Technology

Posted on February 15, 2019 by staff

Atletico Madrid deal trumps rivals

Technology

Spanish football club Atletico Madrid has trumped city rivals Real and Catalan giants Barcelona with a new technology deal.

Atleti announced a four-year extension of their partnership with telecoms giant Telefonica which will see their Wanda Metropolitano home consolidate its position as Europe’s ‘first smart stadium’.

The strategic alliance until 2023-24 will see a roll-out of a Big Data platform to improve the experience of the club’s fans along with an app-based fast-track service to collect food and drinks at games.

The news comes as Telefonica severs ties with Real, Barca and the Spanish national team.

The continent-leading technological infrastructure at the Wanda Metropolitano, which opened in 2017 and will host this year’s Champions League final, was largely built by Telefonica.

“Their experience in all kinds of markets will help us to reinvent ourselves to benefit our fans,” said Atletico chief executive Miguel Ángel Gil.

“The line-up show is spectacular, but the most important things for us are connectivity, safety and services. Technology allows us to evolve and optimise the services we can offer.”

One of the most spectacular pieces of tech is the ribbon board digital advertising hoarding which runs around the stadium, halfway up the stand.

Telefonica Spain president Emilio Gayo said: “The first thing we did together was to equip the stadium with state-of-the-art technological infrastructures such as the ‘ribbon board 360’,” added Telefonica Spain president Emilio Gayo.

“The sporting facilities have been praised by the users and other clubs. These good results have encouraged us to take another step in our partnership.”