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Real Madrid to build theme parks in Miami and Beijing
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| starsearcher |
| quote: | Real Madrid President Perez Plans Theme Parks
Chris Noon, 08.05.05, 2:20 PM ET
LONDON - Spanish soccer club Real Madrid is beholden to its stellar-sounding "Galacticos"--a roster of coruscating players brought from every corner of the globe. In 2003 its target was David Beckham, who duly signed from Manchester United for approximately $44 million. It was an acquirement that probably had as much to do with finance as football, with the trusty Beckham brand ensuring increased revenue from merchandising.
With this much cosmic cachet, it's no surprise that most of the club's aficionados don't have a drop of Madrileno blood in them. As part of a strategy to capitalize on marketing opportunities across the globe, Real Madrid is now planning to construct a Disney-style branded theme parks in Miami and Beijing. "They will become the focus for the legions of Real Madrid fans in the powerful and heavily populated countries of the United States and China," Real Madrid President Florentino Perez was quoted as saying in a media report.
The report also suggested Real was looking to include a theme park in Madrid at its new training base, which is currently under construction in the Spanish capital. Perez apparently added that Real Madrid, which is sponsored by electronics group Siemens (nyse: SI - news - people ), had seen its income increase by 250% since he took the president role five years ago, overtaking Manchester United as the biggest earning club on the globe. Or if it prefers, the galaxy.
Perez's plans are more ambitious than those of ManU's new owner, Malcolm Glazer. The U.S. billionaire is building a casino near Old Trafford stadium--possibly in joint venture with Sheldon Adelson's hotel and entertainment franchise, Las Vegas Sands.
A world of warning: The Walt Disney Company (nyse: DIS - news - people )once saw sports as a brand extension of its own, creating the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim hockey team in 1992. After a less than stellar run, Disney sold the team to Henry Samueli, co-founder of Broadcom (nasdaq: BRCM - news - people )--a reminder that the cornerstone of sports brand equity is success on the field.
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Source: http://www.forbes.com/2005/08/05/so...tml?partner=rss |
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| drgoodvibe |
Estadio Santiago Bernabeu
Real Madrid Stadium!
I saw the model of the real madrid training grounds that they're building near Madrid.. It's truly enormous. |
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| dEsidEL |
this stadium was amazing .. Beh did u see the trophy room ? insane !
i tried to rip a piece of grass from the pitch but the security guard wouldn't hav it !
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| starsearcher |
| ^^ did you take those? How did you get into all those areas? it looks amazing! |
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| drgoodvibe |
| quote: | Originally posted by starsearcher
^^ did you take those? How did you get into all those areas? it looks amazing! |
aye, I took those pics :thepirate -- you can do a tour of the stadium for 9EU.
And yes I did see the trophy room, it was insane! I especially enjoyed all the commentary about how they beat/crushed Barca on various occasions.. heh. |
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