NFL at Real Madrid: Key questions around Miami Dolphins ‘home’ game in Spain – The Athletic
Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu stadium will host its first NFL game on Sunday, with the Miami Dolphins and the Washington Commanders to meet in the Spanish capital.
It is the latest in the NFL’s international series of overseas fixtures, designed to increase the sport’s appeal abroad. NFL owners voted in December 2024 to expand the number of these games each year, starting in 2025, and there could be up to 10 in 2026.
This year, six matches have already taken place in Sao Paulo, Dublin, London (which hosted three games) and Berlin. The Dolphins-Commanders meeting at the 83,186-capacity Bernabeu will be the last held outside of the United States this season.
Why Spain? How do the locals feel about it? And what’s in it for soccer giants Real Madrid? Allow The Athletic to explain.
Why Madrid?
For the NFL, this is another step towards growing the game internationally. For the Dolphins, it is a strategic opportunity to strengthen their presence in Europe and connect with Spanish-speaking fans, leveraging the city’s cultural and linguistic ties to Miami.
Spanish, which has around 500 million native speakers worldwide, is the second-most-spoken first language in the world after Mandarin Chinese. In Miami-Dade County, 66 percent of residents reported speaking Spanish at home, according to the latest official data.
Choosing Madrid always had a cultural motivation, and the city expects to receive an economic boost of at least minimum €16million ($18.6m; £14.1m), according to Spanish media outlet 2Playbook, which also reported that the city actually hopes to exceed the €70million brought in by Germany’s NFL game in 2024, played at Bayern Munich’s Allianz Arena.
A view of the Bernabeu from the air in August (Paul Hanna / AFP via Getty Images)
Felipe Formiga, vice president of international development for the Dolphins, told The Athletic that playing in Madrid represents “a fantastic opportunity to grow the sport and do so in a city that has so many similarities to Miami”.
The franchise expects a strong turnout, with supporters group Dolfan Club Espana “playing a prominent role, along with many of our European fan clubs that will have the chance to see us play much closer to home”, he added.
This will be complemented by fans travelling from Miami and other parts of the U.S., making the game, in Formiga’s words, “a great opportunity to blend cultures, bringing American football to the Spanish people and the incredible Spanish culture to Dolphins fans coming to Madrid for the game”.
Denny Alfonso
Why did Real Madrid want the game?
Since the NFL began exploring the possibility of playing in Spain, Real Madrid were very keen to host, and they worked closely with the local city hall and regional government to make it happen.
The club get paid for renting their stadium to the NFL and also get a small share of ticket sales. Expect significant extra revenue from the club shop and stadium tours, too.
But sources at Madrid, speaking anonymously as they did not have permission to comment, said the major benefit was showcasing the recently redeveloped Bernabeu to the world, proving it can host any global event.
It is among world soccer’s most famous and iconic stadiums, the only ground to have hosted the final of a World Cup, Champions League, European Championship and Copa Libertadores. Since its construction in 1947, it has regularly hosted other sports, including cycling, basketball, boxing, baseball and athletics.
🏟 ¡El Real Madrid ya tiene al 100% preparado el estadio para el partido de NFL del domingo!
Hoy colocaron el logo de la Liga y los escudos de los equipos@anarasueros pic.twitter.com/D3OpLcdEjN
— Diario AS (@diarioas) November 14, 2025
Over the past decade, a €1.6billion renovation project has added new features, including a retractable roof, a retractable pitch and lots of new commercial space, as well as VIP and hospitality facilities. Generating revenue for the club 365 days a year was the aim, maintaining Madrid’s ability to compete financially against state-owned clubs and the Premier League’s wealth at the top level of European soccer.
A new Bernabeu brand has recently been launched to showcase the stadium as a desirable destination for many kinds of leisure and corporate activities.
“The Bernabeu is one of the great temples of world sport,” Real Madrid president Florentino Perez said at a press conference when the game was officially announced at the ground back in January. “The transformation of the stadium is the fulfilment of a great dream, and it’s ready for any challenge.”
Within this context, the half-time show in Sunday’s game — featuring artists Bizarrap and Daddy Yankee — takes on an extra significance.
