The Stade Vélodrome (; ), known for sponsorship reasons as the CEPAC Vélodrome since July 2026, is a multi-purpose stadium in Marseille, France. It is home to the Olympique de Marseille football club of Ligue 1 since it opened in 1937 and has been a venue in the 1938 and 1998 FIFA World Cups; the 1960, 1984 and 2016 editions of the UEFA European Championship and the 2007 and 2023 Rugby World Cup and football at the 2024 Summer Olympics. It occasionally hosts RC Toulon rugby club of the Top 14. It is the second largest stadium in France, behind Stade de France in Saint-Denis (Paris) with a capacity of 67,394 spectators. The stadium is also used regularly by the France national rugby union team.
The record attendance for a club game before the 2014 renovation at the Stade Vélodrome was 58,897 in a UEFA Cup semi-final against Newcastle United in 2004. Since expansion to 67,394, the record attendance at the ground now stands at 66,312 for the match against Montpellier USC that occurred on 19 April 2025. The first-ever match to be played was between Marseille and Torino in 1937.
The French rugby union team began an impressive run of victories at the stadium in the early 2000s. They defeated New Zealand 42–33 in November 2000, and in 2001 defeated Australia by one point. They beat South Africa in 2002, followed by a win over England in 2003. However, their run of luck was broken in 2004 when they lost 14–24 to Argentina. The venue was used by France for a game against New Zealand in November 2009. In 2018, the stadium hosted its first Six Nations match with France hosting Italy.
France is not the only rugby team to have used the Vélodrome in recent years. On 18 April 2009, Toulon took their home fixture in the Top 14 against Toulouse to the Vélodrome, drawing 57,039 spectators to see a 14–6 Toulon win which played a key role in the Toulonnais' successful fight against relegation in the 2008–09 season. Toulon has taken two home matches to the Vélodrome in each of the succeeding two seasons. The Vélodrome was also the venue for both semi-finals in the 2010–11 Top 14 season, and was used for the Toulon v Munster semi-final of the 2013–14 Heineken Cup.
On 28 May 2022, The Velodrome hosted the 2022 European Rugby Champions Cup Final between La Rochelle v Leinster in front of 59,682 spectators. On 29 June, The Velodrome will host the 2024 Top 14 Final due to the Stade de France being unavailable because of the 2024 Summer Olympics.
The 20th stage of the 2017 Tour de France, an individual time trial through the streets of Marseille, started and finished in the stadium.
History
In 1935, the architectural firm Pollack Ploquin was chosen to build a stadium in Marseille. Henri Ploquin (who designed in 1932 with Charles Bouhana the Stade Municipal Louis Darragon) designed the stadium. For economic reasons, only the Stade Vélodrome was built. On 28 April 1935, the foundation stone was laid for the Vélodrome by Marseille Mayor Ribot, on a site between downtown and the suburban areas of St. Giniez and Sainte-Marguerite on military grounds belonging to the city. The Stade Vélodrome opened on 13 June 1937, when a friendly match was played between Olympique Marseille (OM) and Italian of Torino FC (which ended 2–1 to Olympique Marseille). On 29 August 1937 (the second day of the France national football championship) a match took place between OM and Cannes. This was the first official match at the stadium.
As its name suggests, Stade Vélodrome was used for cycling competitions but as these races became less common, seating replaced the track which circled the stadium. The Vélodrome remained famous for fans of OM (Olympique Marseille) since the sloped track which was under the extended seating acted as a slide to invade the pitch at the end of matches.
Olympique de Marseille was long hostile to the Stade Vélodrome, calling it the "stadium of the City Council". For fans of the Olympians between the wars, the real home of OM was Stade de l'Huveaune, owned by Olympique de Marseille and partly financed by fans in the early 1920s. After World War II, however, Marseille no longer owned the Stadium Huveaune. Seeking support from the city, Chairman Marcel Leclerc had OM play at Huveaune from 1945 to 1960. The City Council then relented, and Olympique de Marseille moved to the Vélodrome. During the 1970s, OM shared the Stade with the Marseille XIII Rugby League.
First renovations
1970 marked the first modifications to the Vélodrome, with the replacement of the floodlights on the Ganay and Jean-Bouin tribunes by four 60 meter towers for nighttime events. In March 1971, the capacity of the stadium was increased by nearly 6000 seats, with the reduction of the cycling track and the removal of the cinder running track. This brought the total capacity of the stadium to 55,000 people, including the standing area.
Olympique returned to the Stade de l'Huveaune for the 1982–1983 season as Stade Vélodrome was under construction in preparation for the UEFA Euro 1984. The playing surface was completely replaced during this time. The semifinal between France and Portugal had set a record for attendance at an international match with 54,848 spectators. The capacity of the stadium was later reduced to 42,000 with the construction of lodges.
The cycling track was removed altogether once Bernard Tapie was appointed president of OM in 1985. He chose to remove it and rearrange the corners of the stadium, bringing the capacity up to 48,000. This renovation marked the end of the era of Vélodrome as a multi-use facility. The area around the stadium was also transformed with the creation of the second line of the metro which served the stadium from two stations and with the construction of the Palais des Sports nearby.
1998 World Cup and beyond
The Stade Vélodrome was completely renovated for the 1998 World Cup; its capacity increased from 42,000 to 60,031 seats (equivalent to of seats). The Vélodrome hosted the final draw, which took place on 4 December 1997 (the first time the final draw was held in an outdoor venue) and seven matches, including France's first match against South Africa, the quarterfinal between Argentina and the Netherlands and the semifinal between Brazil and the Netherlands. As of 2011, the record attendance for a football game (58,897 spectators) was the Newcastle United UEFA Cup semifinal on 6 May 2004 (2–0). During the 2007 Rugby World Cup the Vélodrome hosted six games, including two quarter-finals: Australia versus England (which holds the overall attendance record with 59,120 spectators) and South Africa versus Fiji. On 16 July 2009, during preparations for a Madonna concert, one of four winches used to hoist the structure failed; the 60-ton roof fell (leaving two dead, eight wounded and crushing a crane).
Widely criticized and unloved by the Marseillais for its architecture (no roof, exposure to strong mistral winds and poor acoustics), the Stade Vélodrome has since 2003 been the subject of several projects to modernize and enlarge it. In July 2009, following an extraordinary council of the City of Marseille concerning the City Hall renovation project, a motion was passed launching a public-private partnership (PPP). On 21 June 2010, following France's winning bid for UEFA Euro 2016, Marseille announced that the stadium would receive another renovation (a roof and an increase in capacity from 60,031 to 67,000), making it a UEFA Elite Stadium. Works began in the spring of 2011 and were completed in summer 2014.
Attendance In 2002, Division 1 was renamed Ligue 1. Olympique de Marseille's average attendance for each season since 1998–99 is listed below. Season Average Division1998–9949,726Division 11999–200051,686 2000–01 50,755 2001–02 50,030 2002–03 48,233Ligue 1 2003–04 47,203 2004–05 49,970 2005–06 42,753 2006–07 47,715 2007–08 48,784 2008–09 50,134 2009–10 48,912 2010–11 50,500 2011–12 35,937 2012–13 29,383 2013–14 44,375 2014–15 53,733 2015–16 37,682 2016–17 41,650 2017–18 42,733 2018–19 43,458 2019–20 52,805 (of 14 matches played) 2020–21 N/A 2021–22 52,193 2022–23 62,571 2023–24 60,799 2024–25 63,682 2025–26 62,612
Tournament results
1938 FIFA World Cup
DateTime (WEST)Team #1ResultTeam #2RoundAttendance5 June 1938 17:00 2–1 Round of 16 18,00016 June 1938 18:00 2–1 Semi-finals 30,000
1960 European Nations' Cup
DateTime (CET)Team #1ResultTeam #2RoundAttendance6 July 1960 21:30 0–3 Semi-finals 25,1849 July 1960 18:00 2–0 Third place play-off 9,438
UEFA Euro 1984
DateTime (CEST)Team #1ResultTeam #2RoundAttendance17 June 1984 20:30 1–1 Group 2 24,36423 June 1984 20:00 3–2 Semi-finals 54,848
1998 FIFA World Cup
DateTime (CEST)Team #1ResultTeam #2RoundAttendance 12 June 1998 21:00 3–0 Group C 55,077 15 June 1998 14:30 2–0 Group G 54,587 20 June 1998 21:00 5–0 Group E 55,000 23 June 1998 21:00 1–2 Group A 55,000 27 June 1998 16:00 1–0 Round of 16 55,000 4 July 1998 16:00 2–1 Quarter-finals 55,000 7 July 1998 21:00 1–1 Semi-finals 55,000
