Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has apparently revealed the Spanish Liga football club’s Santiago Bernabeu stadium will be renamed as either IPIC Bernabeu or CEPSA Bernabeu.
The move would relate to Real’s signing of a long-term strategic partnership with Abu Dhabi-owned energy group International Petroleum Investment Company last month to aid the redevelopment of the 80,000 capacity ground that has been home to the European champions since 1947.
There was no reference to IPIC or its affiliated Spanish energy firm Compania Espanola de Petroleos (CEPSA) taking on the naming rights when the deal was announced but speaking at a commercial event on Tuesday, Perez was captured by cameras from television show El Chiringuito de Neox discussing the possible branding.
He said: “We are going to put IPIC Bernabeu or whatever they want … or CEPSA Bernabeu.”
Real has long been linked to acquiring a naming rights partner for the Bernabeu to aid in the financing needed to complete the redevelopment project. Perez said in September that the club was in talks with 10 companies over the naming rights to its stadium. In January, Perez unveiled plans to redevelop the Bernabeu. The proposed facelift included a retractable roof, hotel, shopping complex and leisure centre next to the stadium. The project is projected to cost between €400m ($512m) and €500m.
Terms of the deal with IPIC were not disclosed last month, but the company became a major sponsor of Real with a statement adding that the commercial arrangements will enable the club to meet one of its “fundamental future challenges” – transforming the Bernabeu into the world’s leading sporting venue.
The two parties said the branding, advertising, digital, promotional, image, hospitality, and additional rights are “in keeping with an agreement of this scale, timeframe, and stature”.