Sponsored PokéStops and Gyms to be removed from several Unibail-Rodamco malls in the Netherlands

Pokemon GO Safari Zone Barcelona
Pokemon GO Safari Zone Barcelona

Trainers, Niantic has posted an update on their official Facebook page stating that sponsored PokeStops and Gyms will be removed from several shopping malls under the Unibail-Rodamco umbrella company.

The official announcement:

As of this weekend, sponsored PokéStops and Gyms will be removed from the following Unibail-Rodamco malls in the Netherlands, but a large number of non sponsored PokéStops and Gyms found within will remain.

  • Citymall Almere, Esplanade, Almere
  • Stadshart Amstelveen, Amstelveen
  • Stadshart Zoetermeer, Amsterdamstraat, Zoetermeer
  • Winkelcentrum Leidschehage, Weigelia, Leidschendam

We hope you continue to have an amazing time playing Pokémon GO while visiting these malls and ask that you also continue to be kind and courteous to fellow visitors. Good luck as you search for Beldum and Pokémon originally discovered in the Sinnoh region this weekend!


We have no additional information to share on why these PokeStops are being removed, but it is curious to see Niantic loosing sponsors on such an alarming rate. Recently, TOHO dropped sponsorship in Japan, Sprint in US (by the looks of it) and Unibail-Rodamco now stepped out in Netherlands. We’ll pay close attention to any future developments in this space, but for now, let’s see what happens with Unibail malls in other countries.

P.S. Stadshart Amstelveen was one of the Safari Zone 2017 venues, with tickets selling out in less than a minute: Amstelveen and Stockholm Safari Zone tickets sold out in record time: less than a minute!

P.P.S. The cover image is from Barcelona, not from Amstelveen.