Milestone for professional football in Frankfurt
Intracht Frankfurt Fußball AG is about to implement a fundamental milestone for the long-term safeguarding and further development of professional football in Frankfurt.
On Thursday, Eintracht Frankfurt Fußball AG and the city of Frankfurt agreed on the key points regarding the future use and infrastructural development of the Commerzbank Arena from July 1, 2020. Both parties signed a letter of intent that sets out the key contents of the cooperation, which runs until June 30, 2035, and is to be converted into a comprehensive contract in the coming weeks.
The 2018 DFB Cup winners will in future have the unrestricted right to use the stadium, including the surrounding training ground, as a year-round tenant. This also includes the right to sublet the stadium to third parties for other events such as concerts (including the so-called "concert summer"), business events and other sporting events. In the course of this, Eintracht is also responsible for awarding the catering and marketing the right to use the name of the arena. The city will retain an annual own-use quota of 20 percent for its own events via Sportpark Stadion Frankfurt am Main Gesellschaft für Projektentwicklungen mbH. The ownership company will also assume responsibility for technical facility management.
In addition, the city of Frankfurt will expand the stadium to a total capacity of up to 60,000 seats for Bundesliga operations by the start of the 2023/2024 season at the latest. The expansion measures will focus on converting seats to standing room in the upper tier of the northwest curve. In addition, the city will also be responsible for converting the premises on the opposite stand, which currently house Eintracht Frankfurt's offices and will be used to create additional hospitality space in the future. In return, the club undertakes to make extensive investments in the expansion and renewal of the stadium's digital infrastructure in the coming years.
Eintracht board member Axel Hellmann says: "We are delighted that, after long and not always easy discussions with the city, we have found a model of cooperation that can be described as a win-win-win situation for us, for the city, but also for fans, the public and the stadium's partners. Today's agreement ensures that the economic exploitation rights of the stadium will be transferred in full to Eintracht Frankfurt and that the stadium will be perceived much more strongly as Eintracht's home ground in the future, including in its design. Thus, 15 years after the opening of the Commerzbank Arena, we will be writing a new chapter as of next summer and will also be entering a new stage of development with regard to the business responsibilities of Eintracht Frankfurt Fußball AG. We will do our part to continue the arena's success story and also to further develop the stadium into a digital beacon for the region in the coming years in order to further strengthen Eintracht Frankfurt's competitiveness under its own steam."
City councillor Markus Frank emphasises: "In tough, but fair negotiations characterised by mutual respect, we have jointly succeeded in developing a sustainable and viable solution for the future operation of our arena and to involve our ownership company more closely than before in the operational business. With this letter of intent, the implementation of which in a contract is still subject to committee approval, we have taken all the different interests into account."
The contract for the operation of the Commerzbank Arena between the municipal Sportpark Stadion Frankfurt am Main Gesellschaft für Projektentwicklungen mbH (SSF) and the previous operator (Stadion Frankfurt Management GmbH), which has been in place since 2005, will end on June 30, 2020. The next step will now be the detailed negotiation of the contract. (Text: Eintracht Frankfurt Fussball AG)
