The stadium name deal between Power Horse and UD Almeria has not been renewed. The club assures that it is already negotiating with a new sponsor, but until these result in an agreement, the venue will take a temporary name. At the same time, questions about whether the current capacity is sufficient are being raised.

Change of sponsor

The two-year stadium naming deal between energy drink manufacturer Power Horse and the Andalusian club has come to an end, and the venue will be temporarily renamed UD Almería Stadium. Estadio de los Juegos Mediterráneos remains as the second name of the venue, as the announcement reads.

The club received €4 million from the two-year contract. Now, however, Almería wants a long-term contract and, as revealed, is already in talks with a new potential sponsor. However, it is possible that for the first few games of this La Liga season Hypermotion stadium will still carry a temporary name.

© Frank Jasperneite

Crowd of socios, stadium increasingly cramped

There are claims that the Estadio de los Juegos Mediterráneos is too small to accommodate all the fans. Indeed, Almeria reached a record 15,000 socios, with around 12,000 renewing their passes after the 2023/24 season and the remaining 3,000 passes being bought within... six hours.

The total capacity of the stadium is 18,331 seats, but the club has to leave seats free for rival fans and for online purchase. This raises the question of whether UD Almería have outgrown their stadium. Last season, with a slightly lower number of socios, the stadium was filled in around 70% of the stadium's capacity (12 900 fans per game), which was the third worst percentage in La Liga. At that time, however, the club did not get its head above the relegation zone for a single round, which negatively affected attendance.

This summer, the club's authorities planned to remove the athletics track, lower the playing area and bring the stands closer to the pitch, increasing the capacity to 25,000 seats. These plans were thwarted by relegation and have not been implemented for the time being. However, the club has left itself a wicket, having previously announced that the work would be carried out in 2027 or 2028 at the latest.

© StadionTour.at