Planet Group arena, Football stadium in Ghent, Belgium.
The Planet Group arena, also called Arteveldestadion, is a multi-use football stadium in Ghent seating 20,185. Its lower tier is an open stand of grey concrete steps with blue and white seats, covered by a roof of pale translucent panels on grey steel beams and tall white columns. The facade carries the illuminated sign "Planet Group arena" above rows of blue vertical lights.
Plans for a new stadium on the Groothandelsmarkt site were announced by alderman Daniël Termont on 12 May 2003, but financing problems delayed the foundation stone until 18 September 2008. The city reached a final agreement with developer Ghelamco in June 2010, and construction began that October. The stadium was inaugurated on 17 July 2013 with a 2–0 win over VfB Stuttgart and a performance by 2manydjs; its first competitive match on 4 August 2013 ended 2–1 against KV Mechelen. It replaced the Jules Ottenstadion, Gent's home since 1920.
The stadium's original planned name, Arteveldestadion, referred to Jacob van Artevelde, the 14th-century Ghent leader. The name Ghelamco Arena, used from 2013, came from the construction company; the GHELAMCO letters were removed from the roof on 30 June 2023, and the venue became KAA Gent Arena before being renamed Planet Group arena on 2 April 2024.
The stadium has 1,200 parking spots, mainly reserved for staff, security, press, VIPs and disabled visitors, plus about 1,000 carpool spaces within 1.2 km. On match days shuttle buses run between the arena and Woodrow Wilson Square in the city centre, and bus lines 65 and 67 connect Gent-Sint-Pieters railway station with the ground.
The stadium's roof carried the letters GHELAMCO until 30 June 2023, when the naming-rights contract with constructor Ghelamco ended and the letters were removed. The ground was then called KAA Gent Arena for the 2023-24 season before becoming Planet Group arena on 2 April 2024.
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