The Gelsenkirchen stadium proved to be Germany’s most attended sports and entertainment venue in 2014, surpassing Munich’s Allianz Arena. 2,366,568 people visited the stadium.

Latest edition of Stadionwelt INSIDE magazine’s ranking shows a change of leadership in overall stadium attendance. Throughout 2014, the most attended sports venue was Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen. The stadium proved more successful in drawing people inside than Allianz Arena, last edition’s leader.

Of the overall 2,366,568 people to have visited Gelsenkirchen’s modern arena, vast majority are football fans of Schalke 04. Sporting events were attended by 1,559,236 people, entertainment events by 126,446 and corporate events formed the third largest group with 45,970 people.

© Schalke 04

Overall only Allianz Arena and Veltins Arena changed their positions compared to last year’s edition of the ranking. Below is the top five in terms of overall attendance:

1. Veltins Arena, Gelsenkirchen – 2,366,568 visitors;
2. Allianz Arena, Munich – 2,138,091 visitors;
3. Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund – 1,812,769 visitors;
4. Commerzbank Arena, Frankfurt – 1,602,293 visitors;
5. Imtech Arena, Hamburg – 1,539,500 visitors.

Munich still managed to remain on top in terms of sports events attendance. Thanks to hosting both Bayern and TSV 1860 games Allianz Arena dominated this aspect with 2,105,900 people. That’s over 300,000 more than the second Signal Iduna Park in Dortmund (1,775,329). Veltins Arena took third in sporting events with 1,559,236.

In terms of entertainment events Commerzbank Arena proved to be the most attractive destination, drawing 340,630 people. Meanwhile, in corporate events the Nurnberg’s Frankenstadion proved best with 86,330 visitors.