The 22 December La Liga fixture between FC Barcelona and Atletico Madrid is reportedly set to be held in Miami, Florida after the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has given the greenlight for La Liga’s first league game to be held overseas.
With the Hard Rock Stadium looking a likely venue to host the league fixture, both FC Barcelona and Atletico Madrid have been working with RFEF to move the fixture to the US.
If finalised, this would represent a long-term goal success for La Liga President Javier Tebas who has been a big supporter of hosting some league fixtures internationally.
Tebas’ dream into reality
Last April, Tebas all but confirmed that international league fixtures will happen in the near future, eyeing the 2025/26 season for its implementation.
Tebas has been attempting to host a league game in the US for quite some time, with his first effort trying to move an FC Barcelona and Girona FC game to Miami during the 2018/19 season. However, this was ultimately blocked by RFEF and FIFA.
Despite previously blocking international league fixtures, it appears that RFEF has had a change of heart after giving approval to Tebas and La Liga to move the Barcelona and Atletico fixture to Miami.
This is largely due to former RFEF President, Luis Rubiales, being a strong opponent of hosting league games internationally after constantly bumping heads with Tebas on the matter. But after being ousted from his position, it looks as if now that games overseas are becoming increasingly likely, for better or for worse.
What FC Barcelona stands to gain
A large reason why FC Barcelona has been handpicked for an overseas league game is due to currently playing at the Olympic Stadium – the club’s temporary home stadium before the renovated Nou Camp reopens next season.
Because the Barcelona Olympic Stadium has a capacity of just under 56,000 – in comparison to Nou Camp’s 99,500 capacity – it has resulted in major financial losses for the league and the club last season.
Leveraging FC Barcelona’s standing as one of the most popular clubs in the world, as well as previous experience of cultivating a fanbase in the US through preseason games in the past, it comes as no surprise that La Liga has earmarked the Catalonian club for its first international league fixture.
For the league, it would represent the first top-flight European league to stake a claim to the growing US soccer fanbase, a country which could represent tens of millions of dollars to be made in club revenue by hosting US league games.
Speaking to Insider Sport on the controversial topic of European league games held in the US, Neil Joyce, CEO of CLV Group, revealed what FC Barcelona could stand to earn by hosting US league games.
He said: “Other clubs including Real Madrid, Barcelona and Manchester United, however, show substantial potential revenues. Real Madrid has the highest potential revenue at $61m and Barcelona and Manchester United also show to gain $37.5m and $40.7m, respectively.”
With the Blaugrana still struggling with its mounting debt, the US could represent a vital source of revenue to help alleviate some of its financial worries.
Fan backlash will be fierce
However, the idea of hosting league games outside their respective European countries has been unanimously panned by football fans, who believe it goes against the culture of the sport and alienates fans with season tickets for home games.
Joyce revealed that whilst it may be hard to bring fans around to the idea of overseas league games, he did outline some remedies for loyal supporters of the clubs playing internationally.
He shared: “Potential benefits could include: Reinvestment of revenue achieved through such initiatives back into season ticket holder schemes that are non-financially geared, i.e., improve fan experiences at the stadium
“Compensation: Partial refunds or discounts for games moved abroad or the occasional free home game.
“Travel Packages: Offering subsidised travel packages to the US for loyal fans.
“Merchandise: Special edition merchandise or memorabilia as a token of appreciation for the game played in the US.”
Whilst fan backlash will be fierce, the movement of the FC Barcelona-Atletico fixture may also hinge on FIFA’s clearance to allow it to be moved to Miami. FIFA has blocked previous attempts and there is no reported suggestion if the world football governing body has changed its stance like RFEF yet.
