We had the worst experience attending the NFL game at Bernabéu Stadium on November 16. My wife is recovering from a fractured foot and uses an orthopedic boot and manual knee scooter mobility aid. Our tickets said to arrive early for mobility accommodations, so we were in line by 2:30, a full hour before kickoff.It took over an hour to enter. Fans were pouring in from all directions, police were overwhelmed, and there were no ropes, markings, barriers, or signage (in English or Spanish). The line barely moved; we would stand still for 10 minutes at a time. My wife even scootered up and down the line trying to find disability check-in because none existed. Only after kickoff did police finally organize the crowd and got things moving (security was a joke at that point as well).We reached our assigned entrance at gate 23 about 15 minutes after kickoff. We asked staff about disability accommodations and they sent us to gate 40. Gate 40 was surprised to see us, made us wait another 10 minutes, then sent us all the way over to gate 1, saying they had secured the last two disabled seats in the stadium. We were also told it was our fault for not alerting them earlier, even though the tickets gave no contact info and explicitly told us to arrive early, which we did.The disability seats turned out to be five feet from a packed concession stand. People constantly squeezed in front of us and literally stepped over my wife's injured foot. It was dangerous and stressful; we couldn't watch any of the game because we were shielding her from the crowd. The staff we flagged down were unable or unwilling to help. Something as simple as a rope or traffic cone would have solved the problem.Fearing someone would re-injure her, we left and returned to gate 23. We were then told we couldn't bring the scooter inside or store it anywhere. The official stance—repeated multiple times by staff and security—was: "Go back to the dangerous area, throw out your $150 medical device, or go home."We were in line an hour early so we could be accommodated. We followed all the rules and did what we were told and were gracious, and because of that we were put in danger and disregarded. It was around this point the tears started, and in the five years I've been with my wife I have never seen her so crushed and upset. We were exhausted. We had been pleading for an hour, trying to make due, and being stonewalled every step of the way.We were directed yet again toward gate 1, where someone finally pointed us to gate 6, where we found Paul—our guardian angel. I didn't catch his official title, but his work involved accessibility aid. He made one phone call and arranged to store my wife's scooter in his office so we could go to our original seats. We finally got to watch the game, just in time for halftime. At least we could enjoy the second half without fearing further injury.I still don't understand why it took pleading with 15–20 people and being sent back and forth across the stadium to find a solution beyond “too bad, go home.” The tickets were expensive, we followed all the rules, arrived early exactly as instructed, and stayed polite despite everything. For an NFL-hosted event at a stadium that handles massive crowds regularly, the lack of accessibility support, coordination, and basic safety was shocking.I have reached out to Real Madrid, who said they're not at fault and I should talk to TicketMaster and NFL. TicketMaster said it isn't at fault and I should talk to Real Madrid and NFL. NFL Support said they're not at fault and I should talk to On Location Experiences. And On Location Experiences said they're not at fault and I should talk to NFL.RESPONSE TO REPLY: we received our tickets through Stubhub. Real Madrid's official reply to me was "Although the event was held in the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, the Club does not manage it. You should contact the organizer: [support at nfl]". NFL Support official reply was "For any information or feedback regarding NFL EVENTS such as the Draft, the Hall of Fame Enshrinement, the International Series games, the Pro Bowl, and the Super Bowl, NFL Experience, go to NFL On Location at [onlocationexp /nfl]." So this was a problem on many issues, with all parties pointing fingers and nobody actually helping.
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