Arena Pernambuco in Recife (capacity: 42,900)

The Arena Pernambuco in Recife (population: 1.555m, capital of Pernambuco state) was inaugurated on 20/05/2013 with a friendly match between the resident club Nautico (Brazilian Serie B in 2014) and Sporting Portugal (Liga Sagres). The stadium is accessible by subway, and is located in São Lourenço da Mata, 19 km from the centre of the city of Recife.

The stadium, built for the 2014 World Cup, belongs to the state of Pernambuco. The cost is estimated at 532m reais (€176m). The BNDES (National Bank for Economic and Social Development) supported the construction of the Arena Pernambuco with a loan of 400m reais (€ 132m). The remaining 232m reais (€44m) were borrowed from private banks.

The 42,900-seat stadium is operated through a public-private partnership, the Arena Pernambuco Consortium, which belongs to the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht, which also built the arena. The consortium signed a contract with the U.S. entertainment group AEG for the operational management of the site. AEG is also the operator of two other stadiums of the 2014 World Cup: the Arena da Baixada in…