Allianz Parque

Sisbrace
Location	200 Rua Palestra Itália Água Branca Barra Funda São Paulo State of São Paulo Brazil
Coordinates	23°31′39″S 46°40′43″W / 23.5275°S 46.6785°W / -23.5275; -46.6785
Public transit	Palmeiras–Barra Funda
Owner	Palmeiras
Operator	WTorre Properties
Executive suites	188
Capacity	43,713 (football)[1] 12,000 (amphitheater)[2] 55,000 (concerts)[3]
Record attendance	Football: 41,457 (Palmeiras 2–1 Corinthians, 29 April 2023) Concert: 50,000 Taylor Swift, The Eras Tour, 26 November 2023[4]
Field size	105 by 68 metres (114.8 yd × 74.4 yd)
Surface	GreenFields MX Elite 50 Artificial Turf[5]
Construction
Broke ground	November 2010
Built	2010–2014
Opened	19 November 2014
Construction cost	R$ 630 million US$ 203 million EU€ 181 million
Architect	Tomás Taveira, Edo Rocha
Project manager	WTorre
Structural engineer	WTorre
Tenants
Palmeiras (2014–present)

Allianz Parque (Brazilian Portuguese: [ˈaljɐ̃s ˈpaʁki] ^ⓘ), also known as Arena Palmeiras or as Arena Palestra Itália, is a football stadium in Água Branca, São Paulo, Brazil, and the home of Palmeiras. The stadium also serves as a multipurpose arena, and was built to receive concerts and other events besides football matches. The stadium has a capacity of 43,713 spectators for football, and of 55,000 for concerts. At the time of its opening, the stadium had one of the most modern multipurpose spaces in the whole country. The stadium meets all of FIFA's standards, accrediting it to receive the most relevant sports tournaments.

Its construction started in 2010 under the authorship of Portuguese architect Tomás Taveira, and completed in November 2014. The stadium was built by the company WTorre Properties/Arenas, belonging to WTorre Group. The stadium is located on the site previously occupied by Palestra Itália Stadium, also popularly known as Parque Antárctica, Palmeiras’s former home ground.

Location

The stadium is located in the Água Branca neighborhood, within the Barra Funda district, but sits in an intersection region between the neighbourhoods of Água Branca (where it is properly located), Barra Funda, Pompeia and Perdizes, in the west zone of the city of São Paulo. Near the stadium, there is the Palmeiras–Barra Funda Metro Station at 1.5 km of distance, the Água Branca Metropolitan Train Station and several bus lines, totaling 50 different routes.

For drivers, parking service is adjacent to the Allianz Parque, with capacity for 2,000 cars, plus 4,800 parking spaces in two malls located nearby. The complex is situated only 4 km from Paulista Avenue and 5 km from Central Zone of São Paulo. Besides, there are 9 5-star hotels in a radius of 6 km, more than 8,000 hospitalar beds at a distance of 5 km, apart from Congonhas Airport and Guarulhos Airport, at 13 and 30 km of distance, respectively.

History

Background

Agreement

Demolition works on the former Palestra Italia stadium for the construction of the Allianz Parque, in February 2011

The transformation of the former Palestra Italia Stadium in arena is the result of an agreement signed between Palmeiras and the company WTorre Properties/Arenas, belonging to WTorre Group. WTorre will manage the site for 30 years, and Palmeiras will profit 100% with the ticket sales at football matches.

According to the agreement between Palmeiras and WTorre, all expenses for the use of the arena, such as water, electricity, security, cleaning, insurance, lawn maintenance, shall be borne by the entrepreneur.

