In 1999, a significant amount of restoration and interior work took place at the stadium before its use as a venue in the UEFA Euro 2000 tournament, although capacity was largely unaffected.

Leen van Zandvliet, Feyenoord's president in the 1930s, came up with the idea of building an entirely new stadium, unlike any other on the continent, with two free hanging tiers and no obstacles blocking the view.

Contemporary examples were Highbury, where the West and East stands had been recently built as a double deck, and Yankee Stadium in New York.

The stadium was co-financed by the billionaire Daniël George van Beuningen, who made his fortune in World War I, exporting coal from Germany to Britain through neutral Netherlands.

[8] On 21 April 2022, managing director Dennis te Kloesse announced that the club would not proceed with renovating the existing stadium or building a new one.

In 2000, the Feijenoord stadium hosted the final of Euro 2000, played in the Netherlands and Belgium, where France defeated Italy 2–1 in extra time.

[14] In 2019, Marco Borsato held five concerts at De Kuip to increase his total to 14, breaking The Rolling Stones' past venue record of 10.

[15][16] In April 2024, the municipality of Rotterdam announced that concerts would no longer take place at De Kuip beginning in 2026 to eliminate noise pollution in the area with the construction of new houses nearby.