The Planet Group Arena (also called Arteveldestadion) is a multi-use

stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...

Ghent Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, until 2024 known as Ghelamco Arena. It hosts the home matches of

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club

K.A.A. Gent Koninklijke Atletiek Associatie Gent (; English: ''Royal Athletic Association Ghent''), often simply known as Gent or by their nickname ' (), is a Belgian professional sports club, based in the city of Ghent, East Flanders. Their football tea ...

and was officially opened on 17 July 2013, making it the first newly built Belgian football stadium since 1974. The stadium seats 20,185 and replaced the

Jules Ottenstadion Jules Ottenstadion was a multi-purpose stadium in Gentbrugge, Ghent, Belgium. It was used mostly for football matches and used to be the home ground of K.A.A. Gent. The stadium held 12,919 seats and was built in 1920. It was replaced as the ...

, which had been Gent's home since 1920. The stadium hosted its first competitive match on 4 August 2013, when Gent won 2–1 over

KV Mechelen Yellow Red Koninklijke Voetbalclub Mechelen (), often called KV Mechelen (, KVM) or simply by their former French name Malinois /ˌmalɪˈnwɑː/, is a Belgian professional association football, football club based in Mechelen in the Antwerp (pr ...

History

Construction

On 12 May 2003 then-alderman of Ghent

Daniël Termont Daniël Termont (born 19 May 1953) is a Belgian politician, member of the Socialist Party and former mayor of Ghent, Belgium. He was the son of shopkeepers who lived in Mariakerke. His mother's family was strongly socialistically engaged. In ...

announced that as from the season 2006/07 the new stadium of KAA Gent would be situated on the site of the Groothandelsmarkt (''Trade Market''), near the R4 and the Ringvaart and close to the E17 and E40 motorways. The stadium would be given the name of ''Arteveldestadion'' (after

Jacob van Artevelde Jacob van Artevelde (; c. 1290 – 17 or 24 July 1345), sometimes written in English as James van Artvelde, also known as The Wise Man and the Brewer of Ghent, was a Flemish statesman and political leader. Biography Jacob Van Artevelde was b ...

) and should help in the further growth of the team. Due to multiple problems, including issued building permits and financial difficulties, it would take until 18 September 2008 before the official foundation stone could be laid by meanwhile mayor Daniël Termont and president of KAA Gent Ivan De Witte. In 2009 new problems concerning the financing of the stadium became public. In June 2010, the city of Ghent announced that it had come to a definitive agreement with real estate developer Ghelamco about the construction and exploitation of the stadium. After approval of the adapted lease agreement in the city council, which was realized during the meeting of October 2010, the construction works were started immediately. They were scheduled to be finished before the start of the

2012–13 Belgian Pro League The 2012–13 season of the Belgian Pro League (also known as ''Jupiler Pro League'' for sponsorship reasons) was the 110th season of top-tier football in Belgium. It started on 28 July 2012 with the first match of the regular season between Kor ...

, but were delayed one more year. On 31 May 2013, a few months before the official opening, it was officially announced that the stadium would be named ''Ghelamco Arena'', after the constructor. The stadium was officially inaugurated on 17 July 2013 with and

exhibition game An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the playe ...

(in which KAA Gent defeated

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V. (), commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German professional sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's Association football, football team is currently part of Germany's f ...

2–0) and a performance by

2manydjs Soulwax are a Belgian electronic band and DJ/production collective from Ghent, who formed in 1995. Centred around brothers David and Stephen Dewaele, other current members include Igor and Laima Cavalera, and Stefaan Van Leuven. The group first ...

. On the 30th of June 2023, the contract with Ghelamco concerning the name rights ended and the letters GHELAMCO were removed from the roof of the stadium. During the 2023-24 season, the name temporarily changed in KAA Gent Arena, in attendance of a new name and sponsor. Towards the end of that season on 2 April 2024, the stadium was renamed Planet Group arena, with Planet Group one of the companies of the new owner.

Details

Mobility

The stadium has 1,200 parking spots, mainly for employees, security and safety services, members of the press, VIPs and disabled people. In addition, there are approximately 1,000 carpool spots for supporters within a radius of 1.2 kilometers around the stadium. Alternative ways of reaching the stadium can be found in public transport. On match days, shuttle buses drive between the arena and the Woodrow Wilson Square in the city centre. Bus lines 65 and 67 take people from the

Gent-Sint-Pieters railway station Gent-Sint-Pieters railway station (; ) is the main railway station in Ghent, East Flanders, Belgium, and the fourth-busiest in Belgium and busiest in Flanders, with 17.65 million passengers a year. The station is operated by the National Railw ...

to the stadium.

Entertainment

Throughout the year, businesses can rent parts of the stadium to host a variety of events. During the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

, all games of the

Belgium national football team The Belgium national football team has represented Belgium in men's international Association football, football since Évence Coppée Trophy, their maiden match in 1904. The squad is under the global jurisdiction of FIFA and is governed in E ...

were shown on big screens, accompanied by performances of Belgian artists

Regi Penxten Regi Penxten (born Reginald Paul Stefan Penxten on 4 March 1976) is a Belgian DJ and record producer of many Eurodance and trance projects in Belgium, including Milk Inc. and Sylver. Better known by his mononym Regi, he has released three sol ...

Clouseau Inspector Jacques Clouseau (), later granted the rank of Chief Inspector, is a fictional character in Blake Edwards' farcical ''The Pink Panther'' series. Clouseau's immense ego, eccentricity, exaggerated French accent, and prominent mustache ...

, Natalia and Milk Inc.

Offices, retail and catering

Planet Group arena is the home base of real estate developer Ghelamco and houses an

Albert Heijn Albert Heijn (), often abbreviated to AH () and informally to Appie (), is the largest supermarket chain in the Netherlands with a market share of 37.7% in 2024. It was founded in 1887, and has been part of Ahold Delhaize since 2016. History Th ...

store, an employment agency and a gym. It also houses

Michelin star The ''Michelin Guides'' ( ; ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The ''Guide'' awards up to three Michelin stars for excellence to a select few restaurants in certain geographic ...

restaurant ''Horseele'', a bistro and a sandwich place, which are all open during the week.

Photo gallery

File:Planet Group arena by night - close view.jpg, Planet Group arena by night File:Ghelamcoarena01.jpg, Dressing room File:Ghelamcoarena02.jpg, Players'

jacuzzi Jacuzzi is an American private company that manufactures and markets hot tubs, pools, and other bath products. It is best known for the Jacuzzi hydrotherapy products. The company is headquartered in Irvine, California. It is the largest hot tu ...

File:Ghelamcoarena03.jpg, Dugout File:Ghelamcoarena04.jpg, Interior File:Ghelamcoarena08.jpg, Main entrance interior File:Ghelamcoarena05.jpg,

Telenet Telenet was an American commercial packet-switched network which went into service in 1975. It was the first FCC-licensed public data network in the United States. Various commercial and government interests paid monthly fees for dedicated lin ...

stands File:Ghelamcoarena06.jpg, VDK Spaarbank stands

References

External links

*
KAA Gent official website
*
The Blue Towers: offices in the Arteveldepark
{{coord, 51, 00, 58, N, 3, 44, 03, E, type:landmark_region:BE, display=title Sports venues completed in 2013 Multi-purpose stadiums in Belgium Football venues in Flanders Sports venues in East Flanders Sport in Ghent Buildings and structures in Ghent K.A.A. Gent