WTorre will hire a specialized company to manage the complex, passing onto Palmeiras an increasing percentage of the revenue with sponsorships, box seats and shows amongst others, starting on the first day of the complex's operation. At the end of this 30-year period, Palmeiras will integrate the whole enterprise, putting an end to the deal with company.^[6]

Partnerships

External view of Allianz Parque behind the tennis courts of Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras

On September 30, 2009, WTorre completed the partnership with Traffic Group for marketing properties of the arena, such as the naming rights, cabins, special chairs, restaurants, cafés and shops, among others. The sports media company will market the spaces used in sporting, musical, social and corporate events.^[7][8]

On October 6, 2011, Palmeiras and WTorre announced the agreement with Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG),^[9] to manage events in the arena. In turn, AEG made a partnership with Blue Box Company, that will provide consulting services to the US company of the best services in the Brazilian territory.^[10]

On April 24, 2013, WTorre announced the naming rights agreement with the Allianz company, which holds the rights to name five other sporting arenas: the Allianz Arena in Germany, the Allianz Stadium in Australia; Allianz Park in England; Allianz Riviera, in France; and Allianz Stadion, under construction, in Austria. The agreement with the insurance company is valid for 20 years, with an option to renew for another 10 at the end of the period. The deal is estimated at R$300 million.^[11]

On April 29, 2013, Allianz announced three name options for the arena: Allianz Parque, Allianz Center and Allianz 360º.^[12] On June 6, 2013, with 89% of over 620 thousand votes registered on the official website of the enterprise, the name "Allianz Parque" was announced. The other two options had 7% and 4% of the votes, respectively.

On March 13, 2014, WTorre and AEG announced the agreement with the Gourmet Sports Hospitality company, belonging to Kofler & Kompanie (K&K) Group, from Germany. The agreement provides chef services on game days and buffets for corporate events, conferences, concerts and other events that occur on site. In the stadium there is a central kitchen of 1,500 m² and ten support kitchens, three lounges and 46 cafeterias and kiosks to serve the public on game days and corporate events. Up to 500 people can work in these places in a day with maximum capacity. The company was also responsible for serving the public during the 2006 FIFA World Cup, in Germany, 2010 FIFA World Cup, in South Africa, 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, in Brazil, 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, and some stages of Formula One. The company's contract with WTorre is valid for 20 years.

The first official game at Allianz Parque was held on November 19, 2014, between Palmeiras and Sport Recife in the Brazilian Série A, when hosts Palmeiras lost to Sport Recife 0–2.

International friendly match between Palmeiras and Shandong Luneng at Allianz Parque, January 2015

WTorre announced a partnership with Works Brazil Agency, a Works UK subsidiary, to perform the visual brand identity of the arena. In partnership with Allianz, the arena branding project was developed from its main logo. All communication elements associated with the brand "Allianz Parque", including banners, signboards, tickets, merchandising and other applications, were prepared for print and digital content. Similar projects have been developed by the company for corporations, national and international associations and international sports federations, such as IAAF, FIFA, FIVB, FIBA, FIH and NBA.^[13]

To organize events, from small conferences to large concerts, AEG hired Susan Darrington, former vice-president of the CenturyLink Field, largest stadium in Seattle, home field for the Seattle Seahawks and Seattle Sounders FC, for the position of general manager of the arena. Darrington will have primary responsibility for raising revenue for the Allianz Parque, with the initial goal of attracting about 300 events per year.^[14]

In 2019, Allianz partnered with sanctioned Chinese state-owned video surveillance company Dahua Technology.^[15]

Statistics

Reception

Biggest attendances

Nº	Attendance	Home Team	Score	Visiting Team	Date	Competition
1	41,457	Palmeiras	2–1	Corinthians	April 29, 2023	2023 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A
2	41,451	Palmeiras	1–2	São Paulo	July 13, 2023	2023 Copa do Brasil
3	41,444	Palmeiras	4–0	Água Santa	April 9, 2023	2023 Campeonato Paulista
4	41,361	Palmeiras	2–1 (3-4 p)	São Paulo	July 14, 2022	2022 Copa do Brasil
5	41,256	Palmeiras	3–2	Vitória	December 2, 2018	2018 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A

Biggest grosses

Nº	Gross	Home Team	Score	Visiting Team	Date	Competition
1	R$15.118.391,02	Brazil	3–0	Chile	October 10, 2017	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
2	R$6.737.030,00	Brazil	2–0	Mexico	June 7, 2015	International friendly
3	R$5.336.631,25	Palmeiras	2–1 (4-3 p)	Santos	December 2, 2015	2015 Copa do Brasil
4	R$4.974.909,22	Palmeiras	1–1 (2-4 p)	Boca Juniors	October 5, 2023	2023 Copa Libertadores
5	R$4.915.885,00	Palmeiras	0–2	Sport	November 19, 2014	2014 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A

