La Liga President Javier Tebas has announced that games will be held abroad, and could be as soon as two seasons out. The first destination will be the United States of America.
Previously the idea had been suggested and later shelved, due to disagreements between the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and La Liga, but with then President at the RFEF Luis Rubiales gone, Tebas appears to feel confident that it will happen.
“I don’t know when, but this time La Liga will play official matches abroad, I think it could be in the 2025-26 season.”
“The official match in the US will strengthen our position in the North American market, which is the second for La Liga after Spain. Other very competitive leagues are coming so we can’t always do the same thing, they would overtake us,” Tebas told Marca.
Barcelona and Real Madrid were reportedly keen to take La Liga abroad in the past, and originally the first suggested fixture was a clash between Girona and Barcelona in Miami, with the former giving up a home game in exchange for a financial boost.
According to The Athletic, Relevent recently accused FIFA’s directive, that domestic games should be played in their home territory, as preventing fair competition.
FIFA and Relevent settled on their case without prejudice earlier this month.
Subsequently FIFA joined US Soccer as a co-defendant, with the national association already accused of seeking to block the growth of Relevent Sports' business as a promoter.
There has already been movement towards domestic match-ups taking place hosted abroad with the likes of the Spanish and Italian FAs staging their respective Super Cups in Saudi Arabia in recent years.
The Premier League has also attempted to capitalise on the popularity of the English game Stateside with marquee pre-season clashes.
The league hosted a Summer Series with six teams involved last year, while in 2024 Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal will all face-off against one another in the country.
The US is set to stage a revamped - and greatly expanded - Club World Cup in 2025, a year before they will host the World Cup.