La Liga sign 15-year deal to have games played in the US

[Sarni]

Tell me the top three in the Premier League this year. Tell me the top three in La Liga.

City, Liverpool, United. Chelsea and Spurs with a chance to surpass Liverpool or United. All but City with a very small chance to win the league if any.

Real, Atlético, Barcelona. All with a good chance to win the league.

PL has one top class team and two or three who are trying to get there. La Liga has three. If PL had three it would be easy to predict too. You once argued anyone could win PL and it was only true because back then nobody was good. Once good teams started appearing it was a one horse race in two last seasons.

 

[Wumminator]

More revenue means more money for transfers and higher wages aka better players and so more trophies.

Not sneering at fans wanting United to play matches at Manchester. Sneering at some fans for not accepting that a 'home' match away from home every other year won't be the end of the world, neither it will ruin football.

Same as how NBA is not ruined cause they play a couple of games per year in Europe.

football is not just an endless pursuit of more money.

 

[Reddy Rederson]

El Classico being in US will essentially be on a neutral venue, and so it either needs to be played there twice, or put at a massive disadvantage the 'home' team. Real or Barca vs whatever other team, will be a home game with 95%+ of fans on the stadium being fans of the 'home' team.

I guess this will be a match of Real, a match of Barca and probably another one or two matches of relatively big teams like Atletico. I don't think that Huesca vs Leganos will be played there, cause likely it won't sell out the stadium. Maybe it will sell on the first year or two cause of novelty, but the novelty will end after that.

See, your looking at it from a point of view of fairness. What exactly has the footballing world done to tell you its about fairness and the fans? Its about money and brand promotion. Imagine being a fan of either team and NEVER being able to watch el classico at the bernabeu or camp nou again? If the PL picks it up, imagine NEVER being able to watch united vs Liverpool at old trafford again. And Huesca vs Leganos wont ever play there. Thats my point. The over seas deals will poach the biggest games and leave the smaller games to be played in the home country.

 

[Wumminator]

See, your looking at it from a point of view of fairness. What exactly has the footballing world done to tell you its about fairness and the fans? Its about money and brand promotion. Imagine being a fan of either team and NEVER being able to watch el classico at the bernabeu or camp nou again? If the PL picks it up, imagine NEVER being able to watch united vs Liverpool at old trafford again. And Huesca vs Leganos wont ever play there. Thats my point. The over seas deals will poach the biggest games and leave the smaller games to be played in the home country.

Think of the impact that would have on the lower teams as well. Just... horrendous.

 

[Sarni]

See, your looking at it from a point of view of fairness. What exactly has the footballing world done to tell you its about fairness and the fans? Its about money and brand promotion. Imagine being a fan of either team and NEVER being able to watch el classico at the bernabeu or camp nou again? If the PL picks it up, imagine NEVER being able to watch united vs Liverpool at old trafford again. And Huesca vs Leganos wont ever play there. Thats my point. The over seas deals will poach the biggest games and leave the smaller games to be played in the home country.

It will never be this dramatic, come on. ‘Never see Man Utd v Liverpool at OT again’ is completely over the top. It will be a couple of low profile games like NBA in London and I imagine it will almost always be with big teams as hosts to not have teams like Burnley skip their big day when the big boys come to town etc.

There is no added benefit of having big games played there. There is however a big benefit of having games with less local interest to go over there.

 

[Hernandez - BFA]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_39

Meh, I didn't think that idea was so bad. It's an additional game - so what.

There's a difference to the idea in the OP - as it means that the fans will see less football in their stadium as there should.

 

[AlwaysRed66]

More revenue means more money for transfers and higher wages aka better players and so more trophies.

Not sneering at fans wanting United to play matches at Manchester. Sneering at some fans for not accepting that a 'home' match away from home every other year won't be the end of the world, neither it will ruin football.

Same as how NBA is not ruined cause they play a couple of games per year in Europe.

I mentioned this in a previous post. American sports are franchises where the same sides play each year whatever happens, & not worrying whether they come 1st or last. European Football leagues are competitive with promotion/relegation & importance of qualifying for Europe. Imagine if one of these sides played a pointless match in the US or elsewhere which made the difference to them winning a league, qualifying for Europe, or even getting relegated. There would be hell to pay, but hey what do you or others care about individual clubs & communities.