Panoramic view of Allianz Parque, in January 2015

International sporting events

A view from the stands during the match between Brazil and Mexico in June 2015

On June 7, 2015, the Arena hosted a friendly between Brazil and Mexico in order to prepare for the 2015 Copa América. The event was promoted by AEG Brazil in partnership with the British sports marketing agency Pitch International. The game ended 2–0 to Brazil, with goals from Philippe Coutinho and Diego Tardelli.^[16] It was the first game of the Brazilian team in the country since 2014 FIFA World Cup.

On August 8, 2015, the arena hosted the final of the League of Legends Brazilian Tournament, a Riot Games event. The winner competed with teams from Latin America and CIS for a place in the League of Legends World Championship. About 12,000 people attended the event, which was held in the amphitheater of the arena.^[17]

Musical events

Paul McCartney, first big event in the Arena

Other events

Build Tour São Paulo, May 2015

On December 18, 2014, the arena hosted the UFC Fight Night: Machida vs. Dollaway official training session, opened for fans and media and sponsored by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). In addition, Brazilian athletes Renan Barão, Antônio Carlos Júnior, Erick Silva and Elias Silverio attended the training, beyond the Canadian fighter Mitch Gagnon.^[53]

On January 25, 2015, just before the friendly match between Palmeiras and Red Bull Brasil, which Palmeiras won by 3–2, the arena hosted a freestyle motocross (FMX) show, a freestyle football presentation and a paraglider landing on the grass, among other actions promoted by both clubs. The Palmeiras former players Evair, Ademir da Guia and Rosemiro attended the event.^[54] After these presentations, there was the exhibition game in celebration of the 100 years since Palmeiras played their historical first game ever, when Palestra Italia (changed to Palmeiras after WWII) played against Sport Club Savoia on January 24, 1915, winning 2:0 and their first title, Savoia Cup.^[55]

Accreditation site at Microsoft Build Tour in May 2015

On March 28, 2015, the arena hosted a friendly farewell match in honor of the former attacking midfielder Alex, who had a winning history at Palmeiras between the 1997 and 2000 seasons. With the presence of several players and club idols, the Palmeiras champion team, winner of the 1999 Copa Libertadores, won "Friends of Alex" by 5–3 with two goals from Alex.^[56]

On May 21, 2015, the arena hosted the Build Tour São Paulo, Brazilian stage of the annual Microsoft conference for developers of all Windows platforms. Among the speakers figured Pete Brown, Jeff Burtoft, Wael Rabadi and Matt Velloso, who presented details of Windows 10 development platform.^[57]

The 3rd Stadiums and Arenas Management Forum was held at the Arena on October 20, 2015. Organized by the companies Arenaplan Consulting and Brasil Sports Market, the meeting discussed the challenges and management strategies for small and large stadiums in Brazil. With a legacy of at least 14 new arenas after the 2014 FIFA World Cup, the management of these venues becomes an important goal to strive toward.

General features

First game during the inauguration of Allianz Parque, November 2014

Allianz Parque has 43,713 covered seats, being 25,395 lower seats, 14,888 upper seats and 3,430 in the cabins.^[1] There are 188 private boxes from 12 to 21 seats,^[58] a panoramic restaurant, cafes, shops, convention center with modular structure for up to 1,500 visitors, media center for up to 1,000 media members, a multimedia memorial space with the history of the club and an adjacent covered parking for up to 2,000 cars, with exclusive spaces for motorcycles and bike rack. Multiple events such as shows and concerts, can receive up to 55,000 spectators.

Aiming to facilitate the goers movement, as well as cleaning the bleachers, chairs are not fixed to the floor, but on metal rails, the same model used in Wembley Stadium. In some sectors, the seats and backrests are upholstered with or without arms. The chairs are composed of three shades of green, giving rise to a geometric design inspired by arecaceae leaves.

