Palacio de los Deportes

Palacio de los Deportes (English: Sports Palace Dome) is an indoor arena, located in Mexico City, Mexico, within the sports complex Magdalena Mixhuca Sports City, near the Mexico City International Airport and the Foro Sol, in which sports and artistic events are also celebrated. It is operated by Grupo CIE. The arena seats 17,800, for football and the overall capacity is approximately 20,000.

It hosted the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games for the competitions of basketball and can be used to host volleyball and basketball matches. It was the home of the CBA Mexico City Aztecas in 1994 and 1995, and the Mexico Toros of the CISL in 1995.

Another common use is to host big expositions and rock concerts; for example, Guns N' Roses played 4 sold out shows between 1992-1993, Metallica played five nights in 1993 (which were released on their live box set Live Shit: Binge & Purge), Pearl Jam played 3 sold out shows in 2003 (and two more in 2005) and KISS performed 3 sold out shows in 1997. In 2006 and 2007 it hosted the Los Premios MTV Latinoamérica. Also, in 2010 the German band Rammstein played two sold out nights at the arena to a collective crowd of over 40,000 fans after a ten year absence from the Americas. There is a smaller venue or pavilion in the parking lot where events such as expositions and concerts from smaller musical acts such as Red Hot Chili Peppers are held at.

On October 15th and 16th 2011 WWE taped their flagship show WWE RAW SuperShow and WWE Smackdown at this venue.

1968 Summer Olympics

The Sports Palace—located 14 miles (23 km) from the Olympic Village and 6.5 from downtown Mexico City in the Magdalena Mixhuca Sports City near the conflux of two expressways (Miguel Alemán Viaduct and Río Churubusco Avenue)—was constructed specifically for the Olympic basketball competition. Built between October 15, 1966 and September, 1968, it is circular in design with a square-patterned dome spanning 380 feet (120 m) and enclosing an area of 6.7 acres (27,000 m²). The dome consists of hyperbolic paraboloids of tubular aluminum covered with waterproof copper-sheathed plywood and supported by huge steel arches. The Sports Palace seats 22,370—including 7,370 in removable seats. There is parking space for 3,864 vehicles.

Designed by architects Félix Candela, A. Peyri and E. Castañeda Tamborell, the structure has three floors, which house complete facilities for athletes, judges, officials, organizers, as well as services for radio, television and the press. A mezzanine provides access to the boxes and middle and upper stands. The Sports Palace was designed for a wide variety of programming: boxing, wrestling, weightlifting, fencing, etc., as well as for exhibitions, and tournaments that require more space, such as volleyball, basketball, ice hockey, cycling, athletic meets, equestrian shows, dances, circuses, conventions and expositions.

Reference

• 1968 Summer Olympics official report. Volume 2. Part 1. p. 72.
• Luis Castañeda, "Image-Machine: Félix Candela's Palacio de los Deportes", article in Pidgin Magazine

External links

• Homepage