rooms.

Initially, the city of Leverkusen claimed to be the venue for the 2006 World Cup, with an expanded Bay Arena venue. However, the city of Bayer Leverkusen and the German organizing committee soon agreed that expanding the Bay Arena to a minimum capacity of 40,000 for FIFA World Cup matches would not be practical, and the city withdrew its application. Instead, it was decided that the Bay Arena would become the main training center for the German national team in the 2006 final. Jürgen Klinsmann, a former national team coach, however, decided not to play at Leverkusen and chose Berlin as the main training center. In compensation, Bay Arena allegedly would held two national matches, although they were never played.