The changing rooms have similar dimensions: a 355 m² room to the home team, and a 270 m² to the visiting team. The biggest has wooden cabinet with identification of athletes and a "community" cabinet to hold large numbers of objects. In the bathrooms there are two hot tubs and an individual one, for immersion.^[59]

View from the upper deck of Allianz Parque in December 2014

The Allianz Parque complex comes with a Multisport Building, erected where once was located the old gym club. The new building has about 10 thousand square meters, spread over 4 floors and is served by three elevators. Downstairs, there is a gymnasium with seating for approximately 1,500 fans built to host basketball, futsal and volleyball games. Two intermediate floors with about 2 thousand square meters each other were designed to receive multisport activities. On the rooftop, there is a synthetic grass pitch for football practice, with an area of almost 2,000 meters to over 48 meters high. An unprecedented architectural solution in Brazil allows the visitors to enjoy the outside scenery, good ventilation and much natural light.

There is also a Multipurpose Building, designed based on the architectural concept developed by architect Tomás Taveira. It has approximately 13 thousand m², spread over six floors plus ground floor. The building offers 8 changing rooms, 12 toilets and 6 elevators. The building facilities are for the use of club management, besides the indoor sports like judo and gymnastics; there is even a noble space on the top floor, which offers panoramic views of the club and the region.

The attractions of Allianz Parque are open to the general public. Access to club facilities, however, remains restricted to members of the Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras.

Implementations

Allianz Parque coverage details, November 2014

On March 12, 2013, WTorre announced the acquisition of 64 high definition security cameras. The equipment, valued at R$15 million, is capable of performing face recognition of all visitors. The technology, which is used in high-traffic venues, such as airports in Europe and US, is able to immediately identify non-standard behaviors, i.e., fights and vandalism acts. The security software can archive images of faces to compare them later, even people using caps and goggles.^[60]

In early 2014, the WTorre announced the acquisition of two high-definition video screens to be installed inside the stadium. With costs estimated at R$7 million, the equipment has a 13.44 m × 7.68 m (44.1 ft × 25.2 ft) format, each with more than 103 square metres (1,110 sq ft) area. The screens are installed at the ends of lawns, behind the goals, enabling the display of any content without the need for adaptation. The models feature white LED structure and shun conventional standards, with a resolution (16 mm) 20% higher compared to others. Thus, in all the seats of the stadium there is a good view of the images.

A solution developed by architect Edo Rocha, responsible for the arena project, was to coat the entire facade with drilled stainless steel that causes an optical art effect,^[61] with hollow spaces that resemble a wicker basket.^[62] The use of stainless steel ensures the best use of natural ventilation and lighting, in addition to functioning as a passive solar control element in order to moderate the temperature in the environment. The material is highly durable, low maintenance and cleaning, because it is washed in the rain.^[63] Furthermore, the use of that material aims to make outdoor advertising and serves to impact both visitors and pedestrians.

Facade coated with drilled stainless steel

The arena roof is fully integrated into the facade, i.e., without the pillars, increasing the space for visitors. There are 33 meters vertically between the floor and the ceiling of the stadium, which protects 100% of the bleachers. Developed by Usiminas, a tubular metal frame and zipped thermo tiles provide the most pleasant sensations to the public, reducing the temperature by 2 °C between the level of the field and the upper seats and also the outside noises of the streets.

Around the playing field was installed a transparent polycarbonate cover to allow the maximum amount of sunlight to reach the ground. The Aviva Stadium in Dublin, and the Etihad Stadium in Manchester are some of the few in the world that use this technology.

Regarding environmental issues, the Allianz Parque has a system to capture rainwater that falls on the roof of the stadium, which has 23 thousand square meters. Thus, the collected water can be reused in different sectors of the arena, preventing stormwater is overloaded.

