Madrid named their current home after former player and president Santiago Bernabeu in 1955, eight years after the ground opened, and celebrated a significant renovation of the stadium earlier this year.
As noted by MARCA, the club are now changing the way they advertise the stadium and have simply been referring to their home as the ‘Bernabeu’, dropping ‘Santiago’ from the name.
This has not been done formally, but all Madrid’s commercial dealings refer to the stadium as only Bernabeu. Should club officials wish to change the stadium’s name once and for all, they would have to go through a Shareholders’ Assembly.
Madrid are attempting to turn the stadium, which has long been casually known as the Bernabeu among English speakers, into a marketing hub capable of generating significant interest through event hosting and merchandising, and they are believed to have decided a shorter stadium name will aid their cause.
The stadium is still serviced by a metro station named after Santiago Bernabeu, who spent 35 years as president before his death in 1978 and is widely credited for implementing the foundation of Madrid’s immense success over the past 70 years.