Date: Sunday 29 January 2023
Places visited: Santiago Bernabéu Stadium
After months of planning, the Football Industries MBA (FIMBA) cohort of 2022-23 set off from the University of Liverpool Management School campus to Madrid for a week-long international study trip.
With a week of great adventure of football fun and learning ahead, the group spent their first day enjoying and familiarising themselves with one of Europe’s great cities.
The evening was spent at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, the home of Real Madrid, as the group engaged in an immersive football experience and watched the match between Real Madrid and Real Sociedad which ended in a nil-nil draw.
Observing and participating in the pre-match ritual was an experience with Dr Babatunde Buraimo describing this as “an ethnographic study of sorts”. From observing the opposing fans who were determined to have their voices heard among thousands of home fans, to the grand arrival and welcoming of the home team's bus.
Despite the capacity within the stadium constrained due to stadium renovations, the atmosphere was still something to behold and saviour. Beyond and behind the football spectacle was the mass of learning experiences for students: sponsorship and marketing, stadium management, crowd safety, security, fan experience and much more.
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