Real Madrid and Apple set to shake up industry with 'Infinite Santiago Bernabéu'
President Florentino Pérez announced an innovative proposal on Sunday for fans to experience the stadium atmosphere from the comfort of their own homes
Real Madrid beat Leganés 3-0 on Sunday and Los Blancos are now just four points behind Barcelona in LaLiga with a game in hand. Despite their indifferent form in 2024/25, Real remain as competitive as ever and off the pitch, president Florentino Pérez is working hard to keep the club ahead of the curve as well.
Works to finalise their space-age Santiago Bernabéu stadium are ongoing and, with millions of fans throughout the world, Pérez announced an innovative idea at Saturday’s General Assembly of Members.
The Bernabéu’s current capacity is just under 80,000 and with demand for season tickets at an all-time high, Pérez said: “It’s a problem. Everyone wants to come to the Santiago Bernabéu and that's why we’re negotiating with Apple about being able to put on glasses and watch the game as if you were in the stadium: it would be the infinite Santiago Bernabéu.”
While full details were not available, reports in Spain suggest the plan is to create the “biggest stadium in the world” via an immersive augmented reality experience in a move which could revolutionise the football industry. According to Defensa Central, that could see as many as 300,000 fans watching home matches, with over two thirds doing so from the comfort of their own homes. However, in a virtual world, there is no limit on the amount of people who could watch.
The technology is there, with images from the Cosm Experience Bar in Los Angeles going viral in August as fans watched a Manchester United match against Fulham from “front row seats” in immersive shared reality.
With 125 milllion fans on Facebook, over 50m on X (formerly Twitter) and almost 170m on Instagram, it makes sense for Real Madrid to explore new technologies which will allow their global fanbase to experience match days at the Santiago Bernabéu. It’s not quite the same as attending the game itself, but it’s the next best thing – and a move which could shake up the entire industry.