Latinoamericano Stadium in Havana opens up to commercial advertising: Who will be promoting themselves?

Cubadeportes S.A. launched a social media campaign on Saturday to invite national and foreign brands to advertise at the Latinoamericano Stadium in Havana, the most iconic baseball venue in Cuba, with a capacity of approximately 55,000 spectators.

The call, published on Facebook, offers spaces for institutional and commercial advertising within the well-known Coloso del Cerro and promises "guaranteed international impact: each match is an opportunity for your brand to reach beyond our borders."

Those interested can contact representatives of Cubadeportes directly through three phone numbers published in the announcement.

The announcement comes supported by a new legal framework, as Law 179 of the Cuban Sports System, approved in July 2025 and effective from May 13, formally establishes advertising and sponsorship in the island's sports for the first time, including both national and foreign private entities.

So far, as acknowledged by Karel Luis Pachot Zambrana, legal director of the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation (Inder), these practices were carried out "exceptionally" and without a clear legal framework.

The same official emphasized that "the status of national or foreigner does not limit the possibility of participating in sponsorship activities within the sport on the island."

The Resolution 108/2025 of Inder complements the law by establishing the rules and procedures for advertising and sponsorship, while Resolution 41/2025 regulates the contract authorization process based on the level of the event.

This movement is not the first under the new scheme. In November 2025, Cubadeportes launched a sponsorship plan for the 64th National Series with four commercial levels priced between 13,125,000 and 71,250,000 Cuban pesos.

The most recent milestone occurred on April 14, when the Cuban Modern Pentathlon Federation signed the first sponsorship contract between a Cuban sports entity and a national private company, the brand Venko, which specializes in the design and manufacture of technical sportswear.

Behind this opening lies a severe economic crisis. Cuba's GDP fell by 5% in 2025, accumulating a total decline of 15% since 2020, and the Inder itself suspended competitions in multiple disciplines due to a lack of fuel.

The Estadio Latinoamericano, inaugurated on October 26, 1946, as the Gran Stadium of Havana and renamed in 1961 following the abolition of professionalism, has gone over six decades without commercial advertising in its facilities.

The opening of Cuban sports to foreign sponsorship thus represents one of the most significant symbolic changes in the history of the sports system of the socialist regime, driven not by ideological conviction but by the urgent need to attract foreign currency in the face of economic collapse.