AS: Real Madrid will cooperate with Apple to create an "Infinite Bernabeu" virtual viewing experience

According to "AS" report, Real Madrid will cooperate with Apple to create an "Infinite Bernabeu" virtual viewing experience, allowing fans to enjoy the games held at the Bernabeu Stadium through VR glasses.

Florentino has already proposed this idea at the 2024 conference: "Regarding the issue of season tickets..., this is a problem that does not have many solutions. We have 34,000 members without season tickets, and the stadium can no longer accommodate it, unless we build an unlimited stadium... Just like putting It becomes infinitely the same. In fact, some people watch the game at home through glasses, and to be honest, the effect is better than watching it in the stadium. In this way, they can have a seat at home and a Real Madrid season ticket."

Florentino's idea has gradually matured in the past few months and has become a reality. The club announced its partnership with Apple through GQ magazine to develop the project. He told the magazine: "Together we are developing a project that I have been pursuing for many years, so that any fan can experience the passion of the game like at the Bernabeu. It will be like opening the door to the stadium for the whole world, without any restrictions, and changing the sports world with an unprecedented technical quality."

When asked about the economic impact, Fernando Lorentino says it's not a priority: "What really matters is giving the billion Real Madrid fans around the world the experience they want, and Steve Jobs wasn't obsessed with financial results, he was obsessed with creating extraordinary products. When you focus on excellence, everything else will follow."

Still, it's shocking to think of the amount of money that might be involved. For example, rapper Travis Scott's virtual concert for Fortnite a year and a half ago attracted more than 12 million fans. Imagine if Real Madrid could attract 50 million people to a game (not impossible for a club with over 200 million fans worldwide) and pay just one euro each.

Real Madrid has established a department within its organizational structure specifically responsible for technical development. This is a transformation department led directly by General Manager José Ángel Sánchez. The division, called "RM Next," focuses on six work areas: eHealth, performance, fan engagement, audiovisual content generation, cybersecurity and technology infrastructure, and social media. In any case, as Florentino announced a year ago, he is personally responsible for negotiating with Apple to create this "Infinite Bernabeu" that will bring the club into the modern era.

Real Madrid hopes to achieve what the NBA, NCAA (college football) and Manchester United have achieved. The NBA and NCAA were the first to commercialize games in the metaverse and make this experience more popular. The idea of ​​Florentino and Real Madrid is to be able to offer different seating options to billions of people at the same time, from the front row to the back.

For this purpose, 360-degree cameras as well as other conventional cameras will be used to broadcast the game. This way, viewers in the metaverse can feel like they are sitting in the stands, watching the game in real time with fans who are actually at the Bernabeu.

Technology already allows users to obtain a fully immersive experience, but there is still a lot of room for development. The cost of broadcasting and the cost to fans now needs to be assessed. Apple's virtual reality glasses, Apple Vision, cost about 3,000 euros in Spain.

In addition, in order to obtain a better experience, AirPods with aerospace technology are also needed, which can adjust the sound intensity according to head movement and movement direction. This way, not only will the images be very realistic, but the sounds in the stadium will also be very realistic. However, many brands offer more affordable VR glasses with 4K resolution.

The plan is ambitious and Real Madrid hopes to take the lead in this regard. The biggest obstacle is the widespread use of smartphones, which do almost everything, making it difficult for the masses to accept more expensive devices (such as virtual reality glasses). Especially young people. According to the latest market research, only 5% of Generation Z and Millennials use virtual reality technology, although 70% are interested in it and 63% are willing to pay for it.

Immersive experiences can be very engaging, but young viewers have become accustomed to simultaneously viewing data and interacting with commentary while watching sporting events. This is one of the main challenges. Another challenge is the legal question of whether clubs can financially exploit the content themselves. Currently, Real Madrid has begun working on achieving unlimited capacity in the Metaverse for its new stadium.

Major European clubs have begun to enter this virtual parallel universe. In this special competition, especially Manchester United and Manchester City compete with Real Madrid. In February 2022, Manchester City became the first club in the world to announce that it would build a virtual stadium in the Metaverse, which is exactly what Florentino is currently thinking.

They partnered with Japanese technology giant Sony. But United are even one step ahead. In August 2024, they held an amazing immersive experience event in DOMO, an innovative space in Los Angeles. There they screened the Premier League opener against Fulham.

In DOMO, tables are arranged like stands, and the audience is surrounded by a huge high-resolution LED screen covering an area of ​​892 square meters. This arrangement creates the illusion of being at the game, completely immersing yourself in the action as all the sounds of the stadium can also be heard. This event is hosted by Cosm.

"DOMO is more than just the first row of seats," one of the people in charge defined. In fact, people attending the bar event felt like they were part of the 75,000-strong crowd at Old Trafford. Tickets cost $22, with tickets for the most exclusive areas costing over $100.

Manchester United has partnered with Cosm, one of the world's most advanced shared virtual reality companies, and has also created an in-house division to grow the Metaverse business. The unit, called Web3, is not only able to generate a virtual Old Trafford, but also wants to allow fans to own digital assets. They already sell Metaverse games through platforms such as Sky Worlds, Oculus Quest, and Horizon Worlds.