Madrid are engaged in a legal battle with residents after noise regulations were allegedly broken during concerts (including by Taylor Swift and Karol G) held at the Bernabeu last year. The club has since undertaken soundproofing work at the stadium, and a judge is expected to rule soon on whether further concerts can be held there.
Dermot Corrigan
Have there been any complications?
The NFL’s field director Nick Pappas told AP last month that changes would have to be made to the Bernabeu pitch, as “the needs of the surface drastically increase when compared to soccer (in terms of) traction and stabilisation”.
The pitch’s dimensions, 105 x 68 metres, also needed to be extended to meet the NFL specifications of 109.7 x 48.8 metres. This was not a problem because the front rows of seats all around the pitch can be removed following the recent stadium renovations.
Another challenge is that NFL squads — with a 53-man active roster and dozens of coaches, medical and support staff — add up to well over double the numbers in soccer. The Bernabeu bench areas have been expanded, but a bigger issue was the size of the locker rooms. That was eventually resolved by extending the existing changing areas into adjacent VIP zones.
“The folks at Real Madrid have been great partners throughout,” NFL executive vice president Peter O’Reilly told reporters in a virtual call last week.
Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel and Atletico manager Diego Simeone. (Dennis Agyeman / Europa Press via Getty Images)
An intriguing element of the NFL’s visit to Spain is that the Dolphins have been based at the home of Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid’s biggest rivals in the Spanish capital.
The Dolphins have a close relationship with the Atletico hierarchy, especially since U.S. financial giant Ares Management has a shareholding in both teams. Atletico legend Fernando Torres — now the club’s reserve team manager — guest featured for the Dolphins during last year’s draft.
Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross also owns Relevent Sports, the company heavily involved in La Liga’s plan for Barcelona and Villarreal to play a domestic Spanish fixture at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium this December.
Madrid strongly opposed that idea, and multiple sources told The Athletic that the Bernabeu outfit’s official complaint to the Spanish government played a big part in Relevent and La Liga dramatically cancelling the plan last month.
Sources at Madrid, the NFL, the Dolphins and Atletico all played down any tensions or problems. But with more games planned for Spain in the coming years, the possibility of the next one being played at Atletico’s Metropolitano stadium is intriguing.
Dermot Corrigan
What’s the reaction been like locally?
Sonia Cea Quintana, director of sports for Madrid city hall, told The Athletic that tickets “all sold out on the first day, which shows the excitement that is felt”.
Although it may be hard to believe that some young people in Madrid followed Tom Brady more closely than Cristiano Ronaldo, local American football fans see the game as a great opportunity to grow the sport further in Spain — especially European League of Football players who, when they were children, preferred a ball that wasn’t round.
Yago Rivero, defensive end for the Madrid Bravos, explains to The Athletic that American football in Spain has semi-professional and professional paths, and that many young people like him are motivated from a very early age to perhaps one day reach the NFL through scholarships and academies such as the one established in the United Kingdom, at Loughborough University.
Rivero’s Madrid Bravos team-mate Pablo Araya adds: “It is very interesting that they have done it in the Bernabeu, because it is known across the whole world. A stadium so symbolic, hosting an American football game, it gives it that extra importance. It can inspire many boys and girls to try the sport.”
The scene near Palacio de Cibeles on Thursday. (Eduardo Parra / Europa Press via Getty Images)
In Madrid’s emblematic Plaza Espana, former Dolphins quarterback Reid Sinnett, now also with the Madrid Bravos and recently named the European league’s MVP, has been part of the week’s festivities, conducting throwing classes for those interested in trying the game.
He says there is “less investment” in the game in Spain, but adds that this “leads to something different in a lot of cool, unique ways, where the Spanish guys played because they love the sport.”
He adds, “In the NFL, it’s a job, and people treat it like that. It’s more of an individual thing — you go to work, you handle your business. I played in a game in London with the Miami Dolphins, and it was so cool to see all the different jerseys and the European fans. The things that excited them are a little bit different than the U.S. fans.”
As for those back home, Washington Commanders supporters prepared a contingent to cheer their team in Madrid.
Ted Abela, who also attended the 27-27 tie between the Commanders and the Cincinnati Bengals at Wembley in London in 2016, said: “I understand that not everyone can afford to travel, but we also knew about this game a lot earlier. So it gave people a chance to set aside money and see if they could do it.”
Denny Alfonso
