TALKSPORT
Real Madrid have reportedly tweaked the name of their iconic stadium without fans realising.
Since 1947, Los Blancos have called the Santiago Bernabeu home.
The venue has also played host to countless historic moments at club and international level.
In fact, the Santiago Bernabeu was the first stadium in Europe to host both a European Championship and a World Cup final, which they did in 1964 and 1982 respectively.
It has also been the venue for four Champions League finals, with the most recent being in 2010 when Inter Milan beat Bayern Munich 2-0.
Of those four, only once has Madrid played in the Champions League final at their home ground and that was back in 1957 when they beat Fiorentina.
Over the years, Madrid’s home has undergone a number of facelifts, with the most recent being a renovation that cost an eye-watering £1billion in 2019.
As part of the revamp, a hi-tech retractable roof was added along with a hotel and shopping centre on the exterior.
However, fans are soon going to have the call the stadium by a different name.
According to Spanish publication Marca, the Santiago Bernabeu is no longer.
Instead, the stadium will reportedly be known as just the ‘Bernabeu’.
Marca claim the reason behind the surprise change is that it allows for greater commercial opportunities.
One such avenue could be a sponsor inserting their name ahead of Bernabeu.
However, Marca reports there are no immediate plans to adopt that approach and follow what Barcelona have done.
Barcelona landed a four year, £246m deal with music streaming giants Spotify in 2022 for the naming rights to their stadium.
As a result, Barcelona’s home ground was rebranded as the Spotify Camp Nou in July 2022…
Connect with us on our socials: