transaction, valued at approximately €1.45 billion, is now the largest acquisition of a Spanish football club to date and brings to an end more than three decades of majority control by the Gil family. With this deal, the club becomes part of Apollo Sports Capital, the group’s sports platform, which manages $17 billion in sport-related assets. Apollo, the parent company, is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and oversees roughly $908 billion in alternative assets.
The club’s sustained financial growth has been one of the key drivers behind the operation. Atlético expects to close the 2024–2025 season with €459 million in revenue, four times the amount generated in 2011–2012. Following the acquisition, part of Apollo’s investment will be allocated to the development of the Ciudad del Deporte, an €800 million project structured as a public–private partnership between the club and the Madrid City Council.
The initiative will transform the area surrounding the Riyadh Air Metropolitano stadium through the construction of a 65,000-square-meter High-Performance Center, five new training fields, and a 6,000-seat mini-stadium. The complex will also include more than 265,000 square meters dedicated to leisure and sport, operated by specialized partners such as GO fit, Topgolf, Playtomic, Wavegarden, and Indoorwall. It will further incorporate a university campus developed by UAX, focused on sport, technology, entertainment, music, and finance, as well as a new commercial area led by López Real Inversiones.
The project also includes the development of a four-star hotel and new public facilities. The City Council will contribute additional municipal sports infrastructure, including four indoor multi-sport courts and an athletics track, with the aim of revitalizing currently underused land and expanding the sports offering available to residents of San Blas–Canillejas and to the wider city.
The transaction underscores the growing appeal of Madrid’s sports sector among U.S. investors, who view the capital as a dynamic market with high-quality infrastructure and strong long-term potential. Apollo’s investment will accelerate the transformation of the Metropolitano district through the Ciudad del Deporte, adding new facilities, services, and spaces dedicated to physical activity, leisure, and education. This development will strengthen Madrid’s sports ecosystem and generate economic and urban benefits for both local residents and the city as a whole.