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Stadium of the Year 2018

  • Popular Vote
  • Jury Vote

Popular Vote

  • Thank you for participation in the 9th edition of Stadium of the Year. Thank you for the 35,330 votes, which the system assigned to 111 countries. Largest numbers of people took part in Russia, Hungary, Iran, Belarus, Austria, USA, Poland and Italy. Below is the outcome of their month-long vote!

Complete results:

Volgograd Arena

Volgograd Arena Volgograd Rosja Russia

  • team: Rotor Volgograd
  • capacity: 45,568
  • construction time: 01/2015 - 03/04/2018
  • cost: $ 299 million
  • design: PI Arena, GMP Architekten
PlacePhotoData
2 48,249 pts
pts
Samara Arena

Samara Arena Samara Russia Russia

  • team: FK Krylia Sovetov
  • capacity: 44,918
  • construction time: 21/07/2014 - 21/04/2018
  • cost: $ 299 million
  • design: GUS SO TerrNIIgrazhdanproekt, PI Arena
3 39,704 pts
pts
Stadion Nizhny Novgorod

Stadion Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod Russia Russia

  • team: FC Nizhny Novgorod
  • capacity: 45,000
  • construction time: 12/2014 - 23/03/2018
  • cost: $ 325 million
  • design: Sport In, PI Arena
4 35,034 pts
pts
Rostov Arena

Rostov Arena Rostov-on-Dom Russia Russia

  • team: FK Rostov
  • capacity: 45,335
  • construction time: 01/08/2014 - 16/03/2018
  • cost: $ 348 million
  • design: Crocus Group, TSNIIPROMZDANII
5 28,942 pts
pts
Mordovia Arena

Mordovia Arena Saransk Russia Russia

  • team: FK Mordovia Saransk
  • capacity: 44,149
  • construction time: 10/2010 - 09/04/2018
  • cost: $ 288 million
  • design: Sport In, AO Gradproekt
6 28,353 pts
pts
Foolad Arena

Foolad Arena Ahvaz Iran Iran

  • team: Foolad FC
  • capacity: 27,501
  • construction time: 2008-2018
  • cost: $ 40 million
  • design: ?
7 25,952 pts
pts
Stadion Kaliningrad

Stadion Kaliningrad Kaliningrad Russia Russia

  • team: FK Baltika
  • capacity: 35,212
  • construction time: 11/09/2015 - 23/03/2018
  • cost: $ 300 million
  • design: Crocus Group, TSNIIPROMZDANII
8 25,653 pts
pts
Tsentralnyi Stadion

Tsentralnyi Stadion / Yekaterinburg Arena Yekaterinburg Russia Russia

  • team: FK Ural Yekaterinburg
  • capacity: 35,696
  • construction time: 11/09/2015 - 31/12/2017
  • cost: $227 million
  • design: PI Arena
9 24,769 pts
pts
DVTK Stadion

DVTK Stadion Miskolc Hungary Hungary

  • team: Diósgyőri VTK
  • capacity: 14,680
  • construction time: 02/11/2016 - 30/04/2018
  • cost: $ 47 million
  • design: KÖZTI Architects
10 19,468 pts
pts
Nacyjanalny Alimpijski Stadion Dinama

Nacyjanalny Alimpijski Stadion Dinama Minsk Belarus Belarus

  • team: national team / Dinamo
  • capacity: 22,246
  • construction time: 2014- 31/05/2018
  • cost: $ 206 million
  • design: UP Minskproekt
11 18,856 pts
pts
MOL Aréna Sóstó

MOL Aréna Sóstó Székesfehérvár Hungary Hungary

  • team: MOL Vidi FC
  • capacity: 14,201
  • construction time: 23/11/2016 - 30/09/2018
  • cost: $ 50.5 million
  • design: S.A.M.O. Tervező és Ingatlanfejlesztő
12 17,943 pts
pts
4. Bursa Büyükşehir Belediye Stadyumu

Bursa Büyükşehir Stadyumu Bursa Turkey Turkey

  • team: Bursaspor
  • capacity: 43,877
  • construction time: 06/2011 - 2018
  • cost: $ 44.3 million
  • design: Sözüneri Mimarlık
13 16,924 pts
pts
Generali-Arena

Generali-Arena Vienna Austria Austria

  • team: Austria Wien
  • capacity: 17,500
  • construction time: 2016-2018
  • cost: $ 48.2 million
  • design: Atelier Mauch
14 14,992 pts
pts
Zaozhuang Stadium

