Cannabis, conveyer belts and Christmas trees: The magic of Real Madrid's pitch
The Spanish giants want to host as many non-match events as possible at their stadium to boost revenues even further
This December, a Real Madrid-themed winter wonderland has taken over the Bernabeu.
The club are calling it Mavidad (navidad is Spanish for Christmas). A giant slide now stretches from the stands to the playing surface, where an ice rink, stalls and hot chocolate stands are where the pitch would be.
It is another example of how Madrid are looking to increase stadium-related revenue at their redesigned home ground.
Back in November, the NFL came to the Bernabeu. Artists such as Taylor Swift have held concerts there, although these have been suspended after legal action from nearby residents who complained about the noise.
Madrid’s idea is to boost their finances and help repay the costs of the iconic ground’s renovation. They have already invested €1.3bn (£1.1bn; $1.6bn) in the refurbishment — with around 87 per cent of that money borrowed.
In 2024-25, Madrid’s stadium revenues totalled €326million (£284m; $383m), an “enormous” figure according to The Athletic’s football finance expert Chris Weatherspoon, and one which the club still believes is well short of the Bernabeu’s potential. Events and concerts generated €15.4m — but none were allowed after September 2024.
If there is one secret to bringing Madrid’s plan all together, it is the remarkable technology hidden underneath the stadium.
Mavidad will shut later today. By Saturday, the Christmas trees will be gone and the pitch will have been brought back into place, emerging from below via a complex system of conveyor belts. On Sunday, Xabi Alonso’s side welcome Real Betis as La Liga resumes from its winter break.
How does it all work?
Underneath Madrid’s ground lies a cavernous and intricate piece of engineering described as the world’s first by those involved in its design and construction.
Real Madrid insiders refer to it by a nickname: el hipogeo — the hypogeum — a term that typically describes elaborate subterranean burial places from the ancient world.
Madrid’s version runs about 25 metres deep underneath the Bernabeu, along the west side of the ground.
Jorge Vizcaya, an architect at SENER, the company that carried out the project, says it comes close to an underground railway line that “practically skirts the north-east corner of the stadium”. He adds: “It would only take a deviation of one centimetre to touch the train tunnel.”
The pitch is divided into six sections, 11.67m wide and 107m long. When they need to be replaced, a remarkable piece of engineering means they can essentially be neatly folded down into the depths. It allows Madrid to quickly and efficiently change their playing surface, or swap it out for an alternative.