 

[Sarni]

Meh, I didn't think that idea was so bad. It's an additional game - so what.

There's a difference to the idea in the OP - as it means that the fans will see less football in their stadium as there should.

Additional game would be bad in that sense that if we got to play Chelsea and City got Huddersfield in that additional game it’s a huge advantage to one team.

 

[We need an rvn]

I don't know much about the NBA/NFL structure, but I'm under the impression that those leagues have more power relative to the teams compared to the PL. Like surely for the PL, there would be a vote by the clubs?

True a vote usually would be needed, but I don't see many clubs being against playing a match abroad if it expanded their fan base or got extra cash for playing.

 

[Sarni]

I mentioned this in a previous post. American sports are franchises where the same sides play each year whatever happens, & not worrying whether they come 1st or last. European Football leagues are competitive with promotion/relegation & importance of qualifying for Europe. Imagine if one of these sides played a pointless match in the US or elsewhere which made the difference to them winning a league, qualifying for Europe, or even getting relegated. There would be hell to pay, but hey what do you or others care about individual clubs & communities.

Playing that one game in Europe instead of homecourt can result in a team not getting into playoffs in NBA too.

 

[Hernandez - BFA]

Additional game would be bad in that sense that if we got to play Chelsea and City got Huddersfield in that additional game it’s a huge advantage to one team.

Guess I didn't see it like that. Good point. I just thought the game 39 was considered a friendly for some odd reason.

 

[Reddy Rederson]

It will never be this dramatic, come on. ‘Never see Man Utd v Liverpool at OT again’ is completely over the top. It will be a couple of low profile games like NBA in London and I imagine it will almost always be with big teams as hosts to not have teams like Burnley skip their big day when the big boys come to town etc.

There is no added benefit of having big games played there. There is however a big benefit of having games with less local interest to go over there.

I dont know what makes you think it wont come to that at some point. It wont start off that way, sure, but it will end up that way if they money is there. And the money will be there.

 

[Revan]

See, your looking at it from a point of view of fairness. What exactly has the footballing world done to tell you its about fairness and the fans? Its about money and brand promotion. Imagine being a fan of either team and NEVER being able to watch el classico at the bernabeu or camp nou again? If the PL picks it up, imagine NEVER being able to watch united vs Liverpool at old trafford again. And Huesca vs Leganos wont ever play there. Thats my point. The over seas deals will poach the biggest games and leave the smaller games to be played in the home country.

I think it is impossible that Madrid vs Barca will be always played outside. It might happen one year, but even that is unlikely. It is the most important league game of the season, and you want it to be played in your home, for your biggest fans, and anyway, it will be full of foreign fans who want to watch it on Camp Nou or Bernabeu not on US. But if it happens Real vs Osasuna one year, and the next year Barcelona vs Levante, who gives a shit. It is one of the thirty home matches you have in the season, it isn't the best and most important match and it gives the opportunity for many US fans of Real/Barca to watch their team in US. No harm done.

Same for United and Liverpool.

 

[RedDevil@84]

Don't understand the obsession with US. Play in Saudi or Qatar. Money will be insane. After all it is all about the money anyways.

 

[Kapardin]

I dont know what makes you think it wont come to that at some point. It wont start off that way, sure, but it will end up that way if they money is there. And the money will be there.

Ha ha....would never happen. Too much paranoia here.

I don't like the idea of global league games myself, but there is no need to assume scenarios that are virtually impossible.

 

[Revan]

I mentioned this in a previous post. American sports are franchises where the same sides play each year whatever happens, & not worrying whether they come 1st or last. European Football leagues are competitive with promotion/relegation & importance of qualifying for Europe. Imagine if one of these sides played a pointless match in the US or elsewhere which made the difference to them winning a league, qualifying for Europe, or even getting relegated. There would be hell to pay, but hey what do you or others care about individual clubs & communities.

Why on Earth a match of Burnley vs United on New Orleans vs Manchester will make the difference between getting relegated or not?

And well, the stadium on New Orleans will be full of United fans anyway, so despite not being home, it will be 'home'. There are many more variables on deciding the title rather than a match. It is like saying an NBA match in Europe might be the difference between a team reaching playoffs or not, or getting the first pick or not. It isn't.

