American football in Madrid: when could the Bernabéu host NFL games?

Sunday’s NFL Week 6 game between the Bears and the Jaguars didn’t go unnoticed in Spain. It was the third of five NFL games to be played outside of the United States as part of the league’s International series - the second of two games at Tottenham Hotspur stadium with Wembley set to host the next one, between the Patriots and the Jaguars on Sunday.

The NFL is coming to Madrid in 2025 with the newly-remodeled Santiago Bernabéu stadium confirmed as the venue. As AS USA exclusively reported, the league that moves the most money on the planet will land in the capital of Spain in 2025, probably in November (during the FIFA international window), and it will do so by offering the complete ‘NFL experience’.

When played outside of its homeland, the spectacle of American football goes far beyond the match itself. AS USA experienced it first hand in London this weekend as the Chicago Bears beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 35-16 in front of in front of 61,182 spectators at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. It gave us a glimpse of what to expect at the Bernabéu next year.

The new Bernabéu - perfect for NFL games

“This looks like Chicago right now,” a Spanish journalist noted after a stroll around Spurs’ stadium, which yesterday hosted its 10th NFL game. Firstly, because both stadiums boast state-of-the art facilities and can be adapted to host an array of different events, and also because they have similar characteristics: like the Bernabéu, Tottenham’s stadium is in a residential area and does not have a huge promenade leading up to its doors (one reason why the Metropolitano was in pole position for a long time before the NFL settled on Real Madrid’s ground).

The NFL experience isn’t just about watching the game - there are all kinds of activities on offer plus endless food and drink options... The event is felt in the rest of the city, with other activities set in emblematic places (the Plaza Mayor is the “number one priority,” say the NFL) or determining official fan zones where supporters can congregate. American football is often an excuse to socialize, to have a good time and to enter a world that is fascinating to those who follow it closely.

The ‘NFL experience’ goes way beyond game day, and during the week of the game the city is imbued with an American football atmosphere. Local sports fans go out of curiosity, but these games also attract a lot of people from other parts of the country or countries - even from the United States itself, who see this as a wonderful opportunity to combine tourism with the sport that runs through their veins.

Just a few years ago, in Europe, the NFL was viewed as something very remote, almost a Yankee thing that was difficult to understand, but those stereotypes have been knocked down over the last few years, thanks in part to the work that the league has done to promote its product in faraway places.

Feelgood factor

The Spanish reporter’s comment, (“This feels like Chicago”) could not have described it better - because if there’s one thing that this marketing giant does, it’s getting fans to escape for a while and transport them to the environment they’ve always dreamed of experiencing. In the case of this Sunday’s matchup, the vast majority of fans were from the Bears, who were playing at home, and the atmosphere was not far from what you experience on any Sunday between September and January at Soldier Field in the Windy City.

On match day, always an autumnal Sundays when the NFL becomes the protagonist of the lives of millions of people, you will see 99% of the fans wearing a variery of NFL team colors on the way to the stadium - and not necessarily the colors of the teams who are playing (the official store is a money-making machine on game day, when you have to queue even to get in).

Here, it doesn’t really matter who you support, because what is truly important is the fact of witnessing something special, something that a few years ago was unimaginable and that is now within the reach of most people.

Full screen

A taste of America

During the game, there is a constant stream of people coming and going, usually to grab a beer or a bite to eat. And every time the game stops, there is a different show to liven up the wait: kiss cam, karaoke of iconic songs like Mr. Brightside or Sweet Caroline, even a concert at half-time (the Spanish press suggested to the NFL that Rosalía would be an artist to watch). Pure Americana.

International NFL games are a party for the most devoted fans of this sport, which stopped being something distant and geeky a long time ago. Most people spend several days in the city, meet people with whom they share a passion and have a great time, regardless of their knowledge of American football.

The magic of this is that the NFL tries to be accessible to all kinds of audiences, and it succeeds because everyone leaves with a smile from ear to ear. Madrid is following everything very closely, carefully taking note of every detail that needs to be taken into account and what can be seen in just over a year at the Santiago Bernabéu is already taking shape.

Very soon it will be Spain’s turn although it won’t be the first time that the country has played host to the NFL. Back in the 90s, two exhibition games were held in Barcelona. The San Francisco 49ers beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 21–14 at Estadi Olímpic in Montjuïc in August 1993 and the following year, the same venue played host to a game between the Raiders and the Broncos.