Bayern Munich buy ex-Bundesliga stadium for women's team

Bayern Munich are set to purchase a larger stadium for their women's team. The club's CEO described the move as "another milestone" for Bayern's women's program.

The deal announced this week will see Bayern Munich become the owners of the Sportpark Unterhaching stadium on January 1, 2026, through a subsidiary that operates the men's home ground, the Allianz Arena. It is reported to be worth an initial €7.5 million ($8.8 million) plus costs associated with renovations to the facility, to be conducted over the next few years.

"The acquisition of Sportpark Unterhaching is another milestone in the overall development of our FC Bayern Women," Bayern Munich CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen said in a statement announcing the move.

"The new sporting home of our women's team will meet UEFA requirements and also satisfy spectator demand in the future."

Major capacity upgrade

The growth of women's football in Germany appears to have been a major contributing factor to the move. The Bayern Campus Arena, where the women currently play, holds just 2,500 spectators – and 10 of last season's 11 home matches were sold out. The Unterhaching stadium, about 20 kilometers from the Allianz Arena, was home to men's Bundesliga football at the turn of the century and has a capacity of 15,000. The men's side that play there, Spielvereinigung Unterhaching, were recently relegated to the Bavarian regional league.

The deal will also see Bayern acquire three training pitches and a clubhouse with a restaurant and beer garden – all located in the direct vicinity of the stadium. 

"We're very proud to have found a new home here," Bayern's director of women's football, Bianca Rech, told journalists gathered at the Sportpark on Wednesday.

The plan is for Bayern's women to start playing all of their Champions League games in Unterhaching starting next season. Bayern are to start playing their Women's Bundesliga games in the stadium starting in 2029, by which time they hope to have moved the entire women's program to the complex.

Dreesen conceded that this would be a large investment that wouldn't immediately bring financial reward, but noted it was all about the longer term.

"We believe in women's football, otherwise we wouldn't be taking this step," he said.

"Following the founding of the Women's Bundesliga e.V., the aim is to send a signal to German football."

Women's football in Germany also received a boost when the country was recently chosen to host the 2029 European Championship.

Former Bundesliga club get new landlords

As for the current tenants of the stadium, who spent the 1999-2000 and 2000-01 seasons in the Bundesliga, little should change. Bayern are purchasing the stadium from the municipality of Unterhaching, a southern Munich suburb. So the club will go from being a tenant of the city to a tenant of Bayern Munich. After the city had announced plans to sell the facility, the Unterhaching club expressed interest in purchasing it themselves, but came to the conclusion that they simply couldn't afford it.

"This (the deal) means we'll retain our sporting home at the stadium in the Sportpark, and infrastructure measures will ensure it is fit for the future with the ever-growing demands of professional football," Unterhaching President Manfred Schwabl, a former Bayern midfielder said.

The two clubs are joined not only by Schwabl's connection to his former club, but also by a quirk of Bundesliga history. On May 20, 2000 – the last matchday of the season – Unterhaching beat top-of-the-table Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 in the Sportpark – allowing Bayern to climb above Leverkusen and win the league.

Edited by: Matt Pearson