Inside the world’s first purpose-built music stadium
Mexico City’s newly renovated GNP Seguros Stadium (previously called Foro Sol) was unveiled last week with three sold-out concerts by Bruno Mars.
Inaugurated in 1993, the 65,000-capacity venue is the world’s only permanent stadium that is purpose-built for concerts.
“The goal of other stadiums is usually sport or some other event,” the stadium’s architect Pepe Moyao tells IQ. “Usually, in those venues, you lose a bleacher when you put in a stage. That doesn’t happen in GNP Seguros Stadium – it’s built for concerts. We also have the flexibility to move the stage – back or forward or into the middle – and to host whatever concert is wanted.”
The venue’s operator, Live Nation-backed Ocesa, declined to reveal the cost of the latest update but Mexico City’s head of government Martí Batres recently revealed that the firm has invested 2.3 billion pesos (€36m/US$121m) since the stadium opened in the ’90s.
Following the renovation, the GNP Seguros Stadium now boasts a roof spanning more than 13,000 m² (139,930.84 ft²) that collects rainwater stored for reuse, plus 280 state-of-the-art screens to improve the viewing of the shows inside the venue and provide timely information to attendees.
“The stadium will continue being the global benchmark venue where the best national and international artists connect with their fans”
Other additions include more comfortable seating, new and improved spaces for food and beverage consumption, hospitality areas for the public and corporate clients, panoramic elevators, more accessible spaces, increased restrooms, and internal and peripheral lighting that will allow better visibility and safety.
Ocesa founder and CEO, Alejandro Soberón Kuri, said the renovations will enable the stadium to “continue being the global benchmark venue where the best national and international artists connect with their fans”.
While Ocesa COO George Gonzalez told IQ the firm expects a banner year for the venue, which will likely beat last year’s ‘incredible’ ticket sales despite being closed for six months.
The venue closed in February 2024 and was originally due to re-open in September with a concert by Metallica but the renovation was sped up to secure Bruno Mars’s first shows in Mexico for six years.
For the stadium’s first renewal since 1993, Ocesa enlisted Pepe Moyao, the renowned architect behind the original stadium and other iconic music venues such as Auditorio Telmex (cap. 11,500) in Guadalajara and Pepsi Center (7,500) in Mexico City.
“Since the [first stadium build], international artists have always been in mind”
The first incarnation of the stadium – four huge temporary bleachers – was assembled in November 1993, especially for Madonna, who performed three shows there as part of her world tour The Girlie Show.
These shows marked the beginning of large-scale concerts in Mexico, which until then was only equipped to host shows with up to 20,000 attendees.
The temporary stadium, then named Foro Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, also hosted concerts with Paul McCartney, Pink Floyd and The Rolling Stones.
Given the success of the blockbuster concerts, Moyao was commissioned to build the permanent stadium, which opened in October 1997 with a concert by David Bowie as part of his Earthling Tour.
“Since the beginning, international artists have always been in mind,” Moyao told IQ. “And all the new amenities in GNP Seguros Stadium are a result of what we have learned during these 30 years. I know the chain of command very well now, from production to ticketing to food and beverage. Many of the people that work for my company are younger people who go to the stadium and have given feedback on their lived experience.”
“All the new amenities in GNP Seguros Stadium are a result of what we have learned during these 30 years”
Crowd flow in the venue was especially important in the renovation design as the GNP Seguros Stadium is part of a complex, which is operated by Ocesa and includes the 26,000-capacity Sports Palace (Palacio de los Deportes) and Formula 1 racetrack Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.
The Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez runs through the standing section of GNP Seguros Stadium while another corner of the racetrack is used to host Ocesa’s biggest Mexico City festivals such as Corona Capital, Coca-Cola Flow Fest and Electric Daisy Carnival.
Other artists lined up to perform at the new GNP Seguros Stadium include Feid, Natanael Cano, Caifanes, Eric Clapton, The Killers, Blink 182, Paul McCartney, Iron Maiden, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, Morat and Twenty One Pilots.
In other news, Ocesa announced yesterday that it will open a new 40,000-capacity complex in Bogotá, Colombia.
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Mexico’s Foro Sol reveals new name, reopening date
Mexico’s Foro Sol has been been given a new name ahead of its reopening with a concert by Bruno Mars later this summer.
Operated by Ocesa, the 65,000-cap Mexico City site will now be known as the GNP Seguros Stadium after securing a naming rights deal with insurance company GNP.
The venue, which opened in 1993, has been closed for renovation since early 2024, but will relaunch with Mars’ performance on 10 August.
“The GNP Seguros Stadium will reopen its doors to continue being the global benchmark venue where the best national and international artists connect with their fans,” says Ocesa founder and CEO Alejandro Soberón Kuri. “Thanks to GNP Seguros for being the ally with which this venue will live a new era.”
Other upcoming shows at the stadium include four nights by Metallica (20, 22, 27 & 29 September), plus two dates with The Killers (5-6 October), as well as headline shows by Feid, Natanael Cano, Caiphanes Eric Clapton, Blink-182, Iron Maiden, The Fabulous Cadillacs, Morat and Twenty One Pilots.
Mars will embark on a 14-date tour of Brazil in the autumn, including multiple stadium concerts
Following the Mexico gig, Mars will also become the first act to play at the new 18,000-cap Intuit Dome in Los Angeles on 15 and 16 August before resuming his Las Vegas residency at Dolby Live on 20 August.
