Barça or Real Madrid will play a LaLiga match in the United States
The league has signed a 15-year deal with Relevent, a multinational media and sports company in Miami, to play a single league match in the US each season
La Liga has signed a 15-year deal with Relevent, a multinational media and sports company, in order to expand their brand across the United States and Canada according to 'El Pais'. The agreement will see a league match from Spain played outside of the country for the first time.
"This extraordinary joint venture is the next giant leap in growing soccer's popularity in North America," explained the US businessman Stephen Ross who is the main owner of Relevent, the Miami Dolphins (NFL) and the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.
This deal will become a reality as soon as possible. That means that it's entirely possible that a match from this season's LaLiga will be played in the United States. The most likely outcome is that Barcelona and Real Madrid would be involved as they are the two most supported teams in North America.
LaLiga and Relevent have also formed a new organisation called 'LaLiga North America'. This union is to promote and expand similar to other sports in the United States like NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL. A few years ago, all of these leagues decided to play one official match outside of the US to increase the brand's reputation across the world. "I like football, I love all sports. This deal will help grow the sport in a country where we were all disappointed not to be involved at the World Cup. I hope we can play in the next one and see football grow exponentially when it's played here in 2026," assured Ross..
Tebas' objective
LaLiga's president, Javier Tebas, has explained that having official matches take place in the United States is "important for the development of our brand". "To play official matches in the US was in our short and medium term plans. If the NBA or the NFL can play matches outside of their country, why can't LaLiga?"
However he also spoke about the inconvenience and potential consequences of playing a match on the other side of the world. "I'd never organise something against the interests of the participants. Let's see which teams are in favour of this. There will be compensation and communication strategies too. We've changed a lot of things in the last four years and many faced stiff resistance. Later they saw it was ideal. To grow as an industry we don't decide things just because one person says it."
The objective for Javier Tebas is that the LaLiga brand expands across the United States in the same way Real Madrid and Barça have done. "Relevent have filled stadiums all over the US with the International Champions Cup. It's the deal which can help us the most to grow in the United States. Not only in a very competitive football market, but also the sports industry. The Barça and Madrid brands are well known. It's necessary to develop the LaLiga brand and this way all the Spanish teams will benefit from it," outlined Tebas.
who are 'Relevent'?
Relevent is a multinational media, sport and training company. The company has organised the International Champions Cup since the summer of 2013. It's a competition which gathers together the 18 best teams in the world to play in different cities on five different continents, primarily in the US. Amongst the clubs involved were Spanish sides Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid. It was in last season's 'preseason El Clasico' that initial meetings took place about bringing LaLiga fixtures to the United States.
