The New Balance Arena, known as the Stadio di Bergamo in UEFA competitions, is a stadium in Bergamo, Italy. It is the home of club Atalanta and has a capacity of 23,439 seats. The field is long and wide. Atalanta has owned the stadium since 2017, having purchased it from the comune.
Atalanta's under-23 team and youth team sometimes play competitive matches at the stadium. The stadium in Bergamo has also been used as a home ground by local club AlbinoLeffe from 2003 to 2019 (when it moved to Gorgonzola)—a period during which AlbinoLeffe spent nine years in Serie B and met Atalanta on several occasions—and for various matches of the Italy national team.
History
Early years
With the growth of football in the 1920s, Atalanta needed a new stadium with considerably larger capacity than its previous grounds. The new stadium was constructed on Viale Margherita (now Viale Giulio Cesare), replacing a hippodrome that once occupied the site. it also featured a running track, as it was planned to form part of a larger complex. On 1 November 1928, Atalanta played its first unofficial match at the stadium (a 4–2 victory against Triestina); the stadium was then officially inaugurated on 23 December 1928, when Atalanta defeated La Dominante Genova 2–0 in front of over 14,000 spectators. and a second stand at the north end (the Curva Nord) followed during the 1960s, opening in 1971.
thumb|left|The old Curva Nord in 2018
thumb|left|The new Curva Nord in 2020
Modernization projects
The Tribuna Giulio Cesare underwent modernization during the early 1990s, and the stadium was renamed the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia ("Blue Athletes of Italy") in 1994. Similarly, the Curva Sud was nicknamed the Curva Morosini in 2012 to posthumously honor 25-year-old youth academy player Piermario Morosini, who died following collapse on the field during a Serie B match between Pescara and Livorno. In 2015, the stadium also expanded its side stands to offer pitchside views only several meters (feet) from the benches, a revolutionary feature of Italian stadiums at the time. New seating areas for disabled spectators were also added. At the same time, the press box has been lowered and moved towards the pitch. These improvements came with a reduction in overall capacity by around 3,000 seats. The club paid €2.6 million for the first phase of redevelopment.
On 10 May 2017, Atalanta announced the acquisition of the stadium from the comune for 8.6 million euros,