The long discussed plans to host a LaLiga game in the USA are close to coming to fruition, with a match between Spanish giants Barcelona and Atletico Madrid expected to be hosted in Miami in mid December, according to reports from Relevo.
Any game played stateside would be keenly-watched in the UK, with Liverpool Chairman Tom Werner making no secret of his desire to be part of any similar Premier League event.
But many fans are strongly opposed to the idea.
The Liverpool FC Supporters’ Union, Spirit of Shankly, said last summer: “Anyone determined to play competitive LFC Premier League matches abroad should remember that we as fans are determined they don’t. There’s lots of things that need to change in football – ticket prices, an independent regulator, financial fairness and more. Where we play doesn’t!”
The rumoured new plans
After many years of conversation and push backs, it finally seems that LaLiga President Javier Tebas, will achieve his American dream this December.
The rumoured plans outline a date around the 21st December, just before the Spanish winter break, for a heavyweight bout between two of the biggest clubs in the country, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.
The venue for the game is set to be 65,000 capacity Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, which has commonly been the stadium discussed in conversations around the subject in the past.
Although this is the closest the plans have been to concrete, the final decision yet again rests with FIFA. However, a recent lawsuit between Relevent Sports Agency, LaLiga’s US partner, and FIFA has changed the playing field.
The lawsuit was aimed at FIFA’s policy on a country hosting a league game between teams from a foreign country. It came after FIFA disrupted LaLiga plans to host Barcelona against Girona in the Hard Rock Stadium in 2019.
A recent agreement between Relevent Sports Agency and FIFA has led to FIFA being dropped from legal proceedings and FIFA pledging to change it’s longstanding policy on the matter. This opens the door wider than it has ever been for LaLiga to exploit the American market.
LaLiga’s history of USA interest
LaLiga have always been invested in strengthening their hold on the American audience. They have hosted multiple preseason tours and friendlies in the USA.
In August, Barcelona and Real Madrid faced off in front of 82,000 fans in the MetLife Stadium, showing the pull on fans LaLiga sides can have in America.
The league’s popularity in America is also reflected in the recent El Partizado scheme from LaLiga North America, which is a season-long fan scheme highlighting the biggest events in LaLiga and bringing exclusive fan experiences to North American fans of the league to strengthen their hold on the market.
Tebas himself has also had a strong interest in the prospect of this expansion for many years.
He told Expansión in April: “I don’t know when, but this time LaLiga will play official games abroad. I think it could be from the 2025-26 season.
“An official game in the United States would strengthen our position in the North American market, which is the second [biggest] for LaLiga after Spain.
“Other really competitive leagues are coming, so we can’t always do the same thing. They would jump ahead of us.”
The developing LaLiga plans may have a huge impact on football across the world. The policy change by FIFA may open the pandora’s box for other leagues to exploit foreign markets to expand their audience. This could include the Premier League.
Although most discussion of this nature are around leagues attempting to keep up with the Premier League, the pinnacle of league football could see challengers arising and follow suit to maintain the status quo.
Liverpool Chairman Werner revealed his desire to see the Premier League broaden its horizons to the Financial Times in June.
He said: “I’m determined one day to have a Premier League game be played in New York City.
“I even have the sort of crazy idea that there would be a day where we play one game in Tokyo, one game a few hours later in Los Angeles, one game a few hours later in Rio, one game a few hours later in Riyadh and make it sort of a day where football, where the Premier League, is celebrated.”
This would be an extremely controversial decision in Merseyside with the strong connection the clubs have to their home stadiums and the community in which the clubs were built.
Although that principle could be applied to the rest of the Premier League, it is even more significant to the firmly traditional institutions of the English game such as Liverpool and Everton.
Premier League Chief Executive, Richard Masters, also commented on the discussion in April where he said that the “door looks ajar” for Premier League international fixtures whilst also disclosing that the league weren’t going to be investigating the opportunity in the near future.
This does reveal that the Premier League won’t rule the possibility out completely which is what the majority of Premier League fans would prefer.
In any case, FIFA’s upcoming decision on LaLiga plans will have a ripple effect on the rest of the world and league football as we know it.
