Real Madrid teams up with F1: Are football and motor racing joining forces to scale up their business?

Nowadays Madrid is further internationalizing its sports industry through F1, and Real Madrid, as a core component of Madrid's international sports ecosystem, it is a natural move for the club to further participate in and connect to the urban sports business ecosystem.

After two trophyless seasons, La Liga powerhouse Real Madrid decided to make a fresh start this summer. The club welcomed Jose Mourinho back for his second tenure and splashed 225 million euros to sign six top reinforcements. The revamped Real Madrid got off to two consecutive wins in the new season. Their performance on the pitch is far from overwhelming, but it has at least sent out positive signals again.

Real Madrid have secured two consecutive league wins at the start of the new season, Photo: Real Madrid Official Weibo

At the press conference after the big win over Real Sociedad, a delighted Mourinho made a series of witty remarks: "Maybe training to the sound of racing car roars inspired Mbappé, pushing his form to a higher gear!" That's right, the newly opened Madrid Ring Circuit (Madring) and Real Madrid Sports City are both located in the Valdebebas district, right next to each other. The roar of F3 cars that first drove on the track has become the "background sound" for Real Madrid players' training recently.

In fact, it is not just that Formula racing cars have driven next to Real Madrid's training base, this "Galácticos fleet" has also directly entered the F1 business landscape. Recently, the Spanish Grand Prix officially announced that Real Madrid has become the new partner of the event. This cooperation is not Real Madrid's first cross-border attempt, but it sends an increasingly clear signal: when top sports IPs begin to break the boundaries of different events, the competition in sports business is shifting from a mere fight for traffic to a broader competition for users, scenarios and urban resources.

Resource Linkage Between Valdebebas "Neighbours"

In the field of sports business, it is a common marketing practice for automotive brands to sponsor football events or clubs. However, cases where football clubs in turn become sponsors of racing events are quite rare.

Focusing on this cooperation between the two sides, Real Madrid will rely on the supporting facilities of its 120-hectare Sports City to provide logistical support and technical assistance for the Spanish Grand Prix. During the Grand Prix weekend, part of the facilities in Real Madrid Sports City will be integrated into the operation of the event, so as to improve the overall operational capacity of the Spanish Grand Prix. In return, the Spanish Grand Prix will provide exclusive hospitality areas for Real Madrid, where current Real Madrid players and club legends will also be present to watch the race.

Real Madrid Sports City, Photo: Real Madrid Official Website

It is worth mentioning that the Spanish Grand Prix will be held from September 11 to 13. Although Real Madrid has league fixtures during the Grand Prix, they will have to participate in the Champions League in the middle of the following week. According to the usual practice, the domestic league match will be arranged on Saturday, so players like Thibaut Courtois will have the opportunity to come to the Madrid Ring to watch the F1 main race after finishing their league tasks. From the perspective of Sports Money, what Real Madrid gains is not just the presence of its players, but also a new hospitality scenario for its business partners.

For both Real Madrid and F1, there is no lack of exposure and traffic, and the urban resources, consumption scenarios and business connections behind them are probably the key to the cooperation. Real Madrid's move to "sponsor" the Spanish Grand Prix actually plays the role of Local Event Supporter, rather than the traditional sponsorship model of buying advertising spaces. The geographical proximity is an obvious factor that facilitates the cooperation between the two sides. The main entrance of Real Madrid Sports City is only 200 meters away from the north gate of the Madrid Circuit. In short, this is a natural resource linkage between two "neighbours" in Valdebebas.

Schematic diagram of the location of the Madrid Ring Circuit and Real Madrid Sports City (bottom right), Photo: Internet

In addition, Real Madrid and F1 share a lot in common. Both are top global IPs in their respective sports fields, with phenomenal international influence and top traffic on social platforms. Therefore, although the cross-border partnership between a football club and a racing event seems irrelevant, it is actually a complement of user and business ecosystems between two mature sports IPs.

The audiences of F1 and Real Madrid do not completely overlap. Especially in recent years, F1 has attracted a large number of young audiences with strong consumption power through diversified channels such as Netflix and social media. By partnering with F1, Real Madrid obviously does not intend to guide football fans to pay attention to racing, but to help its brand reach the life scenarios of racing fans, technology enthusiasts and young high-consumption groups. This is also consistent with Real Madrid's direction of continuously strengthening its digital, entertainment-oriented and global brand in recent years.

In addition, the automotive industry is also a highly valuable business circle for Real Madrid, which already has sponsors in the automotive sector such as BMW and Linglong Tire. Behind F1 is not just racing, but also connects different industries such as energy, technology, finance and luxury consumption. Therefore, from the perspective of Real Madrid's commercial development, establishing deeper cooperation with F1 means accessing a corporate ecosystem completely different from that of traditional football sponsors, opening up more possibilities for business cooperation in the future.

Real Madrid's global partner matrix, Photo: Real Madrid Official Website

For the Spanish Grand Prix, the event is returning to Madrid after many years, with a 10-year operation contract signed from 2026 to 2035. Such a newly launched project that will develop in the long run not only needs the support of more local sports facility resources, but also a brand that has both international influence and local appeal. Real Madrid is undoubtedly the most ideal partner.

