Spain’s LaLiga vows to push ahead with matches in the US
Regular season LaLiga matches could be played in the US within two years after the Spanish league’s president confirmed they intend to push ahead with plans.
LaLiga has been at the forefront of discussions about the staging of regular season matches overseas, with the US seen as among the most commercially desirable destinations, and recent developments in American courts appear to have paved the way for it to go ahead.
“I think it could be in the 2025-26 season, but LaLiga will play official matches abroad,” La Liga president Javier Tebas told Spanish newspaper Expansion.
“An official match in the US will strengthen our position in the North American market, which is the second market for LaLiga after Spain.
“Other very competitive leagues are coming so we cannot always do the same thing, but we cannot allow them to overtake us.”
LaLiga first?
Tebas has long been an advocate for overseas games and in 2018 tried to take a match between Girona and Barcelona to the States.
There has been a growing trend in football of federations taking Super Cup matches overseas in a bid to shore up domestic finances, usually taking advantage of Middle Eastern states such as Saudi Arabia.
The Kingdom has been in talks to take over the African Super League sponsorship while it also hosts the Turkish Super Cup and Spanish Super Cup.
There were issues between Turkish sides Fenerbahce and Galatasaray and Saudi Arabia over the Turkish Super Cup in December.
Spain has previously hosted external matches itself, too, with the Santiago Bernabeu staging the second leg of the 2018 South American Copa Libertadores amid security concerns in Argentina.
But a look to the United States would be a move away from the Middle East and towards the west, with Premiership Rugby previously hosting regular league matches in the nation and IPL franchises having teams in cricket’s top flight across the pond.