# José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum

The Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot (English: José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum of Puerto Rico) is the largest indoor entertainment and sports arena in Puerto Rico, located nearby the Milla de Oro financial district of Hato Rey in San Juan, the capital municipality of the archipelago and island. Opened in 2004 with a seating capacity of 18,500 spectators, the venue is colloquially known as El Choliseo (or the shortened El Choli), which is a portmanteau of the words coliseo (coliseum) and "Cholito", a reference to Don Cholito, a character created by Puerto Rican comedian José Miguel Agrelot and his own adopted nickname. The venue is owned by the Puerto Rico Convention District Authority, a public corporation of Puerto Rico, and managed by ASM Global. It can be reached by public transport via the Hato Rey Station of the Tren Urbano and the Puerto Rico Metropolitan Bus Authority from nearby stops.
The José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum has consistently been ranked among the highest ticket-selling venues globally. On May 26, 2011, the arena was ranked 8th on the Top 50 Arena Venues of the world and second of the West Hemisphere in worldwide ticket sales by Pollstar. As of 2022, the arena has received over ten million spectators, hosting more than a thousand events with a gross ticket revenue of over $200 million. The largest attendance record that the Choliseo has hosted was achieved on July 28, 2022 by Bad Bunny's Un Verano Sin Ti, with an all-time record of 18,749 spectators, exceeding 249 over the venue's capacity.
The arena has suffered two major closings, the first one after the hit from Hurricane Maria, during the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season, when events after mid-September 2017 were cancelled. The Choliseo was used as a warehouse and collection center by the Government of Puerto Rico to prepare and distribute food, water and basic necessities to those affected by the deadliest and costliest hurricane in Puerto Rican history, before it resumed hosting events in March 2018. The second major closing was due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the entertainment and the music industry, when events at the venue were cancelled or postponed beginning March 2020, until the venue resumed hosting events in June 2021, with attendance modifications.

## History
### Original plans

The Coliseum was a project started during the administration of Governor Rafael Hernández Colón, initially as part of a bid to host the 2004 Olympic Games. The facility was supposed to be constructed between the Roberto Clemente Coliseum and Hiram Bithorn Stadium, about a mile and a half away from the current arena site. The Coliseum would have been used for events such as Gymnastics and Olympic Basketball had the games been held in San Juan.

### Controversy

However, in 1997, the International Olympic Committee selected Athens to host the Olympics and the construction of the Coliseum was jeopardized. Recognizing the need for such a facility anyway, the government decided to continue the construction, this time at a site physically close to San Juan's financial district, the Golden Mile. Since the new site was adjacent to a future Tren Urbano station, the Coliseum's planners decided not to incorporate parking facilities to the arena, as to induce visitors to use mass transportation to reach it.
Political opponents of Pedro Rosselló's administration raised various objections to the original plan, claiming that the lot of land purchased for the construction would benefit some of his political party's (PNP) heaviest financial contributors. They also objected to the lack of parking space, claiming that nearby private parking operators, supposedly also money donors to Rosselló's party, would extort high parking fees from people who could not or would not use public transportation to the venue. At the time, the Tren Urbano was in its initial stages of construction; by the time the facility opened it was still under construction. Objectors would also point out that a private operator would take control of the facility under contract from the government of Puerto Rico under what was perceived as a highly expensive contract. The Rosselló administration countered by stating that previous experience with public sports facilities in Puerto Rico, which would quickly fall into disrepair at an accelerated rate requiring constant remodeling, demanded that a private entity should manage the facility. The contract's expense would be justified by bringing in an operating partner with international experience managing world-class facilities, whose reputation would ensure that performers and sport events that had never been staged in Puerto Rico could visit the island.
The Coliseum's construction was stopped for close to two years during the administration of governor Sila María Calderón, the leader of the opposition party (PPD) whose administration followed Rosselló's. She claimed that the Puerto Rican government had spent $242 million for a facility where only 42% of its scheduled project plan had been completed when she took office. The planners and constructors had overlooked the fact that a water pumping station next to the facility had been built over unstable land, and a portion of the building's foundations would have had to be redone because of this. There was even talk of demolishing what had been built and starting from scratch, which infuriated Rosselló supporters, who dismissed the suggestion as merely an excuse to spend more government money, this time to benefit the PPD's financial backers. Plans for a redesigned interior added during the Calderón administration added fuel to the intense public controversy.
Another controversy came about when Banco Popular's subsidiary Ticketpop was named the ticketing distributor through an exclusive contract, almost ignoring the bid by competitor TicketCenter. Ticketpop remained the sole ticketing distributor, from the venue's opening day until August 28, 2019, when rising competitor Ticketera was given the exclusive contract; Ticketpop's entire subsidiary operations were later sold to Ticketera in April 2021, whose founders also founded Ticketpop.
The original ticket vendor bidding controversy almost went to trial, as both parties argued over who would receive the contract, but the Government of Puerto Rico stood by their original contract with Ticketpop. Local producer Angelo Medina spearheaded a group that wanted the legislature to curb the managing powers of SMG (before merging to ASM Global in 2019), recently-named to oversee operations and activities, because they feared that the company's relationship with non-local television companies would limit the participation of local talent in the arena.
The Coliseum was finally inaugurated on September 4, 2004. The first major show was Van Halen, on September 13, 2004.

### Dedication

The naming of the structure caused a controversy by itself. During the construction phase, plans called for the coliseum to be named simply El Coliseo de Puerto Rico (The Coliseum of Puerto Rico). It was also suggested to have a private entity sponsor the facility and lend its name to it. Most local politicians objected to the idea, due to the 2001 Enron financial scandal, which made the company go bankrupt at a time when their corporate sponsorship named the Houston Astros' home ballpark as the Enron Field.
Some politicians argued over the naming the Coliseum after a Puerto Rican celebrity. Some of the names mentioned were that of pop star Chayanne, boxer Félix "Tito" Trinidad and actor Raúl Juliá. Puerto Rican law demanded that no facility could be named after a living individual and there were talks of making an exception to the law should a living Puerto Rican icon be honored with the name. However, the name of beloved local comedian José Miguel Agrelot was chosen in 2004, the same year of his death, when the Coliseum was near its completion. Agrelot himself had suggested the name of Rafael Hernández Marín to be used, and when someone suggested his name instead he was both surprised and concerned.

## Parking and transportation

A major public parking space or garage was not included in the planning or construction for the arena. Instead, only three parking lots were constructed, one for backstage entrance for authorized talent, production, equipment, props, etc., a medium-sized lot to the West entrance mostly for handicapped and the smallest lot, access-controlled, located across the box office and nearby the heavy rail station; privately-owned parking lots around the Choliseo can be found and charge a fee. The Tren Urbano is by far the most used transportation mode to and from the Choliseo; the Hato Rey station, located at a short walking distance, is the only station to extend operating hours after nighttime events end until all passengers using the system have exited at the station of their respective destinations.

## Awards and recognitions

On May 26, 2011, the Coliseo was ranked 8th on the Top 50 Arena Venues of the world and second of the West Hemisphere in worldwide ticket sales by Pollstar, surpassing the Staples Center in Los Angeles, the American Airlines Arena in Miami and Wembley Arena in London, among others. In the first three months of 2011, the coliseum received an overwhelming number of people of over 205,000. During the first trimester, the coliseum was ranked 13 times in the 25 best arenas worldwide, according to Pollstar, Billboard and Venues Today.

## Notable events held at the venue

The largest attendance record that the Choliseo has hosted was achieved on July 28, 2022, with Bad Bunny's Un Verano Sin Ti. The singer established an all-time record of 18,749 spectators, 249 spectators over the venue's capacity, on the first night of his three-night performances, breaking a previous record that was also achieved by him in 2019. This was the first time a concert was fully broadcast live on national television in Puerto Rico, which was exclusively through the airwaves of Telemundo Puerto Rico. Wisin & Yandel hold various records, some of which they have previously broken as well, including most performances at the Choliseo, by any performing artist, duo or group, increasing it to 39 and largest number of shows sold out in 24 hours. The Choliseo will host the first concert residence at the venue, as well as in Puerto Rico, for Bad Bunny's No Me Quiero Ir de Aquí, which will also be the singer's first residency. The 30-date residency will take place July 11–September 14, 2025.