Plans to host the 21 December La Liga fixture between FC Barcelona and Atletico Madrid in the US has been scrapped by Spanish league officials.
La Liga viewed the date as too soon to host its first-ever league fixture outside of Spain, which was earmarked to be hosted in Miami, Florida, and would have been an FC Barcelona home game.
Whilst the fixture on 21 December will take place in its original setting at the Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc in Barcelona, La Liga President Javier Tebas is still optimistic that a La Liga fixture will soon be held on international soil.
Tebas for the better part of six years has been keen on hosting a La Liga fixture in the US to take advantage of clubs like FC Barcelona and Real Madrid’s growing popularity amongst American audiences.
The La Liga President’s first attempt in 2018 saw him trying to move a game between FC Barcelona and Girona FC to Miami, even stating at the time that there was a 90% chance it would be played in the US. However, the Spanish Football Association (RFEF), the country’s player’s union, and FIFA blocked the proposal.
Despite RFEF initially rejecting US-held La Liga games, a change in Presidency from Luis Rubiales to Pedro Rocha last April, made the likelihood of this proposal even stronger, with RFEF reportedly backing Tebas’ plans for FC Barcelona and Atletico Madrid’s fixture to be held in the US.
Whilst the plans were then set in motion, La Liga would have also needed permission from FIFA and UEFA and the two football organisations have consistently rejected domestic league games to be held internationally.
Although Tebas’ plans have been put on hold, the President of La Liga stated this year that he intends to host a La Liga fixture outside of Spain during the 2025/26 season.
Back in 2018, he anticipated that a single game held in the US would generate upwards of €200m, which will have inevitably increased six years on. Revenue would be generated from matchday ticket sales at a NFL-sized stadium, a flurry of sponsorship deals and a media rights agreement that could be extremely lucrative for the league.
Whilst this may prove lucrative for La Liga and its clubs, fans have almost unanimously rejected the idea of domestic league games being held outside of their home countries, due to a lack of consideration to them and missing out on attending one more game per season.
