La Liga to stage matches in USA in ground-breaking 15-year agreement

Spain’s top flight will become the first major league to arrange fixtures in another part of the world as the Primera Division looks to gain further popularity in the United States and Canada
Ground-breaking: La Liga will take one game per year to the United States
REUTERS
Ben Hayward16 August 2018

La Liga will schedule one match per season in North America, the Spanish competition announced in a press release on Thursday.

In a 15-year partnership with multinational sports, media and entertainment group Relevent, La Liga will take one game per year to the United States as it continues to grow its brand in the region.

“LaLiga plans to bring a regular season club match to the United States, the first to be played outside of Europe,” the press releases reads.

The statement adds that the new organisation, La Liga North America, “will work to cultivate soccer culture in the US and Canada using the unequalled assets of La Liga, the world’s best soccer league featuring internationally recognised clubs and players.”

“This extraordinary joint venture is the next giant leap in growing soccer’s popularity in North America,” said Stephen Ross, chairman and owner of Relevent.

“This unique relationship will create new opportunities for millions of North American soccer fans to experience the most passionate, exciting, and highest level of soccer in the world.”

LaLiga president Javier Tebas added: “We’re devoted to growing the passion for soccer around the world. This ground-breaking agreement is certain to give a major impulse to the popularity of the beautiful game in the US and Canada.”

It is unclear when the first North American La Liga game will take place, but it could even be as soon as this season.

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The top Spanish sides have been playing pre-season fixtures in the United States for a number of years now and there was even a Clasico clash between Barcelona and Real Madrid in Miami last summer.

This new agreement could see such fixtures occur on a more regular basis and may lead the way for other leagues to follow suit in future by scheduling matches abroad, a proposal previously considered by the Premier League with the idea of a “39th game”, to be played overseas in addition to the usual 38 rounds of the competition.

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