Spain’s La Liga may play key rivalry match in U.S. in December

Other major European leagues, such as England’s Premier League and Germany’s Bundesliga, have long shunned the notion of playing abroad. La Liga, however, has always been open to the spectacle. 

League president Javier Tebas first attempted to play a game in the United States in 2018, when he unsuccessfully lobbied for a Barcelona-Girona match  to take place in Miami. FIFA blocked his proposal then, but Tebas remained undeterred.

Tebas aligned himself with Relevent Sports, the American event promoter working on the logistics of the Miami-based Barcelona-Girona fixture, and the two sued FIFA on antitrust grounds in 2019. The case worked its way through the American court system for years but finally reached a resolution in April 2024. 

That resolution represented a significant about-face from FIFA on the issue of international fixtures. Previously, FIFA was uncompromising in its position that league games should only be played in their relevant countries. Now it has left the door open for games such as Barcelona-Atletico Madrid to take place abroad.

Tebas made his intentions clear shortly after the resolution was reached. 

“La Liga will play official matches abroad,” he told Spanish newspaper Expansion, per The Athletic. “An official match in the U.S. will strengthen our position in the North American market, which is the second market for La Liga after Spain.”

Tebas predicted his league’s first international fixture would come “in 2025 or 2026,” but he appears to be ahead of schedule. FIFA is widely expected to approve La Liga’s request to play its December fixture in Miami.

There’s a reason why Tebas and La Liga are moving so quickly: Barcelona’s historic home stadium, the Camp Nou, is under construction for the 2024-25 season. Barcelona is playing all of its home fixtures at Olympic Stadium in Montjuic until construction is complete, and many season-ticket holders have balked at the extra travel time and subpar atmosphere there. 

With high-value match attendees largely staying home this season, it’s the perfect time for Barcelona to play a game elsewhere without rankling key local supporters.

But that doesn’t mean everyone is behind La Liga’s plan to play in Miami. Atletico Madrid defender Jose Gimenez expressed his displeasure in the Spanish media.

“I hope it’s played here in Spain with the fans who follow us to every match,” he told Spanish newspaper Marca. 

And it’s easy to understand why. Traveling from Spain to Miami for a one-off fixture will be exhausting for Gimenez and his teammates, and with Barcelona’s international fan base dwarfing Atletico Madrid’s, Gimenez will see — and hear — fewer of his team’s supporters in the crowd if the game is played abroad.

FIFA must approve La Liga’s request for this move to become official. If it does, the date of the fixture may change, as the Miami Dolphins are scheduled to play the San Francisco 49ers in Hard Rock Stadium on Dec. 22. 

It’s one more issue in a sea of them as La Liga prepares to take its product abroad for the first time.