A day in the NFL, the 'show' (and the match) for which the Bernabéu and the Metropolitano fight
The Santiago Bernabéu and the Cívitas Metropolitano have been fighting for many months to become the Madrid venue for an official match of the NFL season. A path that the capital of Spain has taken with a certain timidity, letting itself be carried away by the interest of the American football league itself in expanding into new territories.. And the NFL, which this year has played matches in London (England) and Frankfurt (Germany), plans to add a new country to its list of international duels for the next campaign. The finalists: Brazil and Spain, with Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Madrid as candidates, and the latter as favorite. For all this, EL MUNDO has traveled to Frankfurt to see the New England Patriots – Indianapolis Colts and discover what the show that the Madrid and the red and white stadiums yearn for is like.
Eintracht's Deutsche Bank Park debuted this year as the venue for an NFL match. The league had already arrived at the Allianz Arena in Munich in 2022, in its first European adventure beyond London, and plans to return to Bayern's field in 2024, but this time the city on the River Main has won the jackpot.. The stadium has been key in its choice, but also the adjacent facilities, and this is where you have to start visualizing the surroundings of the Bernabéu and the Metropolitano to guess which one best suits the needs of the NFL.
Because the American league not only moves a game from the United States to another country in the world. Transfer your entire product, your entire show, your entire reason for being. Because the NFL, and American sports in general, is not only what happens on the grass or the track, it is also, and sometimes more important, everything that is generated around it.
In Frankfurt, after passing five security checks and observing the occasional sniper in the stadium towers, the fan finds several open areas in which to satisfy his desire for NFL and leisure. The classic food, drink and music food trucks are joined by a multitude of stands with different activities related to the NFL: throwing a field goal, acting as a receiver and catching a friend's pass, testing how high we can jump…. All this is called 'Game Day Experience' and it occupies the area of two football fields. Again, return to the Bernabéu and the Metropolitano.
“200-800 euros per purchase”
Still without entering the stadium stands, we continued on our way to look for the official NFL store, set up for the occasion in one of the attached pavilions.. It's not about selling Patriots or Colts clothing.. Here the experience is total and the NFL offers its fans a megastore where they can find t-shirts from the 32 teams in the league, sweatshirts, hats, scarves and all kinds of items from, we insist, all the clubs.. “It's crazy. Each person spends from 200 to 800 euros on each purchase. We sell millions every day,” says one of the shop assistants.. The store, open the three days before and on match day, is a river of people. The match held in Munich in 2022 generated an impact of more than 70 million euros. If this were achieved in Madrid, it would surpass events such as the Marathon (42 million) and would fight with the Mutua Madrid Open tennis event, one of the city's major sporting events, whose impact reaches 130 million over two weeks.
AFP
The need for a large space in which to temporarily build stands, stalls, experiences and the official store is what could tip the balance in that Bernabéu-Metropolitano fight. During the week of September 11, NFL officials visited the two stadiums and the Chamartín stadium impressed them, in addition to the good idea they thought of joining the Real Madrid brand.. It would be the easiest option. But the Bernabéu is not yet completely finished and the club now plans to build two car parks under Castellana and Padre Damián.. The white coliseum will host concerts and events starting in January, but the NFL needs a lot of outdoor space, which is why, at least by 2024, they will also look favorably on the Metropolitano, its interior and its spacious surroundings.
Despite everything, the NFL has not closed venues or dates and has not ruled out two games being played in Madrid, just as two have been played in the Frankfurt premiere.. A few months ago the league divided its potential market worldwide and awarded certain franchises to certain countries to work on the ground on marketing and events issues.. For Spain he selected the Miami Dolphins and the Chicago Bears, so don't be surprised if one of these teams plays in Madrid in the future.
EFE
Once inside the halls of the German stadium, the atmosphere transforms into a pure American spectacle. Cannons with t-shirts and chips, the American anthem a cappella, cheerleaders, costumes of all kinds and the classic video scoreboard camera with the kiss cam, an application for the public to choose the songs that are played, games for fans to show off in the central chamber of the stadium, famous like the soccer players David Alaba, Hummels and Goretzka or the skier Lindsey Vonn, an Under Armor athlete.. 50,144 spectators who vibrated with a meeting somewhat lacking in quality but never in show, in which tickets cost between 75 and 225 euros, with a 50% discount for those under 16 years of age in the cheapest seats. Tickets and VIP areas, many and of many types, are what gives the most benefit to the event, with prices ranging from 755 euros to 4,000 depending on the type of experience contracted.. The Colts won, if that matters, to the rage of the local public, who were with the Patriots.