2007 Rugby World Cup The Vélodrome hosted six games of the 2007 Rugby World Cup, including two quarter-final games.
Date Competition Home team Away team Attendance8 September 2007 2007 Rugby World Cup Pool C 76 14 58,61212 September 2007 24 18 44,24122 September 2007 2007 Rugby World Cup Pool D 63 3 55,06730 September 2007 64 7 58,6956 October 2007 2007 Rugby World Cup Quarter-finals 10 12 59,1027 October 2007 37 20 55,943
UEFA Euro 2016
The Vélodrome hosted six games at UEFA Euro 2016, including a semi-final. In 2016, the stadium became the first in Europe to have hosted three European Championship semi-finals after France's previous hosting of the tournament in 1960 and 1984.
DateTime (CEST)Team #1ResultTeam #2RoundAttendance 11 June 2016 21:00 1–1 Group B 62,343 15 June 2016 21:00 2–0 Group A 63,670 18 June 2016 18:00 1–1 Group F 60,842 21 June 2016 21:00 0–1 Group C 58,874 30 June 2016 21:00 1–1 Quarter-finals 62,940 7 July 2016 21:00 0–2 Semi-finals 64,078
2023 Rugby World Cup
DateTime (CEST)Team #1ResultTeam #2RoundAttendance 9 September 2023 21:00 27–10 Pool D 63,118 10 September 2023 17:45 18–3 Pool B 63,586 21 September 2023 21:00 96–0 Pool A 63,486 1 October 2023 21:00 49–18 Pool B 60,000 14 October 2023 17:00 17–29 Quarter-finals 62,576 15 October 2023 17:00 30–24 61,863
2024 Summer Olympics DateTeam #1ResultTeam #2RoundAttendance 24 July 2024 3–0 Men's group A 48,721 25 July 2024 3–0 Women's group B 9,731 27 July 2024 1–4 Men's group A 9,468 28 July 2024 4–1 Women's group B 12,845 30 July 2024 0–3 Men's group A 45,790 31 July 2024 1–2 Women's group B 13,036 2 August 2024 1–1 Men's quarter-finals 23,753 3 August 2024 0–0 Women's quarter-finals 12,517 5 August 2024 1–2 Men's semi-finals 59,882 6 August 2024 4–2 Women's semi-finals 14,201
Structure
1 Tribune Jean-Bouin 2 Virage Sud Chevalier Roze 3 Tribune Ganay 4 Virage Nord De Peretti 5 Disabled seating (258 seats) 6 Press gallery 7 Loges 8 Rostrum 9 VIP hall 10 Projectors 11 Local 12 Closets 13 Offices 14 TV studio 15 Big screens
The four stands in the stadium are named after athletes (runner Jean Bouin and 1920s cyclist Gustave Ganay), a historical figure of the 1720 plague epidemic (Chevalier Roze) and a popular Olympique de Marseille supporter (Patrice De Peretti, nicknamed "Depe", who died suddenly in July 2000).
Rugby League Other than the Rugby League World Cup games in 1954, 1972 and 1975, 14 other test matches were played at the stadium between 1938 and 1985. The France national team played in 16 of the internationals played at Stade Vélodrome. Four of the five international crowds between 1948 and 1951 constituted full houses of approximately 32,000, as rugby league remained the dominant rugby code in Marseille at the time.
Rugby League World Cup Over three separate tournaments, the Vélodrome hosted games of the Rugby League World Cup.