A walk through the catacombs quickly makes it clear that there is still a lot to do here. Wooden pallets, plastic canisters and a lot of packaging material lie on the floor, various spotlight parts are still scattered around and waiting to be installed. In addition, cables are still sticking out of the ceilings in several places. The SAP Garden – the ultra-modern sports arena in Munich’s Olympic Park – is still a construction site just a few days before the grand opening. It feels as if the first spectators and the last construction workers are still crossing paths on the day of the opening as they go in and out.
Next Friday is the day: the SAP Garden in the far west of the Olympic Park will open with an ice hockey game between EHC Red Bull Munich, who will play all their home games there from now on, and the Buffalo Sabres from the North American professional league NHL. The open day will then take place on Saturday. For organizational reasons, interested parties had to secure a free ticket in mid-September, and the 20,000 available tickets were sold out within a few days.
All those who have managed to get a ticket can look forward to several shows on September 28, including the dance group “Flying Steps”. The arena’s circulation area is also open and freely accessible. On October 3, FC Bayern Basketball will also be appearing in the modern arena for the first time, celebrating its premiere in the Euroleague against the traditional Spanish club Real Madrid. In total, the Bayern basketball players will play at least 20 games in the SAP Garden this season, with the rest continuing to take place in the BMW Park in Westpark. The new hall can accommodate up to 11,500 spectators for FCB home games, and slightly fewer for ice hockey (maximum 10,796).
The arena was built over four years and has a lot to offer spectators. It extends over eight levels, three of which are underground. In total, two thirds of the hall’s volume is underground, which is why it “only” rises 20 metres above the ground. Up there, there is a 600 square metre roof terrace with a view of the Olympic Park. 13 kiosks and a restaurant, which is also open when there are no games, will provide for the spectators’ culinary well-being. The various VIP areas are spread over four levels, the largest of which can accommodate more than 300 people. A special feature is the so-called Players Club: only a glass wall separates up to 40 guests from the players’ tunnel. This allows them to watch the professional athletes prepare in the final moments before they enter the field.
EHC coach Toni Söderholm, who as a former national coach and Finnish national player has experienced a lot both at player and coach level, says: “The feeling of standing there is really something special.” Söderholm got his first taste of this almost two weeks ago when the EHC completed a game day test run – including music, a laser show and more than 1,000 spectators, most of them workers from the companies involved in the construction.
The operators want to score points with sustainability
For the first time, they all enjoyed one of the brightest highlights inside or the “heart of the media technology installation”, as Marc Doderer, the manufacturer’s managing director, calls the video cube. With its 209 square meters of total projection surface and around 41 million built-in LEDs, it is the largest LED video cube in ice hockey Germany. It weighs 16 tons. “A real beast,” says Doderer. “The fans can look forward to something they have never seen before in Europe,” enthuses Oliver Wesp, managing director of the SAP Gardens, who calls it a “unique piece” that is not off the shelf.
There is also a 263-meter-long fascia board. This runs through the entire interior of the arena at the level of the upper tier and informs spectators about what is happening on the field using animations and videos as well as images and text. There are also more than 500 TV screens distributed throughout the arena. The surrounding LED board, which can be digitally displayed on around 124 square meters, is also state-of-the-art. The operators hope that this will provide “new possibilities for visual effects” and that show elements will also be integrated into the gaming experience.
There are several options for getting there. There are several public stations nearby, the closest being the Olympiapark West tram stop. If you’re coming by bike, there are 600 parking spaces around the stadium. There are several parking options for drivers, and tickets are available on site as usual or can be booked online in advance. The operators also want to score points in terms of sustainability. The waste heat from the refrigeration machines is used to partially cover the hall’s heating requirements.
The 260 vertical elements on the outside, which are visually reminiscent of ice hockey sticks, are made of recycled aluminum and reduce direct sunlight through the glass front. This is intended to prevent a greenhouse effect. According to the operators, the 799 photovoltaic modules on the roof generate so much electricity that one of the four ice surfaces can be fully operated. From Friday, however, the focus will be on the interior of the hall.