Surface Parquet Capacity 10,500 Phone +39 06 540901 | Operator All Events Spa Broke ground 1956 Opened 1960 | |
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Former names Palazzo dello Sport (1960-2003) Architects | ||
PalaLottomatica, formerly known as Palazzo dello Sport or PalaEUR, is a multi-purpose sports and entertainment arena in Rome, Italy. It is located in the heart of the well known modern EUR complex. The arena hosted the 1960 Olympic basketball tournaments.
Contents
The stadium features 8 meetings points, a restaurant for 300 people and a 2,700 square metre (3,229 sq. yard) outdoor terrace. It has a seating capacity of 11,200 spectators for basketball games.
Cesare cremonini al palalottomatica roma
History
Palazzo dello Sport was designed by architect Marcello Piacentini in 1957 and its reinforced concrete dome was engineered by Pier Luigi Nervi and it was constructed in two years from 1958–1960 in time for the 1960 Summer Olympics. The facility was designed and built along with a smaller facility, the Palazzetto dello Sport, its dome also engineered by Nervi.
Formerly known as PalaSport and informally as PalaEUR, by the name of the neighbourhood that hosts it, the 'EUR' precisely, it was renamed "PalaLottomatica" with the name of Lottomatica, the main sponsor that financed the modernization work from 1999 to 2003.
Modernization
The stadium has been made more functional, especially in terms of acoustics, to also accommodate important musical events. Other changes were made to the original aesthetics of the stadium, particularly the night lighting of exterior glazing that now occurs at "tabellone della tombola", with numbers dramatically illuminated behind the glass.
After the remodeling, it is able to accommodate up to 11,200 seated spectators. The structure is versatile and hosts sporting events (including internal competitions of, for example, Pallacanestro Virtus Roma), concerts, conferences, and theatrical events.
The PalaLottomatica Rome, together with Mediolanum Forum of Milan, is a member of the European Arenas Association (EAA).
Events
The arena hosted the 1960 Olympic basketball tournaments, the 1991 European basketball championships and the Euroleague 1997 Final Four. It is currently the home arena of the Italian professional basketball team Lottomatica Roma.
In 1997, the PalaLottomatica hosted the Euroleague Final Four and the final stage of the 2005 Men's European Volleyball Championship, oversubscribed in the final between Italy and Russia, Hosting one of its terraces an audience of over 14,000 spectators were disappointed that thanks to a 3–2 comeback victory in Italy, after a thrilling game that lasted over two hours. The WWE ran a show on November 7, 2008 at the PalaLottomatica.
The PalaEUR was also a venue of the 1978 and 2010 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship as well as the 2014 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship. The venue was also named the host of the 2016–17 CEV Champions League Final 4 in volleyball on April 29th and 30th, 2017 - which follows prior hosting rights to the 2011 event.
Many artists have performed at the Palazzo dello Sport / PalaLottomatica since late 1960s and early 1970s: amongst them the Rolling Stones in 1970, the Depeche Mode several times since 1987, the Cure, Paul McCartney, Iron Maiden, Dire Straits and many others. In 1975 a Lou Reed concert was cancelled because of turmoils between police and groups of people who protested against the high prices of concert tickets; because of those turmoils the Palazzo dello Sport was seriously damaged and foreigner artists refused to perform in Italy for the following 5 years until Bob Marley performed in Milan in 1980. The Spice Girls performed a show in March 1998 during their Spiceworld Tour. This arena also hosted the concert of Avril Lavigne with her The Black Star Tour on September 10, 2011.
The first artist to perform after the modernization and the renaming as PalaLottomatica was Carlos Santana in 2003.