Ellis Park Stadium, Sports stadium in Doornfontein, South Africa.
Ellis Park Stadium is an oval rugby and football ground in Doornfontein, Johannesburg, with a grass pitch ringed by a running track and goalposts at one end. Tiered seating wraps the field: orange-red lower rows, grey upper rows and a red roof ring above, with a white canopy trimmed in red over the near side. A white crane stands beside the exterior.
The arena was built between 1927 and 1928 and opened as a major venue for the growing sports scene in Johannesburg. The stadium hosted the 1995 Rugby World Cup Final between South Africa and New Zealand.
The ground is named after J. D. Ellis, the Johannesburg City Council official who made the Doornfontein land available, and it has carried sponsored names since 2008: Coca-Cola Park, then Emirates Airline Park from 2015 to June 2025, and 10bet Ellis Park from July 2026. It is home to the Golden Lions in the Currie Cup and the Lions in the United Rugby Championship, and has also staged concerts by Whitney Houston, The Rolling Stones and Eminem.
Ellis Park sits in Doornfontein, south-east of central Johannesburg, within a sporting precinct that also holds Johannesburg Stadium, Standard Bank Arena, Ellis Park Tennis Stadium and an Olympic-class swimming pool. Rising crime in Doornfontein has affected stadium-goers and attendances, prompting calls for South African rugby to move elsewhere. The stadium is served by both football and rugby fixtures, so check which sport is on before travelling.
In 2005 the arena became the first stadium in South Africa under Black ownership. This change marked a turning point in the history of South African sports infrastructure after the end of apartheid.
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