Real Madrid have appointed their former director of sponsorship, retail and licensing, Alex Wicks, as the CEO of the new Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
The English-born executive joined Madrid in 2019 from Arsenal, where he was head of the partnership department.
Wicks will thus replace Santiago López-Vilas, who has been the stadium’s CEO for more than two years and will be relieved of his duties to take up another position within the club’s organisational structure.
However, as The Athletic have learned, this is not the only news that is expected at Real Madrid, who want to make more changes over the coming months within their business area.
López-Vilas has been involved in the stadium’s operations while its construction was being completed.
As The Athletic reported, the new stadium has cost 1.17 billion euros excluding interest (including interest, it is more than 1.8 billion euros).
During this period, the Spanish executive has had to deal with the problems that the works have caused for the neighbours of the area -who have protested against them and have asked that massive concerts not be organised.
López-Vilas has also negotiated various agreements for the stadium, such as the landing of an NFL game at the Santiago Bernabéu and, above all, coordinating with the Legends company.
This North American company, in collaboration with the Sixth Street fund, signed an agreement in 2022 whereby they paid Real Madrid 360 million euros to attract new events to the new stadium in exchange for 30% of those revenues for the next 20 years.
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