Two Madrid Giants Jointly Support the Spanish Grand Prix

As one of the oldest Grands Prix in F1 history, the Spanish Grand Prix has been held at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona since 1991. However, this track, which is highly recognized by teams and fans, has long been rumored to be replaced due to aging facilities, its location far from the center of Spain, and limited commercial hospitality capacity. Valencia was once expected to become one of the rotating host cities of the Spanish Grand Prix, but the plan was never implemented.

The official opening of the Madrid Ring Circuit in 2026 has opened a new chapter for this event. The Madrid Ring Circuit is adjacent to the IFEMA Convention and Exhibition Center, only 5 minutes away from Madrid Barajas Airport, with complete public transport facilities. As a urban street circuit, the Madrid Ring has La Monumental, the steepest and longest banked high-speed corner on the current F1 calendar, with wide track surface and multiple overtaking points, which fits F1's current commercial strategy and track preference. With more modern hardware facilities and superior geographical location, the Madrid Ring has replaced the Circuit de Catalunya as the long-term host track of the Spanish Grand Prix. This marks the return of the Spanish Grand Prix to Madrid after 45 years, making Madrid the only capital city in Europe that hosts an F1 Grand Prix. Starting from 2026, the Circuit de Catalunya will take turns to host a Grand Prix with Belgium's Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.

Madrid Ring Circuit, Photo: Internet

In the Madrid era, apart from the race itself, the grandstand at Turn 12 of the circuit is equipped with a panoramic terrace, bars and Michelin-starred restaurants. Apart from watching the race, fans can get a panoramic view of Madrid's city skyline, enjoy delicacies made by Michelin-starred chefs, and experience live music performances and large-scale parties. The entire grandstand area is packaged as a high-end resort-style experience space integrating sports and entertainment. The Spanish Grand Prix, after returning to Madrid, is planned to accommodate more than 110,000 people per day, with a plan to gradually increase the number to 140,000. Official estimates show that a single edition of the event will directly drive 450 million euros in economic benefits and create nearly 8,000 direct jobs.

In fact, long before Real Madrid reached the cooperation with the Spanish Grand Prix, Real Madrid's city rival Atletico Madrid became a local partner of the event at the end of last year. It is reported that the cooperation between Atletico Madrid and the Spanish Grand Prix started in November 2025, with a 5-year cooperation agreement signed by both sides.

Spanish Grand Prix partner matrix, Photo: Madring Official Website

The cooperation model is largely similar to that of Real Madrid. Atletico Madrid also uses its own supporting facilities to exchange for resources from the Spanish Grand Prix. The main difference is that since the Metropolitano Stadium is 6 kilometers away from the Madrid Ring Circuit, it does not have the unique geographical advantage of Real Madrid Sports City, which is adjacent to the Madrid Ring to the west and overlooks Barajas International Airport to the east. Atletico Madrid mainly provides its home stadium, the Metropolitano, as a fan entertainment and event venue during the Spanish Grand Prix, hosting fan experience activities and small concerts, and also providing shuttle services to and from the Madrid Ring Circuit. Therefore, Atletico Madrid can take advantage of the consumption potential brought by the Madrid Grand Prix to further activate the idle stadium facilities on non-match days.

Atletico Madrid becomes Local Event Supporter of the Spanish Grand Prix, Photo: Atletico Madrid Official Website

Now with the participation of Real Madrid, a very interesting cooperation pattern has taken shape: the two top football clubs in Madrid have successively joined the local cooperation system of the F1 Spanish Grand Prix, and jointly become important pillars of this brand-new project.

Industrial Inspiration for Shanghai Sports Drawn From Real Madrid-F1 Cooperation

Of course, we need to examine the cooperation between Real Madrid and the Spanish Grand Prix against the background of the club's overall commercial operation.

Real Madrid's latest annual financial report shows that the club's annual revenue reached 1.22 billion euros, up 3.1% from the previous fiscal year, setting a new all-time revenue record in the football industry. Despite the negative impact of the poor competitive performance in the past two years on broadcast revenue, Real Madrid is still the most profitable commercial machine in today's football industry. What Real Madrid is pursuing now is not simply increasing the number of sponsors, but continuously creating new business scenarios to allow different types of brands, consumers and sports IPs to enter Real Madrid's business ecosystem. F1 just provides a high-quality scenario.

Real Madrid's annual revenue hits a new high, Photo: Tribuna.com

It is worth noting that according to reports from Diario AS, the planning nature of the sports site of Real Madrid located in Valdebebas has been adjusted. The new plan will increase the total buildable area from 360,000 square meters to 532,500 square meters, and completely change its composition: 276,000 square meters for private supporting facilities, 172,500 square meters for tertiary industry services, and 84,000 square meters will remain for sports use. After the planning adjustment, the value of the entire Sports City plot will increase to 360 million euros, with a value added of up to 185 million euros. Real Madrid Sports City will evolve from an initial pure sports training base to a sports business complex integrating sports, office, accommodation, catering, commerce, technology and entertainment. The cooperation with F1 further expands the imagination space for commercial development of this plot.

Real Madrid Sports City plot, Photo: Internet

Looking further, there is a greater urban sports business logic behind this cooperation. Real Madrid has always been an important representative of Madrid and even Spain's