Popular Vote

The 12th edition of Stadium of the Year, the largest and longest-running open poll dedicated to sports architecture, is already behind us. Our aim was to select the best stadium to open in 2021.

At midnight [CET], on March 14, 2022, we closed the voting platform. A total of 12,873 valid votes were cast, thank you for your participation!

Complete results:

Place	Photo	Data
1 41,415 pts	pts	Estadio El Sadar Pamplona Spain team: Club Atlético Osasuna capacity: 23,516 construction time: 06/2019 - 03/2021 cost: €23.3 million design: OFS Architects
2 13,207 pts	pts	Estadio Único Madre de Ciudades Santiago del Estero Argentina team: CA Central Córdoba capacity: 30,000 construction time: 18/06/2018 - 15/05/2020 cost: ARS 1.5 billion design: Enrique Lombardi
3 13,174 pts	pts	Estadio Banco Guayaquil Quito Ecuador team: Independiente del Valle capacity: 12,000 construction time: 10/2020 – 02/2021 cost: $18 mln design: Design 3 International, Ekron Construcciones
4 10,057 pts	pts	Stadionul Steaua Bucharest Romania team: CSA Steaua capacity: 31,350 construction time: 02/2019 - 11/2020 cost: €94.7 million design: Graphic Studio, Popp & Asociații
5 8,840 pts	pts	Europa-Park Stadion Freiburg Germany team: Sport-Club Freiburg capacity: 34,700 construction time: 11/2018 - 2021 cost: €76.5 million design: HPP Architekten
6 8,825 pts	pts	Morodok Techo National Stadium Phnom Penh Cambodia team: - capacity: 60,000 construction time: 04/04/2017 - 16/08/2021 cost: CNY 1.1 billion design: IPPR International Engineering Corporation
7 8,123 pts	pts	Al Thumama Stadium Doha Qatar team: - capacity: 40,000 construction time: 01/03/2017 - 2021 cost: $342 million design: Ibrahim M. Jaidah (Arab Engineering Bureau), Fenwick Iribarren Architects, Heerim Architects
8 7,802 pts	pts	Al Bayt Stadium Al Khor Qatar team: - capacity: 60,000 construction time: 09/2015 - 2019 cost: €770 million design: Albert Speer & Partner GmbH, Dar Al-Handasah
9 7,436 pts	pts	Stade Omnisport Paul Biya Yaoundé Cameroon team: - capacity: 60,000 construction time: 07/03/2017 - 2022 cost: €240 million design: Eloy Suarez
10 6,983 pts	pts	Lower.com Field Columbus USA team: Columbus Crew capacity: 20,011 construction time: 10/10/2019 - 29/06/2021 cost: $313,9 million design: HNTB
11 6,027 pts	pts	Yeni Ordu Stadyumu Ordu Turkey team: Orduspor 1967, 52 Orduspor FK capacity: 20,000 construction time: 07/2017 - 2021 cost: TRY 162 million design: Alper Aksoy Architects
12 5,682 pts	pts	New American Legion Memorial Stadium Charlotte USA team: Charlotte Independence capacity: 10,500 construction time: 20/09/2019 - 23/06/2021 cost: $40.5 million design: Jenkins-Peer Architects, HOK Architects Corporation
13 5,484 pts	pts	Yeni Hatay Stadyumu Antakya Turkey team: Atakaş Hatayspor capacity: 25,000 construction time: 2016 - 2021 cost: TRY 142.9 million design: Alper Aksoy Architects & Erdem Dokuzer
14 5,466 pts	pts	Wild Horse Pass Stadium Chandler USA team: Phoenix Rising FC capacity: 10,000 construction time: 09/2020 - 04/2021 cost: ? design: Odell Associates
15 5,442 pts	pts	Çotanak Stadyumu Giresun Turkey team: Giresun Spor Klübü capacity: 22,028 construction time: 11/11/2016 - 12/2020 cost: TRY 153 million design: Bora Soykut, Azaksu Mimarlik
16 5,355 pts	pts	Yeni Adana Stadyumu Adana Turkey team: Adana Spor Kulübü, Adana Demir Spor Kulübü capacity: 33,543 construction time: 2014 - 2020 cost: TRY 140 million design: DB Architects
17 5,315 pts	pts	Al-Madina Stadium Baghdad Iraq team: - capacity: 32,000 construction time: 02/07/2012 - 18/12/2019 cost: $100 million design: Nurol İnşaat, Global Sport IQ
18 4,878 pts	pts	Stade Olympique d'Oran Oran Algeria team: MC Oran capacity: 40,143 construction time: 01/06/2010 - 06/2021 cost: $222.3 million design: ATSP, DVVD
19 4,788 pts	pts	Stadium 974 Doha Qatar team: - capacity: 40,000 construction time: 01/11/2019 - 11/2021 cost: ? design: Fenwick Iribarren Architects
20 4,774 pts	pts	Alsancak Mustafa Denizli Stadyumu Izmir Turkey team: Altay capacity: 15,000 construction time: 09/09/2017 - 11/2021 cost: TRY 130 million design: Alper Aksoy Mimarlik
21 4,730 pts	pts	TQL Stadium Cincinnati USA team: FC Cincinnati capacity: 26,000 construction time: 18/12/2018 - 06/03/2021 cost: $250 million design: Populous, Elevar
22 4,729 pts	pts	Protective Stadium Birmingham USA team: UAB Blazers, Birmingham Legion FC capacity: 45,000 construction time: 2020 - 2021 cost: $188 million design: Populous, Goodwyn Mills Cawood
23 4,563 pts	pts	Q2 Stadium Austin USA team: Austin FC capacity: 20,738 construction time: 09/09/2019 - 05/2021 cost: $260 million design: Gensler

Stadium of the Year Regulations

1. Voting schedule: Your votes will be accepted starting February 15, until midnight on March 14, 2021 (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 for voting 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. Because of such precautions you may find that multiple votes from on WiFi network could not be cast.
3. Nomination process schedule: Jan 13 – Feb 2, 2022. (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, costly text messages, e-mail submissions, liking us on facebook, following on Twitter or on Instagram (we do appreciate it, though!).
5. Nomination requirements: To be eligible, a stadium has to meet several criteria. It has to hold at least 10,000 people and be opened in 2021. Usually this means having all sections opened to the public, but due to 2021's COVID-19 lockdowns we also allow venues opened without fans. 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). However, football use has to be taken in mind.