Stade de France

Infobox Stadium
stadium_name = Stade de France
nickname = St. Denis


UEFA
fullname = Stade De France
location = Saint Denis, France
built = 1995
opened = 1998
renovated =
closed =
demolished =
owner = Consortium Stade de France
operator = Consortium Stade de France
surface = Grass
construction_cost = €285 million
architect = Michel Macary
Aymeric Zublena
Michel Regembal
Claude Constantini
former_names =
tenants = France (Football)
France (Rugby)
Stade Français (some games)
2003 World Championships in Athletics
seating_capacity = 80,000
dimensions = 105 x 70 m
The Stade de France is a stadium in Saint-Denis, France in the inner suburbs of Paris. It has a capacity of around 80,000. The stadium is currently used for the French rugby union team during the Six Nations and other internationals. The French football team also use the stadium for almost every home game, and it was there where they defeated Brazil 3-0 in the 1998 FIFA World Cup final. Paris's main rugby club, Stade Français, have also regularly used the stadium as a home ground in recent years. Stade de France is also the venue for the Top 14 (the domestic rugby championship) final, the France football Cup final and the French football league Cup (called League Cup) final every year. Stade de France has been the host for the Race of Champions for the past three years. In 2007, it hosted several matches of the Rugby World Cup, including the final (as of 2007 no other stadium has hosted the final of both a FIFA World Cup and a Rugby World Cup). The stadium can also be reconfigured to house a running track for track and field events, which was the case when the stadium played host to the 2003 World Championships in Athletics.

History

The Stade de France is the national stadium of France, built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. It hosted one of France's greatest sporting triumphs to date—the 3-0 victory over Brazil in the World Cup final on July 12, 1998. This was the first time that France had won the World Cup, as well as the first time in twenty years that a host nation had captured the title. Previously played at Parc des Princes, the Top 16 (French rugby championship, now the Top 14) final was moved permanently to Stade de France that year. Parisian team Stade Français defeated USA Perpignan 34-7 in May of that year. The following year it hosted one match of the Welsh hosted 1999 Rugby World Cup, a quarter-final, where the Springboks defeated England 44-21.

tructure

The stadium, which was built by Bouygues, [ [http://www.bouygues.com/us/groupe/fiches/pop_stade_france.html Bouygues website: Stade de France] ] Dumez and SGE [ [http://www.vinci.com/vinci.nsf/en/history-sites.htm?OpenAgent&stade_de_france Vinci website: Stade de France] ] has a movable stand which can be retracted to uncover part of the athletics track. [cite web|url=http://www.stadefrance.fr/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=122&Itemid=257|title=Stade de France - Key figures]

Name

The word "France" in "Stade de France" does not refer to the country of FranceFact|date=October 2007, but it refers to an area, or "pays", of the historical province of Île de France known as "pays de France". Île-de-France was made up of several "pays": "pays de France", Parisis, Mantois, Hurepoix, and so on. "Pays de France" was the extremely fertile plain located immediately north of the city of Paris, with the city of Saint-Denis at its centre. "Pays de France" is now almost entirely built-up, being covered by the northern suburbs of Paris. "Pays de France" is also known as the "plaine de France" ("plain of France"), and the name of this old "pays" still appears in the name of some towns in the northern suburbs of Paris, such as Roissy-en-France (which means "Roissy in the "pays de France"). Thus, the name of the stadium was chosen to give it a local touch, as it is located in the "plaine de France", but of course most people outside of France are not aware of this factFact|date=October 2007, and assume it is named for the country. In fact, the new national stadium of Switzerland is called Stade de Suisse in presumed homage to the Stade de France. The stadium's owner and operator, Consortium Stade de France, asserts registered trademark status for the name "Stade de France."

Concert events

Since its opening in 1998, the Stade de France has become a popular touring venue for high-profile recording artists. These include:

Johnny Hallyday (1998, 2009) (6 shows) Mylene Farmer (2009) (2 shows) Jean-Jacques Goldman (2000) (2 shows)The Rolling Stones (1998, 2003, 2006, 2007) (4 shows)U2 (2006) (2 shows)Celine Dion (1999) (2 shows)
Madonna (2008) (2 shows)Andrew Rieu (2009) (1 show)The Police (2007) (2 shows)Tina Turner (2000) (1 show)George Michael (2007) (1 show)
The Pussycat Dolls (2008) (1 show)

Tenants

The Stade de France has no regular tenant, and remains empty for the majority of the year, though Stade Français have moved numerous games there in recent years. Repeated attempts to convince a professional football or rugby team to move there have failed so far. Paris Saint-Germain has remained at Parc des Princes under pressure from its parent company (pay-TV network Canal Plus) and the Paris city government.

However, recent developments make it conceivable that Stade de France may eventually gain a semi-regular tenant. The Paris rugby club Stade Français gambled on scheduling their Top 14 home fixture on 15 October 2005 against Toulouse at Stade de France. Stade Français's president, Max Guazzini, publicly said that the club would have to sell 25,000 to 30,000 tickets to break even. Three weeks before the match, 61,000 tickets had been sold, setting a French record for tickets sold to a league match for any sport, including football. The final attendance was 79,454, smashing the national attendance record for a league match in any sport by more than 20,000. Five minutes before the end of the Toulouse match, Guazzini announced to the crowd that Stade Français's scheduled home fixture against Biarritz in March 2006 would also be held at Stade de France. [ [http://www.planet-rugby.com/Tournaments/Top_14/story_46763.shtml Plant Rugby news story] ] The Stade-Biarritz match broke the attendance record from earlier in the season, with 79,604 present.

Guazzini then booked Stade de France for the same two league fixtures in 2006-07. The Biarritz match on 16 October 2006 drew 79,619, making this the third consecutive Stade Français fixture at Stade de France to set an all-time French attendance record. The record was broken yet again at the Toulouse match on 27 January 2007, with 79,741 filling the stands.

Even with the lack of a regular league tenant, the stadium will see a large revenue increase as it will be used extensively during the highly anticipated 2007 Rugby World Cup in France where it will host numerous pool matches, a quarterfinal match, both of the semi finals and the final.

The Lille OSC football team played all its "home" games in European competition during the 2005-06 season, both in the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Cup, at Stade de France because its own stadium was then under renovation, and the only nearer alternative on French soil, Stade Félix-Bollaert, was not available as that ground's occupant, Lille's local rival Lens, was also participating in the UEFA Cup. Stade de France has hosted the Champions League final on 2 occasions: 2000 (Real Madrid CF 3 Valencia CF 0), and 2006(FC Barcelona 2 Arsenal F.C. 1).

References

External links

* [http://www.stadefrance.fr Stade de France Website]
* [http://www.planet-rugby.com/stats/grounds/index.phtml/p_r/ENG?venueCode=PARS&setCode=archive Stats for all rugby matches played at the Stade de France]
* [http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/ Rugby World Cup 2007]
* [http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=686540f090eecd0f4c6777fed7c8d2f4 Le Stade de France 3D model (GoogleSketchup)]