The City of Johannesburg’s iconic FNB Stadium was recently named the 13th most beautiful sports stadium in the world by British-based Online Betting Guide out of a total of 41 venues. The stadium, the only entry from Africa, gained the accolade after responses from fans from across the globe as well as analyses of Instagram hashtags. FNB Stadium, originally known as Soccer City, was built between 1986 and 1989. It received a major upgrade in 2009 in preparation for the 2010 Soccer World Cup. The stadium hosted the opening and final matches of the FIFA World Cup.
“It is used as a multipurpose venue and hosts everything from sporting events, conferences, church events and mega international artist concerts. The stadium also boasts a seating capacity of 94 000,” says Siyanda Mnukwa, the Director of Sport in City of Johannesburg.
Bertie Grobbelaar, the Chief Executive Officer of Stadium Management SA, is proud of the acknowledgement as it comes after a difficult period with no activity at the stadium during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“For 24 months during Covid-19, we had no events at the venues we manage, except for the PSL fixture behind closed doors. Effectively we had no income but the massive expense of maintaining four venues,” he says.
“The hardships experienced makes everything so worthwhile especially after being named the 13th most beautiful stadium in the world. It inspires us to continuously raise the bar of our own expectations.
We also share this recognition with the City of Johannesburg and specifically the Department Community Development,” Grobbelaar says.
Mnukwa says that FNB Stadium is government-owned property, built by the department of Public Works Department and the City of Johannesburg. Public Works assigned the stadium to the City on a 99-year lease agreement.
“It is called FNB Stadium because FNB bought the naming rights to the stadium. Part of the Stadium Management agreement on commercialising the venue is to diversify revenue streams and in so doing there is several legal rights that a venue like this one could exploit in the market. These include naming rights, image rights, advertising rights, hospitality, etc,” says Mnukwa.
He says Stadium Management SA manages FNB, Dobsonville, Orlando and Rand stadiums on behalf of the City of Johannesburg.
The award-winning stadium plans to host a number of events coming in 2023. The line-up includes the Imagine Dragons concert in February, the Soweto Derby, Monster Jam, a host of PSL Premiership matches, the Soweto Marathon, the Ride Joburg Cycle Challenge and some further international concerts to be announced soon.
“As the Stadium Management collective we will continue to treat and care about the venues we manage as we do with our personal homes. The small detail matters and therefore we will also carry on doing regular inspections and maintenance to avoid any deterioration outside of the normal wear and tear that occurs as a stadium gets older.
“I must also comment on the input of community cleaners assisting us with the pre-event and post-event cleaning as part of the community cleaning project managed in conjunction with the City of Johannesburg as a CSI project.