La Liga are interested in hosting fixtures abroad next season, in an idea inspired by the NFL and the Premier League but the idea in itself is absurd.
The Spanish Football Federation is interested in hosting La Liga games abroad next season, presumably in the USA and China, according to reports by the Guardian. The idea is similar to one that was formed by the English FA over a decade ago when the controversial idea of hosting an extra game in the Premiership season, a 39th game, to be played around the world outside of England which was thankfully met with widespread opposition from fans, and the idea was scraped in 2008.
The Spanish Football Federation believes that despite the widespread opposition that was faced in England, that they could make the idea work and make it successful. The SFF could be looking at the success of the NFL and how well they’ve done with hosting games in England and could be looking to replicate that idea with the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona.
From a marketing perspective, it surely can work. Clubs like Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and even Sevilla will attract enough interest from foreign fans. The prospect of hosting El Clasico in a major American stadium would be mouth-watering for any advertising company and will surely make an extortionate amount of money.
The same goes really for any game involving those four and potentially even Valencia, it opens the doors for the league to gain better and bigger marketing that is massively lacking compared to the money and revenue that is being poured into the English leagues.
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But herein lies the problem and why this idea is absurd – it doesn’t benefit anybody but the major teams in Spain. While fans will flock to stadiums in America or China to see Real Madrid or Barcelona play football, a potential once in a lifetime opportunity for them to see these clubs play a competitive game of football as opposed to the often meaningless preseason games, will anybody really be all that interested in games involving Getafe or Leganes play?
Are those clubs going to benefit from playing another game abroad and not even remotely come close to making the kind of money that the big teams in Spain will be making from playing in another country if they are not playing Barcelona, Atletico Madrid or Real Madrid? It’s highly unlikely they will and this is why it is absurd.
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This idea serves only to benefit the major clubs and create an even further divide between them and the rest of Spanish clubs, a divide that is already big enough as it is given the great divide between TV and sponsorship money.
Madrid and Barcelona already make far more in revenue than any other club in La Liga, let alone in the world and creating an even further divide between these two clubs and the rest is not going to benefit the league at all, it will only serve to make the league less competitive which is why it is absurd that the Spanish Football Federation is interested in this idea.