() is an

indoor arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectator ...

located in

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 of ...

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

. It is within the Magdalena Mixhuca Sports City complex, near the Mexico City International Airport and in front of the

Foro Sol Foro Sol is a sports and entertainment venue built in 1993 inside the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in eastern Mexico City. It is located near the Mexico City International Airport and is operated by Grupo CIE. The venue was originally built f ...

, in which sports and artistic events are also celebrated. It is operated by Grupo CIE. The palace is named after Mexican military official

Juan Escutia ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...

, although it is rarely referred to in its full name. The stadium was constructed for the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport eve ...

and opened in 1968. The arena currently has 17,800 seats and can be expanded for more for non-sports events.

Construction

The was constructed specifically for the Olympic basketball competition. However, the 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 Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

, basketball,

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two o ...

, cycling, athletic meets, equestrian shows, dances, circuses, conventions and expositions. There is also a smaller pavilion for expositions and concerts. The was constructed 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 Interior Loop). It was built by the company ICA between October 15, 1966 and September 13, 1968, and finished construction just in time for the Olympics. The is circular in design with a square-patterned dome spanning and enclosing an area of . The dome consists of hyperbolic paraboloids of tubular aluminum covered with waterproof copper-sheathed plywood and supported by huge steel arches. The originally seated 22,370, including 7,370 in removable seats. There was parking space for 3,864 vehicles. The structure was designed by architects Félix Candela, Enrique Castañeda Tamborel and Antonio Peyri. It 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 structure underwent a series of modifications in the 1990s to adjust the acoustic profile of the structure. Earlier, the facility had acquired the derisive nickname of "" (Palace of

Reverberation Reverberation (also known as reverb), in acoustics, is a persistence of sound, after a sound is produced. Reverberation is created when a sound or signal is reflected causing numerous reflections to build up and then decay as the sound is abs ...

s) due to the way sound bounced around and echoed in it, a major problem for music concerts scheduled at the arena, and a drawback even for sports events. Various adjustments were made to compensate for these acoustic problems.

Events

The venue opened on 8 October 1968 with a performance by

Maurice Béjart Maurice Béjart (; 1 January 1927 – 22 November 2007) was a French-born dancer, choreographer and opera director who ran the Béjart Ballet Lausanne in Switzerland. He developed a popular expressionistic form of modern ballet, talking vast ...

's Ballet of the 20th Century.

Sports

The hosted the

Mexico City Olympic Games The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport ev ...

for the 1968 basketball competition; it was also one of the three venues for the 1968 volleyball competition. It was the home of the CBA Mexico City Aztecas (basketball) in 1994 and 1995, and the

Mexico Toros The Mexico Toros were an indoor soccer team based in Mexico City that played in the Continental Indoor Soccer League The Continental Indoor Soccer League (CISL) was a professional indoor soccer league that played from 1993 to 1997. History I ...

of the CISL (indoor soccer) in 1995. On 6 December 1997 it hosted the NBA's regular season game between the Houston Rockets and the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Southwest Division. The ...

, which ended with a 108-106 score. Both the FIBA 1989 Tournament of the Americas and the 2015 FIBA Americas Championship were held at the Palace.PR N°51 - Venezuela win 2015 FIBA Americas Championship for first-ever continental title
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Concerts

A common use of the Palace is to host big expositions and rock or pop concerts. There have been more than 400 concerts held here throughout the years; a curated list of some of the most important ones is below.

References

External links

Homepage1968 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
{{Authority control Indoor arenas in Mexico Sports venues in Mexico City Venues of the 1968 Summer Olympics Olympic basketball venues Olympic volleyball venues Dallas Mavericks Houston Rockets Legends Football League venues Basketball venues in Mexico Volleyball venues in Mexico Sports venues completed in 1968 Continental Basketball Association venues Félix Candela buildings 1968 establishments in Mexico