Key facts
- Location
- Basel , Switzerland
- Owner
- Genossenschaft Stadion St. Jakob-Park
- Operator
- Basel United AG
- Capacity
- 38,512 ( Football ) , 37,500 (for international matches) , 40,000 ( Concerts )
- Surface
- Grass
- Opened
- 15 March 2001
- Expanded
- 2005–2006
- Construction cost
- CHF 220 million (2001)
- Architect
- Herzog & de Meuron
via Wikipedia infobox
Article
St. Jakob-Park ( Swiss Standard German: [zaŋkt ˈjaːkɔb ˌpark] ) is a Swiss sports stadium in Basel. It is the largest football venue in Switzerland and home to FC Basel. "Joggeli", as the venue is nicknamed by the locals, was originally built with a capacity of 33,433 seats. The capacity was increased to 42,500 for Euro 2008, which was hosted by Austria and Switzerland. After the tournament, a number of seats were removed, thus creating more space between them. The capacity was therefore reduced to 38,512 for Swiss Super League matches or 37,500 seats for international matches The maximum capacity for concerts is 40,000.
The stadium is named after the village of St. Jakob an der Birs, which stood on the site. The name "Joggeli" is the diminutive of "Jakob" in the local dialect, making it the equivalent of "Jake".