Dalian Wanda Group agree naming rights deal for Atlético Madrid's new stadium
Atlético Madrid have agreed a stadium naming rights deal with Dalian Wanda Group which will see the club’s new home called the Wanda Metropolitano stadium.
The La Liga club will depart the Vicente Calderón, the stadium they have played in for the last 50 years, at the end of the current season and move to their new 67,000 capacity ground in August 2017.
Chinese property company Dalian Wanda Group acquired 20% of Atlético Madrid in January last year and took up the sponsorship of the club’s training ground.
It will now take up one half of the new stadium name alongside ‘Metropolitano’ which is a reference to Atlético’s first home before they moved to the Vicente Calderón in the south of the city in 1966.
Atlético Madrid president Enrique Cerezo made the announcement of the deal with Dalian Wanda today (9 December).
“I am honoured to say we have reached an agreement with Wanda to name our new stadium,” said Cerezo at a news conference. “They are the best partners on our journey to keep working for a better future.”
The deal was signed in China by representatives of Wanda and the club’s chief executive Miguel Ángel Gil Marín.
“We are very excited by this deal. Atlético and Wanda are growing global brands that want to keep growing and reach even more places,” Gil Marin said.
“Wanda is a strategic partner and our change in stadium is not an isolated event, it’s a step forward to the future.”
Dalian Wanda have stepped up their presence in world football over the last year, having become a top tier Fifa sponsor and agreed terms with the world governing body to create a new international tournament.