The Pavilhão da Luz Nº 1, currently known as Pavilhão Fidelidade for sponsorship reasons, is the main

arena An arena is a large enclosed venue, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, Music, musical performances or Sport, sporting events. It comprises a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for specta ...

(or pavilion) of Portuguese multi-sport club

S.L. Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. Founded on 28 February 1904, as ''Sport Lisboa'', Benfica is one of the " ...

. It has a full capacity of 2,400 seats and is mainly used by the

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

futsal Futsal is a variant of association football played between two teams of five players each on a court smaller than a football pitch. Its rules are based on the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game of association football, and i ...

and

roller hockey Roller hockey is a form of hockey played on a dry surface using wheeled skates. It can be played with traditional roller skates (quad skates) or with inline skates and use either a ball or puck. Combined, roller hockey is played in nearly 60 cou ...

departments of the club. Built at the same time as the new

Estádio da Luz The Estádio da Luz (), officially named Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica, is a multi-purpose stadium located in Lisbon, Portugal. It is used mostly for association football matches, hosting the home games of Portuguese club S.L. Benfica, Ben ...

, it was designed from the start to replace the 37-year old Pavilhão da Luz, which was torn down in March 2003. Opened on 28 February 2004, during the celebrations of the club centenary, its first game opposed the basketball section against Ovarense. Its features include an

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

-style scoreboard, and other standard amenities like safety nets behind the goals,

press box The press box is a special section of a sports stadium or arena that is set up for the media to report about a given event. It is typically located in the section of the stadium holding the luxury box and can be either enclosed or open to the ...

es, five locker rooms, bars, medical offices and accommodation to handicapped fans.

Naming rights

Eight months after its opening, Benfica sold the arena

naming rights Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization where a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event (most often sports venues), typical ...

to Açoreana Seguros for a fee rumoured to be close to €1 million. It is currently named after Fidelidade, a Portuguese insurance company.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pavilhao Fidelidade S.L. Benfica Indoor arenas in Portugal Sports venues in Lisbon Sports venues completed in 2004 Basketball venues in Portugal Futsal venues

Naming rights

See also

References

External links