August 2023 News Ready for the 2nd Bundesliga
Following its promotion to the 2nd German Bundesliga, SV Elversberg is continuing to push forward and is gradually expanding its Ursapharm Arena. Event construction company NUSSLI is on board, equipping the stadium with two modular grandstands in preparation for the upcoming second-division matches.
By 2025, SV Elversberg’s home stadium, the Ursapharm Arena, is expected to meet the standards for the second division. To do so, it must satisfy the requirements set by the German Football League (DFL) and the German Football Association (DFB) for the 2nd Bundesliga.
Among other things, the DFL requires fully covered spectator seating and a minimum spectator capacity of 15,000 seats. To maintain match operations until then, SVE is relying on NUSSLI’s proven solutions, which provide the required spectator capacity in the shortest possible time using grandstands made of modular construction materials.
The challenges that newly promoted teams face are a mammoth task: The time factor alone puts a lot of pressure on the clubs. Added to this are technical specifications that must be met, and of course the financial considerations.
Step-by-step renovation of the stadium with temporary grandstands
The North Stand (located on the opposite straight) and the West Stand (currently the visitors’ stand) were demolished, and the infield was expanded. As a result, the stadium’s capacity was reduced to approximately 7,500 seats. NUSSLI has erected temporary grandstands on the vacated areas.
“The new temporary west stand now features around 1,400 standing spaces and 700 seats for visiting fans,” explains Oktay Öztürk, NUSSLI’s project manager, describing the first phase of the stadium renovation.
And as early as the 2023/24 winter break, NUSSLI will replace the temporarily installed North Stand with a larger, semi-permanent grandstand in close coordination with SVE. It will offer visiting fans approximately 935 standing and 625 seated seats, and home fans around 790 standing and 545 seated seats, as well as protection from rain and sun thanks to a trapezoidal steel roof.
The grandstand is clad on all sides and at the entrances with high-quality sheet metal or, above 3.0 m, with mesh tarps, and is equipped with a buffer block and a clip-on fence.
The two temporary structures, which together provide approximately 5,000 spectator seats, will increase the stadium’s total capacity from the current 7,500 to 12,500 seats. Combined with the corresponding exemption granted by the DFL, this ensures that the club can host its upcoming second-division matches at its home stadium, the Ursapharm Arena. In the second phase of expansion, capacity will be increased once again, so that the final stadium will provide the required 15,000 seats by 2025.
Temporary solutions with high-quality construction
Like SV Elversberg, other soccer clubs have already used NUSSLI’s semi-permanent temporary grandstand solutions to quickly upgrade their stadiums to a high standard in preparation for promotion to a higher league.
Bernd Helmstadt, Director of Business Development at NUSSLI, describes the challenges that newly promoted teams face as a mammoth task. “The time factor alone puts a lot of pressure on the clubs. Added to this are technical specifications that must be met, and of course the financial considerations,” he says.
With experience from successful project implementations — such as most recently at SV Darmstadt 98, Kieler SV Holstein, and Karlsruher SC — NUSSLI understands the requirements associated with promotion and has developed flexible solutions that can be implemented during the summer break or even the even shorter winter break.
Above all, semi-permanent grandstands and stadium solutions relieve clubs of much of the financial pressure that comes with promotion. A semi-permanent stadium is built to the highest construction standards, meets all technical requirements, and can be adapted to changing conditions as needed. This allows it to remain in place for years, offering fans the best possible match experience and giving club officials time to make decisions and plan for the future.