Accessibility

According to the builder, in the arena there are 889 spaces for wheelchair users, 778 seats for the handicapped, 122 seats for obese, 63 accessible bathrooms distributed in all sectors: lower and upper stands and cabins. Furthermore, there are 15 elevators, 26 escalators, ramps and special box office. In the parking lot, there are forty-nine vacancies for people with special needs (PSN) located near to the elevators and 78 places for the elderly. Thus, the adjustments exceed the recommendations of the Brazilian standard and also FIFA.

In June 2017, the arena was the first in Brazil to be qualified by its architectural accessibility, receiving the "Selo guiaderodas" award, which evaluates premises and services for people with mobility issues. The qualification was based in analyses by specialized architects, practical tests by people with mobility issues and capacitation training for the staff of the stadium and the club.^[64][65][66]

Visibility

Allianz Parque in December 2014

The Allianz Parque has received much praise from the world's media, such as the Spanish site Elgoldigital.com, which considered it the most spectacular arena in the world,^[67] and the site Goal.com by Italian version, which defined it as the new contemporary architectural jewel of São Paulo.^[68]

On February 19, 2015, the Allianz Parque was named by popular vote the Stadium of The Year 2014.^[69] The leading competition was organized by Stadiony.net and StadiumDB.com, two websites dedicated to sports stadia. The competition was for venues opened in 2014, with Palmeiras stadium among 32 entries worldwide. Between January 17 and February 17, 2015, Allianz Parque got about 34,000 votes and 134,725 points. San Mamés Barria, in Spain, and Otkritie Arena, in Russia, have had 96,712 and 89,518 points each one and figured on second and third place, respectively. The renovated century-old Palestra Italia competed with seven other Brazilian arenas: Arena Corinthians, Arena da Amazônia, Arena da Baixada, Arena das Dunas, Arena Pantanal, Beira Rio and Estádio Kléber Andrade.^[70]

Allianz Parque was occupying one of three top spots nearly all the time, from day one. And that result was achieved without any campaign to support it. In fact, it wasn't until the last few days that the stadium itself promoted the vote via one Facebook post. A magnificent sign of support from Palmeiras supporters and not only them. The stadium also received significant number of points from voters in Europe and beyond. The final number of points is stunning: 134,725 is more than all previous winners received combined (!!!). You might think one of the World Cup stadiums might grab first place. Well, not this time!^[71]

— Statement released by the English site "Stadium DataBase"

Awards

Allianz Parque facade, February 2015

On September 3, 2014, the architectural design of the arena received the Master Award at the 11th edition of the Grand Prix of Corporate Architecture, considered one of the most important architecture awards in Latin America. The arena also received the Sports Spotlight Award, category "Completed Work". The award was based on two evaluation criteria: architectural quality and benefits of the project for the region, noting various sectors of activity, such as health, education, sports, hotels, offices, etc.^[74]

On November 12, 2014, the construction of the arena was awarded in the category "Environmental Management at Works" at the 3rd Seconci Award for Occupational Safety and Health, organized by the São Paulo State Civil Construction Social Services (SECONCI-SP). Among the environmental management system implemented by the construction company, there were a waste management plan, erosion prevention measures, soil and water pollution control, water reuse and engineering control of noise levels. About 90% of all waste was reused or recycled, with 16 thousand cubic meters used in the work itself. The Palestra Italia stadium's old grass field was donated to the Mayor of the City of São Paulo to be reused in a town square.^[75][76]

Allianz Parque Tour

On March 18, 2015, was inaugurated the "Allianz Parque Tour", which offers a guide service to the public with a trained Arena guide.^[77] In partnership with Futebol Tour company, the service offers a narrative journey through exclusive areas of the stadium, such as press boxes, cabins, convention center, press conference area, dressing rooms and field of play. The tour is available from Wednesday to Sunday (except on game days, other events or holidays) and lasts approximately one hour.^[78]

Controversies

See also

• Palestra Itália Stadium
• Pacaembu Stadium
• Morumbi Stadium
• Canindé Stadium
• Arena Corinthians

References

External links

• Media related to Allianz Parque at Wikimedia Commons
• Palmeiras' official website
• Allianz Parque official website Archived August 20, 2019, at the Wayback Machine
• Allianz Parque project informations at WTorre official website Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
• International sports arenas sponsored by Allianz