Mired in legal setbacks, Real Madrid are losing the lucrative star-studded concerts for which their costly Bernabeu stadium revamp was designed — and cross-town rivals Atletico are cashing in.
The megaproject involved three loans totalling more than one billion euros ($1.174 billion) with the goal of transforming the historic ground into a year-round entertainment hub.
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But the Spanish giants had not reckoned with the determination of angry locals, whose complaints about excessive noise succeeded in stopping the concerts in 2024.
With the complaints bogged down in the courts, Atletico Madrid’s Metropolitano stadium snapped up the shows of three Spanish stars who were due to perform at the Bernabeu this summer.
A bigger coup followed: the announcement of the hosting of 10 gigs next year by reggaeton superstar Bad Bunny, a multiple Grammy Awards winner who sold a Spanish record 600,000 tickets for 12 dates in Madrid and Barcelona.
The Puerto Rican’s arrival appears to contradict the belief of Madrid’s Atletico-supporting mayor Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida, who insisted only the Bernabeu could attract the most prestigious performers like US icon Taylor Swift.
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For Placido Rodriguez Guerrero, emeritus professor at the University of Oviedo’s economics department, “the reputational damage has been big” for Real.
“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 went to the Metropolitano, told El Mundo daily she felt “disappointment, a little betrayed”.
– ‘Major blow’ –
Club president Florentino Perez has reassured supporters that concerts only represent one percent of Real’s budget, with revenues topping 1.1 billion euros in the 2024/25 season.
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But David Dunn, managing director of the Edinburgh-based consultancy 442 Design, which has worked on commercial projects with clubs including Arsenal and AC Milan, described the situation as “a major blow” for Real.
Although the matchday, tour and retail business revenue is “excellent”, the club “will have banked on being able to hold multiple large-scale events and concerts”, he told AFP.
Business Insider Spain has reported Real’s plan was to generate around 100 million euros per year from musical events — enough to sign a couple of stars.
Professor Rodriguez Guerrero said Real were losing “tens of millions of euros” this summer to their less storied local rivals, who have previously hosted stars including Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones and Bruno Mars.
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If Real wish to pursue their concert ambitions, the investment “will cost quite a lot”, he said.
– Solution ‘not simple’ –
For Francesc Daumal, an architecture expert at Barcelona’s Polytechnic University of Catalonia, the Bernabeu’s main weakness is its new retractable roof and the acoustic issues it engenders.
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.
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Atletico’s stadium “was born from the start with the intention of soundproofing it”, whereas adapting the older Bernabeu is more difficult, he added.
Daumal also identified the Bernabeu’s proximity to residential buildings as a challenge to contain noise, compared with the esplanade that separates the Metropolitano from its closest neighbours.
Atletico are meanwhile cashing in on a packed summer concert schedule with the Bernabeu out of action.
Fans flocked to the Metropolitano in May for two sold-out nights by British star Ed Sheeran, with 140,000 tickets going at an average price of 100 euros ($115).
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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 the Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago, said the Metropolitano had “extra space” and was “more comfortable” than the Bernabeu thanks 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.
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