Zaozhuang Stadium Zaozhuang China China

  • team: -
  • capacity: 30,000
  • construction time: 2014-2018
  • cost: $ 100 million
  • design: United Atelier
15 13,101 pts
pts
Banc of California Stadium

Banc of California Stadium Los Angeles USA USA

  • team: Los Angeles FC
  • capacity: 22,000
  • construction time: 23/08/2016 - 21/04/2018
  • cost: $ 350 million
  • design: Gensler
16 12,439 pts
pts
Stadio Paolo Mazza

Stadio Paolo Mazza Ferrara Italy Italy

  • team: SPAL
  • capacity: 16,134
  • construction time: 2018
  • cost: $ 14 million
  • design: HI-TECH PROJECT S. R. L.
17 11,347 pts
pts
Wuyuanhe Stadium

Wuyuanhe Stadium Haikou China China

  • team: -
  • capacity: 41,506
  • construction time: 07/03/2017 - 24/04/2018
  • cost: $ 157.3 million
  • design: United Atelier
18 10,606 pts
pts
Suzhou Olympic Sports Centre Stadium

Suzhou OSC Stadium Suzhou China China

  • team: -
  • capacity: 40,933
  • construction time: 29/09/2013 - 01/09/2018
  • cost: $ 742 million (entire complex)
  • design: GMP Architekten
19 9,594 pts
pts
Kocaeli Stadyumu

Kocaeli Stadyumu Izmit Turkey Turkey

  • team: Kocaelispor
  • capacity: 34,712
  • construction time: 26/09/2014 - 2018
  • cost: $ 24.5 million
  • design: Alper Aksoy Architects
20 9,586 pts
pts
Optus Stadium

Optus Stadium Perth Australia Australia

  • team: West Coast Eagles, Fremantle Dockers, Western Force
  • capacity: 60,000
  • construction time: 07/12/2014 - 11/12/2017
  • cost: $ 1.16 billion
  • design: HKS Architects, Arup, Cox Architects, Hassell Studio
21 9,553 pts
pts
Diyarbakır Stadyumu

Diyarbakır Stadyumu Diyarbakir Turkey Turkey

  • team: Diyarbakirspor, Amedspor
  • capacity: 33,000
  • construction time: 25/04/2014 - 09/05/2018
  • cost: $ 30.8 million
  • design: Arma Mimarlık
22 8,357 pts
pts
Audi Field

Audi Field Washington D.C. USA USA

  • team: D.C. United
  • capacity: 20,000
  • construction time: 27/02/2017 - 09/07/2018
  • cost: $ 195 million
  • design: Populous
23 7,566 pts
pts
Tire Stadyumu

Tire Stadyumu Tire/Izmir Turkey Turkey

  • team: Tire 1922
  • capacity: 13,500
  • construction time: 04/04/2015 - 04/2018
  • cost: $ 12.3 million
  • design: Tankut Aydin
24 7,090 pts
pts
Batman Stadyumu

Batman Stadyumu Batman Turkey Turkey

  • team: Batman Petrolspor
  • capacity: 15,000
  • construction time: 2014-2018
  • cost: $ 19.25 million (entire complex)
  • design: Çağdaş Ozan Büyükkaya
25 6,936 pts
pts
Najaf Stadium

Najaf Stadium Najaf Iraq Iraq

  • team: Al-Najaf FC
  • capacity: 30,000
  • construction time: 22/05/2011 - 06/2018
  • cost: $ 90 million
  • design: HOK Architecture
26 5,945 pts
pts
Spor Toto Akhisar Stadyumu

Spor Toto Akhisar Stadyumu Akhisar Turkey Turkey

  • team: Akhisar Belediyespor
  • capacity: 12,139
  • construction time: Akhisar Belediyespor
  • cost: $ 15 million
  • design: Adnan Kazmaoğlu
27 4,778 pts
pts
Sun Devil Stadium

Sun Devil Stadium Tempe USA USA

  • team: ASU Sun Devils
  • capacity: 53,559
  • construction time: 2014-2018
  • cost: $ 307 million
  • design: HNTB

