By Alex Duff
Oct. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Real Madrid has squeezed 4 million euros ($5.6 million) out of companies eager to impress customers by flying them to soccer games on the team's private jet.
The sport's biggest team by revenue has sold 61 of 69 seats at 65,000 euros ($92,000) each under a joint venture with travel agency Viajes Iberia SA.
``It's something different and exclusive,'' Enric Riera, general director of the Palma de Mallorca-based agency, told reporters. Guests ``will get V.I.P. treatment.''
The price of the season-long package includes accommodation in the same hotel as the team and match tickets. All the seats so far have been bought by companies who will have top clients travel alongside players such as Raul, Fabio Cannavaro and Ruud van Nistelrooy, Viajes Iberia spokeswoman Maria Navalon said in a phone interview. She declined to name the buyers.
The 20-year-old Boeing Co. MD-83 airliner is scheduled to make its first flight in the team's white-and-blue colors today. Madrid is heading to Rome for a Champions League game against Lazio tomorrow.
All 139 business-class berths have 92 centimeters (36.2 inches) of legroom, instead of the usual 73 centimeters, Real Madrid said on its Web site. The crew will wear uniforms bearing the team's logo.
The package also covers trips to Spanish league games, the travel agency said.
Real Madrid won the last of its record nine European titles in 2002 and exited to Bayern Munich in the round of 16 last season. The tournament is worth as much as 100 million euros to the winner, according to MasterCard Inc.
The Spanish league champion had sales of 351 million euros in the year ending June 30, making it the top team on that measure for the third straight year.
To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Duff in Madrid at at aduff4@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: October 2, 2007 08:22 EDT
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