Real Madrid's president has said that the club is in consultation with Apple about creating the "infinite Santiago Bernabéu".
There's no word on when this might happen, but the plan is to solve the season ticket problem by offering spatial video access via Apple.
Apple Vision Pro has been widely lauded for the great experience it offers, and it’s one of the best VR headsets you can buy. However, it hasn’t had the best start to life, not just because of the price, but because people are wondering what to actually do with it.
Recently, we reported that Apple could be looking at bringing support for Sony’s PSVR2 hand controllers – which could open the doors to more serious gaming – but there could also be a move to improve the experience of watching The Beautiful Game... if Real Madrid gets its way.
At a recent press conference, Florentino Pérez, president of the football club, said that he was in negotiation with Apple to create “the infinite Santiago Bernabéu". His comments, reported by Spanish sports newspaper Marca, are scant on detail, but highlight the problem that fans have getting access to the Bernabéu, Real Madrid’s stadium.
While it’s a 80,000 seater stadium, getting a season ticket is difficult, much as it is for other top-tier clubs. Pérez’s solution is to bring the stadium to your front room instead. There’s no specific mention of Apple Vision Pro, with the club instead talking about the ability to “put on glasses and watch the game as if you were in the stadium” (translated), but the article does reference Apple as an interested party.
One of the showcase features of Apple Vision Pro is immersive sports coverage, putting you right on the frontline of the action. This is something that Apple demonstrated at the launch of Vision Pro, particularly with an NBA match using special cameras to give you that spatial video effect.
It sounds like a grand plan from Real Madrid and the two brands are not strangers, with the existing Real Madrid: Until The End documentary on Apple TV+, and Real Madrid hanging on to its own broadcast rights. Apple has long been moving towards sports as a broadcaster, already holding the global rights to coverage of the MLS. Other deals are thought to be in the works around football too – or soccer, as Tim Cook is more likely to refer to it.
Capturing the atmosphere of the Bernabéu would need special cameras, and with the redevelopment work that’s underway at the stadium, it’s the perfect time to be planning for a change – but such an endeavour will probably take some years to come to fruition.
Then there’s the question of cost. If it only works on Apple Vision Pro, then the cost of the headset is likely to be the barrier (the cheapest Real Madrid season ticket was €1,350 in the 2023/24 season), whereas Apple Vision Pro would cost Spanish customers €3,499, with no hint to what the cost of the subscription to the view the matches might be.
But, getting this agreement in place would be a great showcase for immersive video, a boost for Apple’s Vision Pro plans and perhaps make for a great watching experience for those who can’t make it to Madrid in person.
