The Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace is a rugby union, football (soccer) and athletics stadium in Rustenburg, South Africa. It was originally built as a venue for the 1995 Rugby World Cup. It was named after the Royal Bafokeng Nation.
Although originally built as a rugby stadium, the stadium has become more of a football stadium after the 1995 Rugby World Cup. Like most football stadiums in South Africa, the ground belongs to the municipality in the area. The Bafokeng people are extremely rich because of platinum mining in the area and on their cultural land and because of this, the stadium has been kept in very good repair.
The capacity of the stadium was increased from 38,000 to 42,000 in preparation for the WC to be able to host 4 first and 2 second round matches at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
For the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the main west stand was substantially upgraded and enlarged and given a new cantilever roof at a cost of US$45million. Other improvements include the installation of new electronic scoreboards, new seats, the upgrading of the floodlights and public address system which will render the Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace ready to welcome the football supporters of the world. The Stadium upgrade was completed in March 2009 for the hosting 4 matches of the 2009 FIFA Confederation cup.