Anyway, it likely won't happen in EPL cause it needs to be voted from 2/3 of the teams, and I cannot see teams outside of top 6 or so (who won't benefit from this) voting for it.

 

[AlwaysRed66]

Interestingly Spain's Player Association opposes playing La Liga matches in US. Good for them.

https://www.si.com/soccer/2018/08/16/spain-football-union-la-liga-north-america-match-plan

 

[Guy Incognito]

I think the next stupid decision will be the CL final being played outside Europe. America, Middle East, China all bidding to stage it.

 

[Thejimc]

Hi. First post so go easy on me. This is obviously all following the nfl and subsequent nba international games model. The only thing I will say is that it will be interesting to see what the quality of the games are like over there.

Obviously home games against the biggest teams draw the most money and interest. This is why the Green Bay packers haven’t played over here yet. None of the nfl teams want to give up their biggest home game of the season.

I can sea a lot of the clubs unwilling to host there real or Barca home games over there because of the upset to the local fan base and because of missed revenue.

As for it coming to the prem. I think this will purely be a matter of time. With so many foreign owners and so much financial reward from doing it I can’t see it going any other way.

 

[Reddy Rederson]

I think it is impossible that Madrid vs Barca will be always played outside. It might happen one year, but even that is unlikely. It is the most important league game of the season, and you want it to be played in your home, for your biggest fans, and anyway, it will be full of foreign fans who want to watch it on Camp Nou or Bernabeu not on US. But if it happens Real vs Osasuna one year, and the next year Barcelona vs Levante, who gives a shit. It is one of the thirty home matches you have in the season, it isn't the best and most important match and it gives the opportunity for many US fans of Real/Barca to watch their team in US. No harm done.

Same for United and Liverpool.

But it wont be that. Look at pre season friendlies. Those are meaningless games, that are about fitness and getting some minutes. Yet, they pull in scores of fans. Wasnt United Vs Real the largest attendence of a match anywere a few years ago with 107 thousand people at the game? So add those figures, the nature of americans to monetise everything and youll get some asshole who only cares about money saying "hey, why dont we play all these games here?" and that will be it, snowball effect. Games moved to friday nights for the benefit of sky. Saturday night primetime for the benefit of sky. Super sunday for the benefit of sky. Money, money, money. Money dictates what happens, not common sense. And if its not been made clear yet, the match going fans are not high on the list of priorities. Dont look at whats proposed, look at how it can be abused because it will be. Brazil knew it had a problem with drinking at matches, and so had outlawed it. Come 2014 FIFA told them to drop the ban because Budweiser was a sponsor. So regardless of fan safety, FIFA forced alcohol to be sold at games, and of course trouble happened because of it. Thats football. The fans just dont matter. Just money.

 

[adexkola]

Have the winner of the MLS play in the Premier League next season (instead of playing in MLS). Then at the end of each season, have a playoff between the latest winner of the MLS and the American team from the PL to determine who plays in the PL the next year.

Or just move some of the pointless PL clubs to American cities, like happened with MK Dons. What's the point of Watford? Put them in LA. Huddersfield? You're in Chicago now.

This hurts.

 

[Reddy Rederson]

Ha ha....would never happen. Too much paranoia here.

I don't like the idea of global league games myself, but there is no need to assume scenarios that are virtually impossible.

Its not paranoia, its prediction made based on the actions of footballing bodies made in the past. Football is corrupt. Theres no denying that.

 

[limerickcitykid]

Don't understand the obsession with US. Play in Saudi or Qatar. Money will be insane. After all it is all about the money anyways.

Qatar won't sell out 80-100k seat stadiums.

Hopefully its not league games anyway. The League cup semis or something maybe.

 

[VeevaVee]

Don't understand the obsession with US. Play in Saudi or Qatar. Money will be insane. After all it is all about the money anyways.

Still surely a huge, relatively untapped market in the US, even though it's getting bigger there. The sponsorship abilities, shirt sales meaning they can demand more money from Adidas and sponsors again. It's massive. I bet we'll be keen to make sure Real and Barca don't rake all that in. City just need fans. Reckon us and them will put pressure on FA here.

