Thursday, April 7, 2011

Touring Santiago Bernabeu Stadium


Although I am not taking the marketing class here in Spain, our whole group was allowed to attend the V.I.P. tour of Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. Bernabeu is one of the world’s most prestigious and famous football stadiums with a capacity of 80,000 fans. It is the home Real Madrid C.F. or the Royal Madrid Football Club. The word “Real” in the name means “royal” in Spanish and was given to the team by King Alfonso XIII in 1920, along with their logo of a royal crown in the emblem. I also learned that Real Madrid is the most successful team in the history of Spanish football (or fútbol,) the world’s wealthiest football club, and the second richest sports enterprise in the world after the New York Yankees. Real Madrid has also had some of history’s best football players of all time, most recently including Cristiano Ronaldo.

When we first arrived, we took the stairs to the highest section of the stadium to get a bird’s eye view. The maximum capacity is 80, 354 spectators and according to our tour guide, apparently for each game, every seat is full. Then, we went inside to the museum where there was a showcase of trophies, players’ biographies, the uniforms through the years, videos of famous plays, and more. We even got to tour around the field and sit on the players’ bench. Finally, we toured their locker rooms and finished up in the Real Madrid store, which is four extensive levels. There, I bought my dad a Real Madrid jersey, which I’m sure he’s going to love! Right, Dad?! 










2 comments:

  1. Oh cool! You think you might go see a game?

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  2. I actually wrote a comment to this awhile ago and am now just realizing that I never finished posting it...I think I forgot to enter in the validation code how smart am I haha...miss me?

    Anyways! This stadium looks awesome and reallyyy big. We actually just went to a footy game here in Australia. Footy is a sport completely native to the Australians and it is unlike any game I have ever seen. The stadium that we went to holds 70,000 spectators which I thought was huge until I read your post and realized that the one in Spain is actually a lot larger! Obviously my favorite part about this post is the fact about the Yankees. I cannot believe that Real Madrid is the second richest sports enterprise!

    I really enjoy reading your blog and hearing all about your travels! Each post is colored with beautiful pictures and plenty of factual information. Cannot wait to hear about all of your stories when we are back at school! <3

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