In the autumn, the hitmaker will embark on a 14-date tour of Brazil, including multiple stadium concerts. The run will stop at São Paulo’s Estádio MorumBIS for six nights on 4-5, 8-9 and 12-13 October, followed by three shows at Estádio Nilton Santos in Rio de Janeiro (16, 19-20 October).
The 38-year-old American will then perform two gigs each at Arena BRB Mané Garrincha in the capital Brasilia (26-27 October) and Estádio Couto Pereira, Curitiba (31 October & 1 November), finishing up at Estádio Mineirão, Belo Horizonte, on 5 November.
Mars has already proven to be a huge draw in Brazil, headlining two sold out days at the inaugural edition of 105,000-cap Rock in Rio spin-off festival The Town, which debuted in São Paulo last year. The star also made history in Japan with seven sold-out shows at the 55,000-capacity Tokyo Dome in early 2024.
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Ocesa director toasts Foro Sol’s ‘incredible year’
Ocesa’s Guillermo Parra Riveros has hailed an “incredible year” for Mexico City’s Foro Sol after the stadium sold more than 2.2 million tickets in 2023.
The 65,000-cap venue, which is operated by Live Nation-backed Ocesa, ranked No. 1 for ticket sales on Pollstar’s Year End Worldwide Stadium Tickets chart and No. 2 in Stadium Grosses, generating US$170,179,120 (€155.5m).
Highlights included four dates with Taylor Swift and three nights with Depeche Mode, as well as concerts by Paul McCartney, Muse, Blackpink, Lana Del Rey, The Weeknd, Arctic Monkeys, Billie Eilish, Post Malone, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rauw Alejandro, Imagine Dragons, Motley Crue & Def Leppard and Peso Pluma.
Speaking to VenuesNow, Parra, Ocesa’s director of international events, points out that domestic artists also played their part in the success.
“It was an incredible year because interesting things were happening in Mexico,” he says. “Mexican acts that didn’t previously do stadiums are now doing them for the first time. So, the year-end number we had at Foro Sol is due to local acts like Molotov or Siddhartha, two acts who had never played here, performing at Foro Sol.
“It’s also the reggaeton movement. Fans’ openness to the genre as well as regional Mexican wasn’t there before when it came to concerts at Foro Sol. We had great showings for Grupo Frontera, Rels B and Feid on top of notable international acts like Taylor Swift, Depeche Mode, Paul McCartney and Lana Del Rey.”
“There are all kinds of venues with different capacities in the city to serve all kinds of artists”
As previously revealed, Foro Sol will close for renovation following two shows by Twice from 2-3 February. It will then reopen in September with Metallica’s M72 World Tour.
“Ocesa will close the stadium for a massive renovation that will update the bathrooms, suites and food and beverage stands,” says Parra. “We are going to improve every aspect of the stadium, which officially opened in 1998 with David Bowie.
“The first concerts were actually Madonna and Paul McCartney, but at the time, it was only a seasonal venue. It officially opened as a permanent stadium in 1998, so it’s been many years, and it’s in need of a facelift.”
Namechecking other Mexico City venues such as Palacio De Los Deportes (cap. 21,000), Auditorio Nacional (10,000), Pepsi Center (7,000) and Teatro Metropolitano (3,000), Parra suggests there is a multitude of reasons for the region’s current popularity with international acts.
“We have some of the best fans in the world,” he says. “Second, it’s an easy commute from the US to Mexico. And third is our economy. It’s in good shape at the moment, and the public is paying for tickets.
“There are all kinds of venues with different capacities in the city to serve all kinds of artists.”
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Metallica to relaunch Foro Sol after renovation
Mexico’s Foro Sol is to be closed for renovation for the majority of 2024 before reopening with a concert by Metallica.
The 65,000-cap Mexico City venue, which opened in 1993, has hosted two nights each by Muse, Blackpink, Lana Del Rey, The Weeknd and Arctic Monkeys, three nights by Depeche Mode and four dates with Taylor Swift in 2023 alone.
Other acts to have performed at the site this year including Billie Eilish, Post Malone, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rauw Alejandro, Imagine Dragons, Motley Crue & Def Leppard, and Peso Pluma.
After staging two Paul McCartney shows this week, it will see out the year by welcoming Junior H on 23 November, Siddharta on 9 December and RBD on 30 November, 1-3 & 16-17 December, prior to two shows by Twice from 2-3 February. Foro Sol will then be shut until the autumn while the revamp is completed.
Metallica will relaunch Foro Sol by bringing their M72 World Tour to the venue on 20 & 22 September 2024
As a result, Informador reports the annual Vive Latino festival is relocating its next edition to the 110,000-cap Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez motor racing track.
Metallica will relaunch Foro Sol by bringing their M72 World Tour to the venue on 20 & 22 September next year, when they will play completely different setlists on each night. Support will come from Greta Van Fleet and Mammoth WVH on night one, and Five Finger Death Punch and Ice Nine Kills on night two.
Located in the Iztacalco area of the Mexican capital, the venue has previously staged concerts by the likes of Madonna, Justin Bieber, the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Britney Spears, David Bowie, U2, Shakira and Robbie Williams, as well as the World is a Vampire Festival.
In 2022, Coldplay became the first international group to play four sold-out concerts at the venue, while Daddy Yankee became the first act to headline five consecutive nights – attracting 322,028 attendees overall.
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