Stadium of the Year Regulations

  1. Voting process schedule: Your votes will be accepted between February 3, until midnight March 3, 2019 (Central-European Time). The above form is the only means of voting, please do not send e-mails or private messages with votes, they will not be included. Each person is entitled to cast one vote, selecting your top 5 venues (giving them 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 point, respectively).
  2. Voting restrictions: Every user is welcome to share information or links regarding the competition, however voting may not be subject to commercial incentives (i.e. being rewarded or subject to separate contests with prizes). Any such attempts will result in cancellation of all votes coming from identified sources. Similarily, individual voters attempting to give more than one vote will not be included in the voting process at all.
  3. Nomination process schedule: Jan 23 – Jan 30, 2019. (nomination period closed)
  4. Submitting nominations: Every User of StadiumDB.com may submit a nomination. Unlike many competitions, ours is user-oriented, so we don’t require any fees, text messages, e-mail submissions or liking us on facebook or following on Twitter (we do appreciate it, though!).
  5. Nomination requirements: To become a nominee, a stadium has to meet several criteria. It has to hold at least 10,000 people and be opened in 2018. The latter means hosting at least one event with all stands available to the public. Stadiums built from scratch are taken into consideration, as well as those that have undergone a thorough redevelopment. The competition is focused on football stadiums, which means we choose between venues that are capable of hosting a football (or soccer, if you prefer) game. They may still have running, cycling or speedway tracks around their pitch, or have pitches larger than football-specific ones (like cricket, hurling or AFL).

Jury Vote

It’s already the fifth time we include a Jury of architectural experts who cast their votes independently of the Popular Vote. Shortlist of 10 finalists was announced on February 25. Winner of the Vote was revealed on March 7 and you can find complete results of the Jury Vote below!

DVTK Stadion

DVTK Stadion Miskolc Hungary Hungary

  • Architectural value: 4.00
  • Functionality: 3.33
  • Innovation: 1.83
[Points in each category are summed up, maximum possible score is 10]
MiejsceZdjęciePunkty cząstkowe
2 9.00 pts Suzhou Olympic Sports Centre Stadium

Suzhou OSC Stadium Suzhou China China

  • Architectural value: 4.00
  • Functionality: 3.00
  • Innovation: 2.00
3 8.93 pts Samara Arena

Samara Arena Samara Russia Russia

  • Architectural value: 3.27
  • Functionality: 3.67
  • Innovation: 2.00
4 8.63 pts Zaozhuang Stadium

Zaozhuang Stadium Zaozhuang China China

  • Architectural value: 3.63
  • Functionality: 3.00
  • Innovation: 2.00
5 7.93 pts Volgograd Arena

Volgograd Arena Volgograd Russia Russia

  • Architectural value: 2.90
  • Functionality: 3.33
  • Innovation: 1.67
6 7.63 pts Optus Stadium

Optus Stadium Perth Australia Australia

  • Architectural value: 3.30
  • Functionality: 3.00
  • Innovation: 1.33
7 7.60 pts Mordovia Arena

Mordovia Arena Saransk Russia Russia

  • Architectural value: 2.93
  • Functionality: 3.33
  • Innovation: 1.33
8 7.43 pts MOL Aréna Sóstó

MOL Aréna Sóstó Székesfehérvár Hungary Hungary

  • Architectural value: 2.83
  • Functionality: 3.00
  • Innovation: 1.60
9 7.23 pts Rostov Arena

Rostov Arena Rostov-on-Don Russia Russia

  • Architectural value: 2.57
  • Functionality: 3.17
  • Innovation: 1.50
10 5.33 pts 4. Bursa Büyükşehir Belediye Stadyumu

Bursa Büyükşehir Stadyumu Bursa Turkey Turkey

  • Architectural value: 1.67
  • Functionality: 2.00
  • Innovation: 1.67

Jury members

Robert D. Kennedy

ROBERT D. KENNEDY, Holmes Miller Architects, Glasgow | Working on his first stadium project in 1992, Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh, for the Scottish Rugby Union, Robert didn’t realise that this would be the start of a now 27 year relationship with stadia design.

As an architect, then Partner in the Glasgow architectural firm The Miller Partnership, he would have an opportunity to work in the most exciting period of UK stadia design.

Now a director in Holmes Miller he has constructed almost 500,000 seats in the UK and abroad and sees no end to the ongoing evolution of stadia and arenas.

Highlights along the way include the RICOH Arena in Coventry, King Power Stadium in Leicester and the aforementioned Murrayfield Stadium, which at 67,500 capacity is the largest for the practice so far.

