Featured image credit: Atlético de Madrid
Riyadh Air, the new national airline of Saudi Arabia, has furthered its connection to Atlético de Madrid by taking on naming rights to the Spanish LaLiga football club’s stadium.
Riyadh Air, which is due to officially launch commercial operations in summer 2025, has been serving as Atlético’s main shirt sponsor since the 2023-24 season through a four-year contract that was due to run through the 2026-27 campaign.
Under the nine-year deal announced today (Wednesday), what was the Cívitas Metropolitano will be rebranded as Riyadh Air Metropolitano, effective from Atlético’s LaLiga game against Leganés on October 20.
Atlético said the new strategic agreement until 2033 makes Riyadh Air the most important sponsor in the club’s history. Atlético unveiled Cívitas as the new naming rights partner for its stadium back in July 2022, with the real estate developer signing a 10-season contract.
Cívitas succeeded Chinese conglomerate the Wanda Group as the Metropolitano’s naming rights partner. Wanda agreed a deal in December 2016 for the naming rights to the 70,460-capacity stadium, which opened in September 2017.
News of Cívitas’ potential early exit from its naming rights contract was first reported in the Spanish media back in the summer. Atlético today said Cívitas has reached a new sponsorship agreement with the club, with their relationship to continue for at least the next five years.
The final installation of the new name of the stadium on the main, northeast and southeast facades of the Riyadh Air Metropolitano will take place in the next few weeks. Tony Douglas, CEO of Riyadh Air, said: “It’s an honour to become the naming partner for the Riyadh Air Metropolitano and extend our partnership with Atlético de Madrid until 2033.
“Both organisations are driven to succeed at the highest level and having our name on such an iconic stadium will elevate the awareness of Riyadh Air across the sporting world and beyond.”
Atlético de Madrid CEO, Miguel Ángel Gil, added: “Thanks to Tony Douglas and his team for trusting Atlético de Madrid as a strategic partner for the launch and development of their ambitious global project.”
In June, it was announced that Atlético’s majority shareholder would inject €50m (£41.9m/$54.8m) into the club to ensure the costs of developing the area around its stadium do not impact the team’s performance.
The club said Atlético Holdco’s investment would cover two-thirds of the €70.8m funding required for the City of Sports and Leisure project surrounding the Metropolitano. It has been reported that the total cost could be €350m, with as much as €258m of that coming from the LaLiga Impulso venture.
Share this