PYONGYANG - Rungnado 1st of May Stadium (150,000)

[IHaveNoLegs]

Sorry for the awful screenshot
This has 90 rows and a capacity if 103,630
But points to note out:
1) This has seats which are 50cm wide, which is pretty large (FIFA requires 45cm wide I think); so if the seats were something like 40cm (judging from the pictures in this thread the seats don't look particularly big) then the capacity would be around 129,537. Goes to show how small changes can increase the capacity by a large number.
2) The circumference of the field is 516m which could be different from the May Day; not to mention that the field there looks a lot more rounded than the one in the picture posted above which can have a massive impact on the overall capacity.
Overall I would say that a 150,000 seat capacity is plausible, but make your own mind up.
If you think a 150,000 seat capacity is complete shit then you must surely think the attendance at that football game in Arlington a couple of days is complete shit.

[Luke80]

This must have been the inspiration for the Cowboys Stadium attendance controversy!

[No1_Saint]

It would be so cool to visit this stadium in full communist flight. Awesome.

[Pessimistic]

Thanks to the guys in the MCG thread for this picture

It illustrates how seat size has an effect.

They say that the southern and northern stands have similar capacity per length of the pitch perimeter. The northen stand built 13 years after the southern stand - look how much higher it is with larger seats.

[Heroico]

really big stadium

[Mr. Fitz]

Probably does hold 150k, just in an awful country

[Weebie]

The MCG i always find looks deceptively big. Sometimes I feel ANZ in Sydney is almost larger

[BobDaBuilder]

Love those Commie propaganda spectaculars.

The AFL should get them to come down to Melbourne and do the half time show. They can show their hammer and sickles and propaganda, we are mature enough to stop ourselves all from staging our own Red October revolution.

[Crouchy]

Maybe if the seats are really small, the stadium can hold 150.000 people. So I think it is true.

[adeaide]

some pictures of aerial view





image hosted on flickr












image hosted on flickr

[bing222]

Nice photos

[haggiesm]

interior pics?

[Sylver]

How are there even pictures of this stadium? I thought North Korea was extremely strict on tourists and taking pictures.

[Huskies]

Originally Posted by haggiesm

interior pics?

unfortunatley they are VERY hard to find .. that was the reason i started this thread , to try get some interior pics .

although exterior pics are better than no pics , they are extremely easy to find you just google the stadium ...

[Huskies]

here is a video with some interior shots : http://www.vbs.tv/watch/the-vice-gui...h-korea-3-of-3

[Huskies]

JACKPOT !!!




picture taken by Karl Schüßler , found on google earth

this is the only picture i have seen of this stadium in a .. " sports configuration " it obviously proves once and for all that the pixel stand is a temporary steel structure build ontop of the 2 tiers and not an original element of the stadium. ( i wish i still had the picture that shows the pixelstand from the side , showing all the the steel beams .. )

my guess is that this picture was taken just after this stadium was built, and that the mass games were held in Kim il Sung stadium at this time. They probably renovated the lower bowl by replacing ( or just repainting the seats ? ) the same time they built the pixelstand.


Can we all agree that it is the capacity in this configuration shown on the picture that is interesting when comparing mayday to other stadiums , since this is the configuratuion used for every normal stadium activity? since the pixelstand obviously has zero saftey regulations or anything , and the people sitting on it are not part of the audience , it should not be used when determening the stadiums capacity.

this raises some interesting questions:

was there ever any FIFA soccermatches in this stadium during the time of this picture? if so where they ever " sold out " ( lol ) and was there an official fifa count on the attendance ?

since this stadium appear to have always had seating and not just concrete steps , the official 150 000 capacity has to either be seats in the bowl or seats in mass games configuration ( the pixelstand + the rest of the bowl not covered by the pixelstand )

of those 2 the massgames configuration has i higher capacity due to how dense the pixel stand is and its lack of isles and vomitories and if the 150 000 capacity is true in SOME WAY , it has to be in this configuratuion .

per default that means that the normal capacity of this stadium is less than 150 000 .

Someone earlier in the thread approximated that the 2 tiers should have about the same capacity . that would mean that each tire would have a capacity of 75 000 ...

[kuquito]

I'd say not even 100.000 perhaps 75-80.000

[Marko_breee]

I'd say not even 100.000 perhaps 75-80.000

This is Red Star stadium and it has capacity of 56.000.



But that 1.may stadium...it is much bigger and it has capacity of min 100k...it has larger lower stand and one additional "ring" above...

[parcdesprinces]

IMO, one of the best examples, for a good comparison, is the Rose Bowl !

I mean, it is more or less comparable to the lower ring of Mayday Stadium.
Although the Rose Bowl has more rows, not that much BTW (and I'm not even sure it has more), it also doesn't have any running track, so its rows are shorter !
Furthermore, the Rose bowl has 2 stands with "North American-standard" individual seats, and we have to keep in mind that the size standard of the seats in NA is not comparable to the rest of the world, especially for old stadiums, as MayDay is !

I didn't count the rows (neither calculated their lengths, obviously ), but IMO, the Rose Bowl with its 92,500 "seats", looks smaller than the lower tier of MayDay Stadium ?

[Huskies]

i really see your point parc , i think the Lushniki is a good example too , its one tier and looks about the size of maydays lower bowl..



do you agree on my previous statement that : the 150 000 capacity must be with the pixel stand included ? since if it isnt , the stadium would have an even HIGHER capacity with the temporary pixelstand , that appears to have become permanent .. and we have never heard any figures of a capacity in the 160 -170 000 range , which i think the north koreans would love to let us know about if it was true...

i believe its capacity in its now basic configuration is 150 000 , its " regular " configuration should be slightly less since the pixel stand is so dence and lack isles and vomitories , probably 135 - 140 000 which is still HUGE ... anyone agree ?

i didnt think so at first , but after sieing som more footage of the inside i realize this stadium really is huge structure wise , i mean its not just a case of cramming people in , the struckture itself is really big.