Estadio Olímpico Universitario
Estadio Olímpico Universitario is the second largest stadium in Mexico with a capacity of 63,186 seats. It is the home of Pumas de la UNAM, who represent UNAM university.
The stadium was officially opened on the 20th of November 1952. The first match was an American football match played nine days later. The stadium was the principal stadium during the 1968 Olympic games, hosting the opening and closing ceremonies, and the athletic events. It also hosted a number of matches at the 1986 World Cup, among which the round of 16 match between Italy and France (0-2).
The Eastern side of the stadium contains a mural of Diego Rivera named: “La Universidad, la familia Mexicana, la paz y la juventud deportista”. Diego Rivera had planned to cover the complete outside of the stadium with such murals, but never got to this due to his death in 1957. As part of a set of UNAM university buildings it has been given World Heritage status in 2007.
Getting there
The stadium is located in the south-western part of Mexico City, approximately 14 kilometres from the historic centre. It is part of the main campus of the UNAM university.
It can be reached by car following the Avenida Insurgentes Sur, one of the main roads crossing the city. From main tourist areas such as the Zona Rosa and Condesa one only has to follow this road south until the stadium appears on the right. Alternatively from the Periférico motorway, exit at Eje 10 Sur/San Jeronimo and follow the road east for about two kilometres until reaching the stadium.
By public transport the stadium can be reached by either metrobus or metro. The metrobus follows Avenida Insurgentes. Get on at any stop round Avenida Reforma, the Zona Rosa, or Condesa, and get off at the stop Dr. Gálvez. A 10-minute walk slightly uphill following the same Insurgentes avenue brings you to the stadium. Alternatively you can take the metro to Copilco, which is on line 3, find your way to the university campus, and cross the campus to the stadium. This will be a longer walk, approximately 20 minutes, but can be quicker if you’re coming from the historic city centre.
Address: Avenida Insurgentes Sur s/n, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán, México DF
Tickets
Tickets can be bought at the stadium, online via Ticketmaster, or at a selected number of Ticketmaster outlets in the city. On matchdays tickets can generally be bought at the stadium.
Relevant Internet links:
Clubpumasunam.com – Official website of the Pumas UNAM.
Mexicocity.gob.mx – Official website of the Mexico City tourism agency.
Metrobus.df.gob.mx – Website of the Metrobus transport system.
Metro.df.gob.mx – Website of the Mexico City metro.
Date visited: 18 September 2011
Match visited: Pumas UNAM-Toluca 4-1
In September 2011 we visited a match of the PUMAS, one of the most popular teams of Mexico, and at that time reigning champions of Mexico (though they were just going through a rather bad spell). They typically play their matches at noon on Sundays, which means that many people arrive with their hair still wet of showering.
We got to the the stadium easily by Metrobus. Finding the right stop wasn’t hard as it just meant following the crowds in PUMAS gear get off and walk to the stadium.
After having arrived at the stadium the taquillas (ticket booths) were easily located, though the scene was slightly confusing as each window was assigned to a particular part of the stadium and there wasn’t any map with the layout of the stadium around. However people were friendly enough to help us out identifying the different parts. It took us about 15 minutes queuing before we arrived at the front of the line and a further 10 minutes going through security checks and locating our seats. So better not arrive at the last minute.
It’s not allowed to carry any belts inside the stadium. Even though there is special service to guard your belt during the match – which is in fact reliable – you may feel uncomfortable at first giving off your belt (which happened to me at other matches). There are loads of salesmen around selling PUMAS jerseys and food and drinks.
Our tickets were for the long end of the stadium, technically the main stand, though there is hardly any difference between the stands. No fixed seat numbers, so free seating on concrete benches. Pumas played Toluca, no rival, so it was easy to find a place (and get tickets).
I’d say the stadium was about a third full, with the fans primarily located on both long ends and hardly any behind the goals. Also the fanatic fans seemed to have their area at the main stand, quite unusual, though the atmosphere got at no point aggressive and the crowd seemed to be more upper class than at other Mexican clubs. The crowd did seem to be very homogeneous, with practically all of them wearing PUMAS jerseys and chanting along with the more common chants.
The match started with the university hymn with everyone singing along with their fist up in the air. One particular chant seemed to be the preference of most of the people. Also there was the typical Latin American salsa type of band playing along. A nice atmosphere, but nothing too exciting. Maybe the hour?
As in all Latin American stadiums vendors walk round the stadium selling drinks and snacks, including beer. One word of advice: the stadium doesn’t have a roof, so when the sky is clear, which is not uncommon in Mexico City, you’re sitting full in the blistering sun and without sunscreen you’re bound to get sunburnt. Needless to say that when it’s raining you’re bound to get wet (not so common though). So take precautions or arrive very early to claim one of the few covered seats.
After the match we got quickly out of the stadium without problems to take the metrobus back to central Mexico City.