MW_Digital_Edition_29.08.14

www.musicweek.com 28.08.14 Music Week 25
PROFILE ARENAS
MEO ARENA, PORTUGAL
LIVE
n BY MURRAY STASSEN
The MEO Arena in Lisbon, Portugal features
a 5,200 square metre main hall which can
accommodate 20,000 people standing or
12,000 people sitting. It also features a secondary
Tejo Hall, which can accommodate 4,000 people
standing or 2,200 people sitting.
Built in 1998 at a cost of €50 million, the
arena has played host to major international artists
ranging from Metallica to Bruno Mars, Robbie
Williams and Lady Gaga, as well as internationally
broadcast events such as the MTV European Music
Awards and Tennis Masters Cup. Music Week
spoke to managing director Jorge Vinha da Silva to
find out more about the arena’s operations.
What is the MEO Arena predominantly used for?
It’s mostly used for big international acts, sports
competitions, local artist and corporate events. We
have a commercial strategy to reinforce the number
of big sports events like in former years when we
had several world championship tournaments
(athletics, fencing, handball, basketball, etc.). We
achieved some good results this year with the
European karate championship in non-senior
categories last February and next September, we
have the European team table tennis championship.
It is also used for local artist’s performances and
medium/smaller capacity gigs.
What challenges does the arena market in Portugal
currently face?
In business, everything must be balanced in order
to work well and achieve success. As a venue we
have to provide artists and promoters with the best
“As a venue we have
to provide artists and
promoters with the best
services possible in terms
of operations, to ensure a
smooth production”
JORGE VINHA DA SILVA, MEO ARENA
services possible, in terms of logistics and operations
to ensure a smooth production. On the other side I
believe we have to engage with customers through
social CRM, working to improve their experience
when they visit us. The world is changing rapidly
and is becoming more and more global.
What have been the major changes to the arena
market in Portugal and the rest of Europe recently?
Business is becoming similar worldwide and
new markets such as Latin America or China
are becoming competitors for big acts and tours,
beyond the regular US and European markets,
so every day we are forced to find new ways to
generate business and reinvent the old models.
We now live in a social media society, so digital
is turning in to one of the most interesting ways
to engage with consumers. Nowadays, it is all
about the experience and how ‘I’ share that with
the community. Live entertainment is one of the
best ways to achieve it, so it’s normal that venues,
ticketing companies and all the stakeholders
are incorporating methodologies like this in
their business.
From the venue’s point of view, everything that
could embrace the relationship between fans and
the act is the key factor. I believe that venues have
to engage with customers and the best way to do
it is through ticketing and social media, as these
ABOVE
Carlos Santana:
Santana
performs to a
full house at
Lisbon’s MEO
Arena
tools can grant you instant access to your audience,
transforming each act into a long, rich and engaging
conversation, starting from the ticket purchase until
after the show.
Venues are becoming more modern and facilities
more expensive, so there’s increasing pressure to
keep them full. The question is how to do that
beyond [featuring] the regular acts. In a perfect
world, any venue manager should aspire to working
24/7 to recover the high investments made in
the buildings. The million dollar question is how
to pursue that and align your company with this
purpose in a way that will produce results.
Open-air festivals are also something that is
affecting arena operations, but mostly in southern
and central Europe as they concentrate on the big
acts for a large period of the year.
GENERAL INFO:
Constructed
1998
Capacity
MEO Arena Hall:
20,000 standing
12,000 sitting
Tejo Hall
4,000 standing
2,200 sitting
Key contact for business opportunities
João Amorim, commercial and clients manager
jamorim@meoarena.pt