Atletico Madrid, the Spanish soccer giants, have announced the major expansion of their partnership with nascent Saudi Arabian flag carrier Riyadh Air, which sees the airline become the new title sponsor of the club’s Metropolitano stadium.
The long-term deal, which will run through the end of the 2032-33 season, will see the 70,460-capacity stadium renamed the Riyadh Air Metropolitan for the duration of the deal, replacing previous stadium naming partner Civitas.
Atletico have referred to Riyadh Air, which has been the team’s front-of-shirt sponsor since August 2023, as the most lucrative sponsor in the club’s history.
Reports from Spain value the deal as being worth between €250 million and €300 million ($274 million to $328.8 million) in total, or €27.7 million-€33.3 million a year.
This annual value figure puts the deal in a similar ballpark to some of the most lucrative stadium partnerships in world sport, such as SoFi’s reported 20-year, $30 million-per-season deal to cover the Los Angeles Rams’ American football stadium, and Scotiabank’s 20-year deal to cover the home of the Toronto Maple Leafs ice hockey team and Toronto Raptors basketball franchise.
As lucrative as it will be in terms of annual value, the deal is some way short of the global leader, rival Spanish soccer side FC Barcelona, which receives a reported $76.8 million per year from music streaming service Spotify, although that deal is only for four years, making the overall value similar.
Like Atletico, Barcelona’s stadium naming sponsor is also its front-of-shirt sponsor, which may inflate the value of the pair’s respective deals.
Reports have already been swirling that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund sovereign wealth group is interested in the purchase of Atletico Madrid, hence why the country is investing heavily in funding the club’s success.
Riyadh Air is a “digitally native” airline, wholly funded by the PIF, that has no planes and is not yet in operation, though it states it will launch in the middle of 2025.
For its part, the outgoing Civitas will remain a sponsor of Atletico Madrid for at least the next five campaigns (through 2028-29) and will continue to collaborate with the club on activations.
Before Civitas put its name to the venue, the naming rights partner was Wanda Group.
Atletico currently sit third in the 2024-25 LaLiga table, and are undefeated after nine games (although they have drawn five).
