The Sports Museum was in the plans of the Madrid Consistory for many years. A first draft of space at the ‘frontón Beti-Jai’ (the oldest sports facility in Madrid) was finalized in 2009, under the mandate of Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón as Major. In 2016 it was reactivated as a private initiative supported by 10 legacy of sport enthusiastic individuals, in the form of temporary exhibitions.

These people, and many other collaborators throughout these years, put their experience altruistically in various areas of management of which they are specialists. Their names: Fernando Pastor (marketing), Óscar del Moral (technology), Rodrigo Ron (communication), Josep Maria Calvo (management), Marco Davalillo (digital), Narcis Berenguer (facilities), Carlos Fernández (finance), Eduardo Puig (production), Alvaro López-Vera (logistics) and Alfonso Noáin (project management). In addition, Pablo Martínez-Arroyo, co-founder and legend of the ‘Estudiantes de Baloncesto’ club, has been in charge of interacting with the group of athletes and directing the Sports Museum Association. And as special collaborators Tanya Zbinden, Ramón Fuentes, Alma López, Juan Acosta, Diana Sanchidrián, Rebeca Pasalodos, Juanma Merino, Alex Arguelés, Samuel Hernández and Paola Herrera with a fruitful professional participation in the development of the project.

There is also an Advisory Council. It is composed of five former athletes who have been Olympic or world champions in their disciplines and who also have enormous experience in the management of teams and complex sports projects. They are Pepu Hernández, Spanish basketball world champion coach in 2006. Vicente del Bosque, Spanish football world champion coach in 2010. Theresa Zabell, only Spanish athlete double Olympic gold medal (sailing) in 1992 and 1996. Mercedes Coghen, captain of the gold hockey team in Barcelona ’92 and CEO of the Madrid 2016 bid. And Javier Lozano, Spanish coach twice futsal world champion in 2000 and 2004, and president of the National Futsal League. They represent the hundreds of athletes who with their donations and constant support make the Sports Museum a living institution in constant progression.

In these years there has been support for institutional legitimation, among which the most explicit was that of Consejo Superior de Deportes (Ministry of Sports) and the subsequent one of ‘Marca España / España Global’. City Councils, Provincial Councils and Regional Governments have covered the logistical costs of the exhibitions held in their constituencies. The newspaper MARCA has donated its valuable photographic and infographic base. National sponsors such as Vodafone, Santander, BASF or Iberdrola made it possible to balance the budget. And finally, the best sports journalists in Spanish, would narrate the deeds of sport for the Audio Guide available in the Museum App or with QR codes in the exhibition itself.