Spanish soccer club Real Madrid revealed renovation plans for its stadium, the Santiago Bernabéu, including the addition of a new esports area. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2019 and the project is expected to take about three and a half years to complete.
The Bernabéu has hosted Real Madrid home games since 1947. The new stadium is expected to match the current capacity of 80,000 fans, but will also include a retractable roof. Notably, Real Madrid’s concept video depicts a space in the stadium with two esports teams playing in front of monitors, with large screens behind them showing gameplay and team imagery.
The project is now expected to cost $617.2 million. “The cost was to be €400 million but the modification of the project to comply with new obligations from the Madrid Court of Justice ruling has led to an increase to €525m,” Real’s President Florentino Perez said according to talkSPORT. However, the club hopes the stadium will bring in $176.4 million per year once completed.
SportTechie Takeaway
Unlike many other top-flight European soccer clubs such as Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid has been notably absent from the esports space. There was initial speculation in May that the club was forming an esports team, but that turned out to be just a rumor. That looks set to change now that a new esports complex is coming to Santiago Bernabéu.
The revamped stadium announcement comes two months after the European powerhouse agreed to transfer Cristiano Ronaldo to Italian club Juventus in a $117.6 million deal. Perhaps hosting esports events, and launching a team, could become a major source of revenue and prestige for Real Madrid in the wake of losing its most iconic player.