An interesting little rumor floated up late last month that Microsoft was in talks to change the name of Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu stadium. The Spanish club is one of the most popular teams in world football (or soccer), by the way.
Spanish media reported that Redmond was negotiating the deal with the officials of Real Madrid, one that would include the naming rights for a new stadium, construction on which is on track to be concluded sometime in 2016.
And now the company has just confirmed this to be the case.
The head of Microsoft’s Spanish division, in a short statement, made it official that talks were underway, though things are in the earliest of stages:
“We are talking. We have an excellent relationship with Real Madrid and in fact recently we signed an agreement with its charity foundation. They have proposed to us, and to other companies, renaming the stadium, but we are only talking about this possibility.”
Microsoft, however, is not the only company talking with Real Madrid on this. Emirates Airlines is also said to be in advanced talks, though there no details on when such a deal is expected to be finalized.
Reportedly, Real Madrid would receive around $10 million for selling the stadium’s naming rights. Though if Redmond does indeed goes through with the deal, it would be an excellent opportunity for the company to promote its products to football fans across the globe.
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Go for it. That’s chump change for Microsoft