Benfica have opened a new Emirates Lounge at Estádio da Luz, with seats priced at €12,500 for a six-hour matchday experience. The club say the space can generate €2 million a year and forms part of a five-year plan to lift revenue to €500 million.

Benfica's hospitality and revenue plan

José Gandarez said the project grew out of the renewed Fly Emirates contract and that Benfica want to stay at the front of service for members and corporate clients. He added that the club currently has 5 percent occupancy in the corporate area and wants to move towards 10 percent.

The numbers behind the launch are hard to miss. Benfica have 160 seats in the new space, and the club say the offer is built around a long service window rather than a quick pre-match stop. Two hours before kick-off, the lounge starts serving, and the full experience runs for around six hours.

That sits neatly alongside the mood around the team itself. Benfica are second in the Primeira Liga after eight matches, with 19 points, six wins and a goal difference of +17. They have scored 24 league goals and conceded only seven, so this is a premium product being sold from a position of strength.

The lounge experience on matchday

The food offer is meant to feel closer to a private dining room than a stadium box. Vítor Matos said the menu will change from game to game and that he works between 40 to 50 recipes per match, with asparagus migas and sea bass on offer for this one.

His point is straightforward: guests paying that kind of money should not get the same set menu every week. Matos also said the offer has been completely reworked and that anyone arriving two hours before the game needs food, which is hard to argue with when the price starts at €12,500 a seat.

David Quito said Emirates sees the project as part of a partnership that began in 2014, and described the move from a box to a lounge as a step up in hospitality. Benfica will get a quick test of the new space again on 15 October, when Celtic visit in the club's next home match.

Written by Sam Whitfield with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →