Spanish soccer’s LaLiga and North American basketball’s NBA have today (July 22) announced that their shared sports and education complex in Madrid will open in August.
The multi-disciplinary complex, named ESC LaLiga&NBA, is a result of a partnership between the respective leagues and T3N Sport & Investment, a specialist training and development sports consultancy, announced last year.
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The firm has made an investment of €35 million ($35.6 million) in the project, and the complex has already been valued at €80 million prior to the completion of the works. It is claimed that its launch could create around 100 direct jobs.
The facility, located in the Villaviciosa de Odón municipality, 15 kilometers west of Madrid, has two soccer pitches, three basketball courts, a high-performance gym, swimming pool, dining room, games rooms, a library, and residential facilities for 450 athletes.
It will also feature an international school and act as the headquarters of the country's first NBA Basketball School, the basketball development program, as well as house part of the LaLiga Business School.
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David Pampliega, general global manager of T3N Sport & Investment, said: "The complex is designed with the concept of the ‘Olympic Village’, which means that any interested party can use the facilities, and will also be the home of LaLiga and the NBA."
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By GlobalDataLaLiga and the NBA will create several sporting projects within the complex. Through LaLiga Grassroots, the league’s global initiative to support, promote, and encourage grassroots soccer globally, long-term programs such as LaLiga Academy and LaLiga Talents will be developed, as well as short-term programs like Training Stages and LaLiga Camps.
When the complex opens next month, it will host, among other events, the first Training Stages with international players. In September, the LaLiga Academy, an open program in which athletes will become part of the LaLiga ecosystem for 10 months, will launch.
Javier Hernández, head of business development and international at LaLiga Grassroots, added: "ESC LaLiga&NBA is the answer to the sports industry's need for facilities with these characteristics. In addition, the complex will be an asset at the service of LaLiga’s 42 clubs, who will be able to use it for their sports projects and events.”
LaLiga and the NBA will also make the complex available to clubs, federations, and universities that want to use the facilities.
A key aim for the parties involved is to promote the concept of the student-athlete in Spain, a model used frequently in the US.
In addition, the complex will serve as a technology hub for all companies from the innovation industry for the development of projects to improve sporting performance.
LaLiga first unveiled the plans in July 2020 as part of a 15-year partnership with T3N Sport and Investment.
The NBA agreed its own separate partnership with T3N in November 2020 to develop an NBA Basketball School in the Spanish capital, as well as naming the company as an official partner of the league in Spain.
There are already NBA Basketball Schools in Brazil, Greece, India, and the United Arab Emirates.
The ESC LaLiga&NBA base will also serve as a strategic new location for the top basketball league to build its European presence.
The complex was originally scheduled to open in autumn 2020 but was delayed by the coronavirus pandemic.
