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Legal issues halt Real Madrid’s Bernabeu renovation, stopping concerts and benefiting Atletico Madrid. Metropolitano stadium secures major performances, affecting Real’s revenue.
Mired in legal setbacks, Real Madrid are losing the lucrative star-studded concerts for which its costly Bernabeu stadium revamp was designed. (AFP)
Real Madrid, entangled in legal challenges, are losing out on the high-profile concerts for which their expensive Bernabeu stadium renovation was intended, while their rivals, Atletico Madrid, are reaping the benefits.
The ambitious project, which involved three loans totalling over one billion euros ($1.174 billion), aimed to transform the historic stadium into a year-round entertainment venue.
However, the Spanish giants did not anticipate the resolve of disgruntled locals, whose complaints about excessive noise succeeded in halting the concerts planned for 2024.
As these complaints are stuck in legal proceedings, Atletico Madrid’s Metropolitano stadium secured the performances of three Spanish stars who were supposed to play at the Bernabeu this summer.
An even bigger success followed: the announcement of 10 concerts next year by reggaeton superstar Bad Bunny, a multiple Grammy Awards winner who sold a record 600,000 tickets for 12 dates in Madrid and Barcelona.
The arrival of the Puerto Rican artist seems to contradict the belief of Madrid’s Atletico-supporting mayor Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida, who asserted that only the Bernabeu could attract the most prestigious performers like US icon Taylor Swift.
Placido Rodriguez Guerrero, an emeritus professor at the University of Oviedo’s economics department, remarked, “the reputational damage has been big” for Real Madrid.
“It is a way of showing that not everything Real Madrid do is done well, and more so if the concerts go to the Metropolitano,” he told AFP.
Lola Indigo, one of the singers whose cancelled Bernabeu show was moved to the Metropolitano, told El Mundo daily she felt “disappointment, a little betrayed”.
Club president Florentino Perez has assured supporters that concerts account for only one percent of Real’s budget, with revenues expected to exceed 1.1 billion euros in the 2024/25 season.
David Dunn, managing director of the Edinburgh-based consultancy 442 Design, which has collaborated on commercial projects with clubs like Arsenal and AC Milan, described the situation as “a major blow” for Real Madrid.
Although the revenue from matchday, tours, and retail is “excellent”, the club “will have banked on being able to hold multiple large-scale events and concerts”, he told AFP.
Business Insider Spain reported that Real’s plan was to generate around 100 million euros annually from musical events – enough to sign a couple of star players.
Professor Rodriguez Guerrero stated that Real Madrid are losing “tens of millions of euros” this summer to their less celebrated local rivals, who have previously hosted stars like Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, and Bruno Mars.
To pursue their concert ambitions, Real Madrid’s investment “will cost quite a lot,” he said.
For Francesc Daumal, an architecture expert at Barcelona’s Polytechnic University of Catalonia, the main issue with the Bernabeu is its new retractable roof and the acoustic challenges it presents.
The stadium “is like a tent, because it’s shut with a light closure. There are openings, exterior sheets that let air in,” he explained.
“Solving the insulation for those deep frequencies and with those very high acoustic pressures isn’t simple,” warned Daumal.
Atletico’s stadium “was born from the start with the intention of soundproofing it,” whereas adapting the older Bernabeu is more complicated, he added.
Daumal also noted the Bernabeu’s proximity to residential buildings as a difficulty in containing noise, compared to the esplanade that separates the Metropolitano from its nearest neighbours.
Meanwhile, Atletico are capitalising on a packed summer concert schedule with the Bernabeu out of commission.
Fans flocked to the Metropolitano in May for two sold-out nights by British star Ed Sheeran, with 140,000 tickets sold at an average price of 100 euros ($115).
Sara, who attended last year’s Taylor Swift concert at the Bernabeu, told AFP the Metropolitano was “better as a place… it’s a club with more ties to music.”
“Acoustically, the Bernabeu is the worst place we’ve seen,” added the 34-year-old communications sector employee, who declined to give her surname.
Ariel Jackson, a 30-year-old lawyer from Trinidad and Tobago, said the Metropolitano had “extra space” and was “more comfortable” than the Bernabeu due to its distance from the crowded city centre.
“We love to say concerts are held” at the Metropolitano amid the Bernabeu’s troubles, enthused Atletico fan David Guerrero, 27, sporting a club shirt with Sheeran’s name on the back.
With AFP Inputs
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