The year 2000 was a good one for FC Bayern. Firstly, SpVgg Unterhaching provided some unforgettable neighborly assistance in May 2000 by beating Bayer Leverkusen, granting FC Bayern the national championship after all. On the other hand, the record champion, who also won the Champions League against Valencia a year later, concluded the first contract with the Munich-based insurance group.
33 Facts for 33 Years
Here is what you need to know about Allianz's partnership with FC Bayern!
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The first joint project between Allianz and FC Bayern caused a national sensation, this was the construction of the Allianz Arena. The first foundations were laid on October 21, 2002, and the arena was officially handed over on April 30, 2005, at a total cost of 340 million euros.
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There were no less than three opening matches in the arena - two official ones, the first on May 30, 2005 (TSV 1860 vs 1. FC Nürnberg) and the second taking place the following day between FC Bayern and the German national team. However, the first match had already taken place on May 19, between TSV 1860 and FC Bayern Munich. The first goal in the new arena was scored by Peter Pacult for TSV 1860 Munich, which also won the very first match 3:2. Ludwig Kögl and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge scored FC Bayern's goals.
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In February 2014, the vital partnership became even more intense. Allianz SE secured exactly 8.33 percent of FC Bayern München AG for 110 million euros, the same amount as the two other sponsors, Adidas and Audi. FC Bayern used the proceeds to pay off the remaining debts from the construction of the Arena and invest in its youth training center.
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But it's not just soccer where the partnership works. At the first Allianz Move Now camp in August 2022, on the campus of FC Bayern, 35 children were invited to try out different sports such as basketball or athletics. The Allianz MoveNow initiative aims to motivate young people to get back into sports and increase their participation. This initiative came after a study commissioned by Allianz showed that 39 percent of children, and 54 percent of young people, are less active in sports than they were before the pandemic.
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In 2017, the FC Bayern Campus opened in the north of Munich and has long been the sporting home of almost 200 players, 70 staff members, and over 100 employees. Together with Allianz, FC Bayern has also been producing FC Bayern Campus Stories at the Campus. This is a six part ‘TV series’, but it’s designed for tablet and smartphone devices, giving a glimpse behind the scenes and showing every day activities at the FC Bayern Campus.
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Many soccer fans still perceive the shirt sponsor as the most important of all sponsors. In this respect, Allianz has been very present through the FC Bayern's women's team since the start of the 2013/2014 season, as the lettering with the stylized eagle has been emblazoned on the striking red shirts, under the FC Bayern logo. In general, Allianz has shown itself to be a supporter of women's soccer, supporting both the German national team and the Bundesliga women's soccer as a name sponsor.
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The FC Bayern World Squad is an FC Bayern project that selects U19 players from all over the world who dream of becoming professional footballers. Allianz supports this project.
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Since 2018, representatives from Allianz Sales have been organizing the ‘Allianz Juniors Cup’, running youth soccer tournaments every year with their local clubs all throughout Germany. As part of the partnership with FC Bayern, a signed jersey of an FC Bayern professional is raffled off at each event, and the FC Bayern players support Allianz Sales in promoting the tournament series.
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All sorts of things are rated these days, so it's no surprise that the Allianz Arena has already collected an enormous number of Google reviews. In mid-February 2023, there were 59,335 reviews. The rating is very positive, with 4.6 out of 5.0 stars.
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Allianz offers a free shuttle service for all FC Bayern home games, this is for all fans with limited mobility, seniors, and families with small children.
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The partnership has long since extended beyond the naming of the arena, to include men's, women's and youth teams, digital content, and social media. In addition to marketing aspects, the aim is to communicate socially relevant values such as inclusion, diversity, sustainability and fair play.
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The arena offers space for a total of 75,021 spectators at national matches. There are currently exactly 57,343 seats and 13,794 standing places. In addition, there are 1374 box seats, 2152 business seats and 966 sponsor seats.
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On July 23, 2013, the "Allianz FC Bayern Team Presentation" took place in the Arena for the first time. On one hand, the idea behind it was for fans to get together with their idols. And on the other hand, the aim was to make the arena accessible to people who rarely (or never) get their hands on tickets, or can't afford them at all.
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FC Bayern's women are now also playing in the arena more often. The first time was in March 2022 against Paris Saint-Germain in front of 13,000 spectators. The second appearance was against FC Barcelona in December 2022, and saw 24,000 spectators enjoy the game.
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Allianz and FC Bayern also work together to promote young people all over the world. Since 2009, international youth camps and tournaments have been held in more than 35 countries – for both girls and boys since the very beginning. At the end of such Allianz Juniors Cup tournament series, the overall winners are determined in Munich. Allianz offers the participating children tournament days at the FC Bayern Campus, and of course visits to the arena and meetings with FC Bayern legends and professional players.
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The exterior of the Allianz Arena is also illuminated time and again for special moments unrelated to soccer. It shone purple for World Disability Day, blue to draw attention to SOS Children's Villages and UNICEF, and the colors of the rainbow for Christopher Street Day.
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At 3050 square meters, Germany's largest club museum shows the entire 123-year history of FC Bayern in the arena. In addition to a vast collection of championship trophies and cups, there are films, interactive experiences, jerseys and shoes from various eras, a presidium room in its original state, and the advertising buoy that Jürgen Klinsmann once stepped into.
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Another important fact is that in the entire stadium area of the Allianz Arena, there are a total of 1121 toilets. In addition, the arena has the largest parking garage in Europe with 9800 spaces.
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Of course, fan with disabilities can also enjoy soccer at the Allianz Arena. 227 seats are available for people in wheelchairs, and 20 headsets are available for blind people, for whom commentary on the game is also provided by specially appointed reporters.
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The player’s cabins in the ultra-modern Allianz Arena bear little resemblance to the stuffy dark chambers in which many amateur soccer players have to change. There is plenty of space, exactly 65.5 square meters per cabin, and showers comprising of 22 square meters.
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The arena's two video panels have an impressive 4,471,200 pixels at a resolution of 3240x1380, offering almost 4K quality. With a width of 21.6 meters and a height of 9.20 meters, the weight of the giant TVs is stately, weighing 18 tons in total!
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On November 13, 2022, a regular-season game of the North American National Football League (NFL) was played in Germany for the first time at the Allianz Arena. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, with quarterback star Tom Brady, won 21:16 against the Seattle Seahawks. The organizers could have sold a good three million tickets for the game, for which the stadium and stands had to be extensively rebuilt, but the arena could only hold 69,811.
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More distinctive than any other feature in any stadium in the world are the air-filled membrane cushions, of which a total of 2784 were installed. They vary in size, from 7.6 to 40.7 square meters.
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The first competitive match in the new arena took place on August 5, 2005, on the first matchday of the Bundesliga, 2005/2006 season. FC Bayern München defeated Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-0, with Owen Hargreaves and Roy Makaay scoring twice.
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By becoming a shareholder in 2014, Allianz also secured the naming rights to the arena until 2041.
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Although the Arena in Munich was the first, it is no longer the only stadium to bear the Allianz name. Others include; Nice (Allianz Riviera, 35,624 seats), Sao Paulo (Allianz Parque, 55,000 seats), Sydney (Allianz Stadium, 42,500 seats), St. Paul/Minnesota (Allianz Field, 19,400 seats), Vienna (Allianz Stadium, 28,000 seats) and Turin (Allianz Stadium, 41,500 seats), where the iconic lettering also shines on the outer shell of the arena.
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On May 19, 2012, the Allianz Arena was the venue for the Champions League final, often dubbed as "Finale Dahoam" (Home Finale). The guests in Munich were Chelsea FC from London. And the evening was dramatic. First, the English team managed to equalize in the 88th minute, despite FC Bayern being better in all statistical respects (the corner ratio was about 17:1). In the penalty shootout, Bastian Schweinsteiger, of all people, failed to score. But there is still a chance to make amends, the next Champions League final at the Allianz Arena will take place in 2025.
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In addition to FC Bayern Munich, Allianz also supports many other sports clubs that have enormous appeal. For example, the women's volleyball team of MTV Allianz Stuttgart, the handball team of SC DHfK Leipzig, the women's basketball team of Alba Berlin, and also the wheelchair basketball teams of Alba Berlin and Ratiopharm Ulm.
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On May 24, 2015, the FC Bayern men celebrated their first joint double together with the FCB women at Marienplatz.
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The blue Allianz Arena lettering on the outer shell of the arena also features some impressive numbers: each letter is four meters high and 25 centimeters deep. The total length of the lettering is 39.83 meters. The Allianz eagle has a diameter of 5.14 meters.
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So, is it all worth it? The answer seems clear: Allianz systematically measures Return on Marketing Investment (ROMI), and FC Bayern is one of our strongest assets.
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On March 21, 2023, FC Bayern and Allianz announced the extension of their partnership for another ten years - and also unveiled the new Ready Coach program. We are looking forward to the next decade!
Sources:
- https://allianz-arena.com/de/die-arena/fakten-historie/allgemeine-informationen
- https://www.allianz.de/themen/fc-bayern/?AZMEDID=Koop_TH-PartnerschaftFCBayern_PA-FCBayernMuenchen_KA-2022.09.06%7Copen%7CFCBayernTeampresentation
- https://www.tz.de/muenchen/stadt/fc-bayern-1860-muenchen-steckt-grundstein-allianz-arena-zr-5864455.html
- https://www.ran.de/us-sport/nfl/news/nfl-deutschlandspiel-seattle-seahawks-tampa-bay-buccaneers-vorverkauf-tickets-muenchen-153805
- https://www.sueddeutsche.de/sport/neuer-anteilseigner-allianz-steigt-beim-fc-bayern-ein-1.1886121
- https://www.allianz.com/de/ueber-uns/why-we-are-here/our-partnerships/stadien.html
About Allianz
The Allianz Group is one of the world’s leading insurers and asset managers, active in almost 70 countries and serving around 97 million private and corporate customers*. Our customers benefit from a broad range of personal and corporate insurance services, ranging from property, life and health insurance to assistance services to credit insurance and global business insurance. Recognized for the seventh consecutive year as the number one global insurance brand in Interbrand’s Best Global Brands 2025 ranking, Allianz’s success is built on technology-enabled customer centricity – providing peace of mind, protection, and prevention for our customers and strengthening the resilience of individuals, communities, and societies. We are one of the world’s largest investors, managing around 764 billion euros** on behalf of our insurance customers. Furthermore, our asset managers PIMCO and Allianz Global Investors manage about 2.0 trillion euros** of third-party assets. Thanks to our systematic integration of environmental and social criteria in our business processes and investment decisions, Allianz received an MSCI ESG Rating of AAA (as of March 2026). In 2025, our 156,000 dedicated employees achieved a total business volume of 186.9 billion euros and an operating profit of 17.4 billion euros for our shareholders.
* Customer count reflects Allianz customers in consolidated entities that are part of the customer reporting scope only.
** As of December 31, 2025.
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