Aviva Stadium Celebrates Ten Years

Aviva, Ireland’s largest insurer, today marks the 10-year anniversary of the official opening of Aviva Stadium and its proud long-term sponsorship of the prestigious grounds. Since its rebuild, Aviva Stadium has become an Irish cultural landmark, playing host to 7.2 million fans at some of the most iconic sporting, entertainment, community and cultural events of the past decade. To celebrate, Aviva has released a short film highlighting the impact Aviva Stadium has had on our island.

A world class 51,700-seater venue, Aviva Stadium opened in May 2010 replacing Lansdowne Road, then the world’s oldest operating international stadium. The redevelopment project was a joint initiative of the FAI and IRFU funded in part by the Irish Government. Aviva Ireland agreeing to come on board as naming rights sponsor in 2009 in a landmark deal was also key in enabling the project to be completed on time and on budget.

Now the home of Irish rugby and soccer, Aviva Stadium has played host to some the most epic Irish sporting moments of the past decade. The stadium has welcomed millions of fans from all over the world to experience such clashes as Ireland vs The All Blacks in 2018, the 2011 UEFA Europa League Final, the 2013 Heineken Cup Final as well as the Emerald Isle Classic American College Football game between Navy and Notre Dame in 2012 – just some of the 178 games played since 2010. As well as sporting fixtures, Aviva Stadium has also opened its doors to 14 concerts from top class music acts from around the world.

Brian O’Neill, Head of Communications, Brand, Sponsorship at Aviva Ireland, said:

“Aviva Stadium is an iconic Irish venue and one of the world’s great stadia. Our relationship with the stadium extends as far back as 2010, and we are delighted to have been a part of the Aviva Stadium story for the last ten years. We are also part of its future having extended our partnership to 2025 back in 2018.”

Since 2010 over 7 million fans have attended games and concerts at Aviva Stadium across 192 events since July 2010. Aviva Stadium has hosted 88 rugby matches, 90 football matches and 14 concerts in that time.

Martin Murphy, Stadium Director said:

“It may not be the 10-year anniversary we had anticipated at the start of the year. We are however very conscious of the stadium’s heritage. Aviva Stadium is built on greatness and the redevelopment into the world class venue we are today would not have been possible without the support of the Irish people through Government investment. We are pleased to be able to support the country’s efforts during these unprecedented times.

We have hosted some classic sporting moments at Aviva Stadium, and we look forward too many more. To that end we are working very closely with our stakeholders at the FAI and the IRFU and with leading sports venues around the world to ensure that Aviva Stadium is ready and able to host games in whatever format just as soon as public health guidelines allow.”