Expansion of European Soccer Beyond Its Borders
It’s a familiar scenario for American sports fans: your favorite team in your favorite sport is sent to play a regular season game abroad. The NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL all regularly do this, and in some cases, they are increasing the number of games held overseas every year. This is done to expand the footprint of the sport and for economic reasons. Now, European soccer is following suit by attempting to host fixtures beyond its native shores.
On Monday, the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) officially gave its approval to a plan proposed by LaLiga to play a regular season match between FC Barcelona and Villarreal at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium. The match was originally scheduled to be played at the Estadio de la Cerámica in Villarreal on December 21. If approved, this would be a groundbreaking event—the first ever European fixture to be played in the US.
In a similar move, the Italian Football Federation approved a regular season league match between AC Milan and Como to be played in Australia in February 2026, though the fixture is still pending official sign-off.
If the Spanish match is approved, it would be a major victory for LaLiga President Javier Tebas, who has been pushing for the match for years. He argues that it would help the Spanish league stay competitive in a European landscape where the English Premier League earns more and more money, while its continental counterparts fall further behind.
“It’s not enough to show your matches on TV. The official match in the US will strengthen our position in the North American market,” Tebas told Spanish outlet Expansión in April 2024. “Other very competitive leagues are coming so we can’t just do the same thing we always do; they will pass us up. We have to do different things. … Having the match abroad is a very important strategic subject. We have to be in all those areas and if we’re not on an international level, we will lose a lot.”
Barcelona president Joan Laporta said the club was excited about the opportunity to play overseas and agreed that promoting the league worldwide is important. “For (Barça), it will be a great honor to participate in this event that will be an official game of LaLiga, but at the same time (it) will be a big event in the States,” he told Amanda Davies from the club’s preseason tour in Seoul, South Korea. “We are a club that belongs to LaLiga, and we are responsible because we want to commercialize LaLiga as best as possible.”
Villarreal’s president, Fernando Roig, called the match a “great idea” and added that it was for “the good of football, of Villarreal and of LaLiga.” Financially, the move is reportedly significant for both clubs. According to Catalan radio outlet RAC1, Barcelona and Villarreal will each receive between €5 million ($5.85 million) and €6 million (about $7 million) for the match in Miami. Villarreal would receive slightly more to compensate for the loss of ticketing revenue for giving up a home match.
Some fans also see the benefit of the proposal. Borja Jiménez, president of Villarreal fan group “L’Os Groc,” called it “exciting.” “For a club like ours, I think it’s an opportunity to expose ourselves and give visibility for the team to a huge market like the American one,” he told MathHotels.comSports. “In our fan group, we see it as a Spanish football festival in Miami and it will be pioneering. We hope to win there and make a lot of Americans fall in love with us and turn into ‘Yellow Submarine’ followers.”
However, not everyone is in favor of the move. The Spanish Football Members and Supporters Federation (FASFE), along with a Villarreal fan group and a Barcelona supporters’ group, released a statement declaring their “absolute, total and firm opposition to the delocalization of a match outside of Spain.” They argue that football is a social and cultural event rather than a branch of the entertainment industry and that the desire to eradicate it from the community that created it is an attack they cannot ignore.
Real Madrid has also expressed its anger at the proposal, saying it “firmly rejects” the idea of the Miami match due to competitive reasons. The club claims the measure infringes on the principle of territorial reciprocity and could upset the competitive balance.
Despite the resistance, economic interests often win out, much to the dismay of die-hard traditionalists who follow the “Beautiful Game.” For now, the proposal remains under review, with UEFA and FIFA set to make the final decision. If approved, the match could mark a new era for European soccer and its global reach.