The market has changed and the practice have been successful overseas with the completion of the Ahmedabad Arena in Gujarat, India and the design of a soccer tournament hub in New Jersey, USA.

This international market will be a focus in the coming years, with Holmes Miller Architects having an office in Guangzhou, China and the need for sporting venues not relaxing soon. Although work close to home is still being done, as proven by redevelopment of the iconic Meadowbank in Edinburgh.

Alfredo Angulo Quevedo

ALFREDO ANGULO QUEVEDO, Asunción | As has been tradition, every year we invite the architect author of previous Stadium of the Year winner. It couldn's have been different with one of Latin America's most famous football temples, nicknamed the Cauldron, or La Olla. Actually, La Nueva Olla, because the historical stadium of Cerro Porteño was redefined by Alfredo Angulo Quevedo. Despite spatial and financial constraints the stadium instantly gained recognition. For the architect it was a rare privilege of designing his beloved team's stadium.

La Nueva Olla was the first such grand stadium delivered by Angulo Quevedo, however his interest in sports architecture began long before. In the previous decade he completed executive documentation for two other stadia, in Encarnación and Caaguazú, so far not built.

After becoming an architect and engineer in early 1990s, Angulo Quevedo's career took a boost in early 2000s, seeing numerous public service, commercial and leisure projects, including sports complexes, hotels and hospitals, among other.

Gino Zavanella

GINO ZAVANELLA, GAUarena, Rome | He has always supported the need for a radical renewal of the Italian stadium scene, opting, primarily, for the privatization of the same. This will provide the teams with stadium ownership, with the double benefits of capitalizatio and with the guarantee of investments and substantial interventions. Only with such a decisive choice a welcoming and multifunctional stadium used throughout the week can be obtained.

He was born in Turin and graduated in Florence in 1969 with arch. Spadolini, after following lessons with great teachers and masters of architecture like Ricci and Savioli: with them he also collaborated after graduation.

Currently he lives in Rome, where the headquarters of his team also lies: GAUarena. From the beginning of his career (pushed by a great passion for sport that led him to win various international titles in the ffshore category including the World Title) he maintains interest in sports facilities.

Between the 80s and 90s, he acquires important job orders as the definitive draft of Stadio Delle Alpi in Turin, the realization of “Sportilia, City of Sport”, the Euganeo stadium in Padova, the stadium of Salò and he wins the international competition for the stadium and the sports palace for Mediterranean Games in Tunis.

In the same years he collaborated with world famous architects such as Aldo Rossi and Ron Lubinsky. On the basis of these experiences, between 2003 and 2006, he's called to design and direct the work for the new Juventus FC training center in Vinovo.

In 2007 demolition of the old Delle Alpi (which he had both designed and redesigned) was approved and Zavanella becomes Project Manager and Chief Architect of the Juventus new stadium, works on which started in 2009 and ended in 2011.

In 2009 he was awarded the “FIABA” prize as a designer of the first stadium in Italy without architectural barriers. From 2007 to date he receives multiple job orders for the design of complexes of international level including:

  • Palermo Stadium, Italy
  • Palermo Training Centre, Italy
  • Viareggio Stadium, Italy
  • AS Roma Stadium named after the President Franco Sensi, Italy
  • Stadium and commercial Centre & Museum in Rijeka, Croatia
  • Olympic complex in Mostagamen, Algeria
  • Hellas Verona FC Training Centre, Italy
  • Restyling of Dall'Ara stadium, Bologna, Italy
  • Extension of Bologna FC Training Centre in Casteldebole, Italy
  • Auditorium and Multifunctional Center, Sulmona, Italy

Jury Vote Regulations

  1. The Jury Vote runs independently from the Popular Vote. Its result will reveal our second Stadium of the Year winner.
  2. The Jury consists of highly-experienced architects from various countries. Each year we invite different specialists with fresh experiences in stadium design.
  3. Each Juror ranks every stadium individually. First, a quick round reveals shortlist of 10 finalist stadiums. Then every nominated stadium is ranked in three categories: architectural value, functionality and innovation.
  4. The stadiums are graded based on best available audio-visual materials and texts. Due to extremely limited schedule visits to the sites are impossible. The criteria are limited only to aspects possible to verify at this early stage of each stadium’s operation as many venues still have work to be done in the future and should not be scrutinised unnecessarily.
  5. Announcement of the result is expected around March 7-8, 2019, along with results of the Popular Vote. Date subject to change depending on vote progress.