Estadio Ciudad de los Deportes (English: “Sports City Stadium”; formerly Estadio Azul) is a 33,000-seat stadium located in Ciudad de los Deportes,

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

. This sports facility is used for

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

matches and for

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

as well. The

Tazón México The Tazón México (English: Mexico Bowl) is the annual championship game of the Liga de Fútbol Americano Profesional, the highest level of professional American football in Mexico. As with the Super Bowl, Roman numerals are used to identify each ...

has been played at the stadium. It was the home of Mexican football club

Cruz Azul Club de Futbol Cruz Azul or simply Cruz Azul () is a professional football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. It competes in the Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football. Because "azul" means "blue" in Spanish, the club has traditionally ...

until 2018, hence the previous nickname of ''Estadio Azul'', and the

Mexico national football team The Mexico national football team () represents Mexico in international football and is governed by the Mexican Football Federation (). It competes as a member of CONCACAF. Mexico has qualified to seventeen World Cups and has qualified conse ...

, especially in the early 1990s. In summer 2016, it was announced by Mexico City authorities that plans to demolish the stadium would begin at the end of the 2017-2018

Liga MX The Liga MX, officially known as the Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional football division in Mexico, holding 2 tournaments per year. The league is considered the strongest in North America, and among the strongest in a ...

season. However, in July 2018, the demolition project was put on hold. It is presently the home of

Atlante F.C. Atlante Fútbol Club, is a professional football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. Founded in 1916, Atlante were original members of the Mexican Primera División when it began in 1943. Atlante has won three national league championships, t ...

The stadium was dubbed again with the nickname ''Estadio Azulgrana'' which it previously held during the 1980s and 1990s due to the fact that it was the home of Atlante F.C., whose club colors are blue and garnet. Both times Mexico hosted the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

, Estadio Azul did not host matches mainly due to the age of the structure, bad parking facilities, and complex traffic patterns. A peculiarity of this stadium is that it is built as a pit with the playing field is below street level. Just beside the stadium is the

Plaza México A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true geometric square, used for community gatherings. ...

, the world's largest

bullring A bullring is an arena where bullfighting is performed. Bullrings are often associated with the Iberian Peninsula, but they can also be found through Iberian America and in a few Spanish and Portuguese ex-colonies in Africa. Bullrings are o ...

. File:CrAzulStadium1.JPG, Exterior from a side street File:15-07-Mexico-Vorauswahl-RalfR-WMA 0974.jpg, Stadium ''(right)'' from the air File:ViewInsideCrAzulDF.JPG, Interior from concourse File:Cruzazul-vsherediano.jpg, Interior from east section A File:Estadio Azul - Logo.png, Logo under former name

Infrastructure

Following the arrival of Cruz Azul, there have been many renovations to make the stadium safer, more comfortable, and appropriate to the needs of fans. Among these amenities are: *Two professional football locker rooms *Two locker rooms for referees *A press conference room with seating capacity for 50 people *A closed-circuit video system including seventy cameras *Estadio Azul holds 33,000 people, including 92 boxes.

Infrastructure

References

See also