The MEO Arena in Lisbon, Portugal, the site of the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest, is to be rebranded as the Altice Arena.
The venue was originally known as Pavilhão Atlântico, but was renamed as the MEO Arena in May 2013 when Portugal Telecom acquired the naming rights to the venue.
Altice, the French group that owns MEO and Portugal Telecom, has now opted to add its own name to the arena, with the venue confirming the change yesterday (Monday) in an official statement on its website.
The newly-named Altice Arena has a total capacity of approximately 20,000 and is located in the Expo ‘98 complex in the Portuguese capital, near to Lisbon’s International Airport.
The multi-purpose venue opened its doors in 1998 and was built for the Expo ’98 event, which took place in Lisbon.
Other major events that have taken place at the arena over the years include the 2005 MTV Europe Video Awards, a number of WWE wrestling house shows and, more recently, the 2014-15 Uefa Futsal Cup final four.
The 63rd Eurovision Song Contest semi-finals will take place on May 8 and 10, with the grand final scheduled for May 12. Portugal won the competition for the first time this year, thus securing hosting rights to the 2018 event.
Image: Hélder Palma