 

[Revan]

But it wont be that. Look at pre season friendlies. Those are meaningless games, that are about fitness and getting some minutes. Yet, they pull in scores of fans. Wasnt United Vs Real the largest attendence of a match anywere a few years ago with 107 thousand people at the game? So add those figures, the nature of americans to monetise everything and youll get some asshole who only cares about money saying "hey, why dont we play all these games here?" and that will be it, snowball effect. Games moved to friday nights for the benefit of sky. Saturday night primetime for the benefit of sky. Super sunday for the benefit of sky. Money, money, money. Money dictates what happens, not common sense. And if its not been made clear yet, the match going fans are not high on the list of priorities. Dont look at whats proposed, look at how it can be abused because it will be. Brazil knew it had a problem with drinking at matches, and so had outlawed it. Come 2014 FIFA told them to drop the ban because Budweiser was a sponsor. So regardless of fan safety, FIFA forced alcohol to be sold at games, and of course trouble happened because of it. Thats football. The fans just dont matter. Just money.

United vs Liverpool and Barca vs Madrid are extremely marketable matches, I doubt they will make much more money somewhere else. And even if they make, the potential fallout (if they are played regularly outside of home stadiums) could be very big, so I doubt it will go in that direction, same as how we aren't going to see NBA playoff matches (let alone finals) in Europe.

 

[Hoof the ball]

Lol. Half their NBA and NFL franchises move/relocate from city to city and state to state. They're used to teams forsaking their local identity for the sake of increasing attendances and making more money. Of course American's wouldn't have a problem with United not playing in Manchester......if it benefits them.

 

[Sarni]

I dont know what makes you think it wont come to that at some point. It wont start off that way, sure, but it will end up that way if they money is there. And the money will be there.

It will never end up with them playing all big games outside of the country, never ever. They might play a blockbuster in the US once every few years but there’s absolutely zero chance that they will decide to play all of them abroad.

 

[Revan]

Qatar won't sell out 80-100k seat stadiums.

Hopefully its not league games anyway. The League cup semis or something maybe.

League/FA Cup semis might be a good idea (and it will make the Wembley final be more special), but in cases when you have semis like United vs Wigan, playing it on US would put Wigan at a big disadvantage. On Wembley, if not 50-50, you would still expect a lot of Wigan fans being there, while in US the distribution will be close to 100-0%, and essentially make the bigger team 'the home' team. Considering that the cups are very rare opportunities for smaller teams to win trophies and they might need a decade or two to be again on the same position, it probably is not a good idea.

Don't see any con on playing Supercup there though. Italy has been doing it for ages.

 

[Reddy Rederson]

It will never end up with them playing all big games outside of the country, never ever. They might play a blockbuster in the US once every few years but there’s absolutely zero chance that they will decide to play all of them abroad.

Why? Because its the right thing to do? Sorry, IMO the corruption of football will find a way to maximise its profits at any cost. The match going fans dont matter to them.

 

[Reddy Rederson]

United vs Liverpool and Barca vs Madrid are extremely marketable matches, I doubt they will make much more money somewhere else. And even if they make, the potential fallout (if they are played regularly outside of home stadiums) could be very big, so I doubt it will go in that direction, same as how we aren't going to see NBA playoff matches (let alone finals) in Europe.

Thats where you and I differ then, I have no faith that footballing bodies wont do everything they can to make the most money regardless of the cost to the communities that the clubs are based.

 

[limerickcitykid]

Why? Because its the right thing to do? Sorry, IMO the corruption of football will find a way to maximise its profits at any cost. The match going fans dont matter to them.

Do you happen to ever go by the name Rusty Shackleford?

 

[FootyGirl88]

Interestingly Spain's Player Association opposes playing La Liga matches in US. Good for them.

https://www.si.com/soccer/2018/08/16/spain-football-union-la-liga-north-america-match-plan

Hopefully players will boycott games to get their point across.

 

[Reddy Rederson]

Do you happen to ever go by the name Rusty Shackleford?

I had to google that. Good one, I guess.

 

[Snafu17]

The fact that some united fans seem to be okay with the hypothetical scenario where United plays a home game on another continent is the most stupid thing that came out of this announcement.

 

[RedTillI'mDead]

My question is, what happens to the season ticket holders?

Get on a plane...!

 

[Kostur]

So many people I have on ignore fighting in this thread, exciting.

 

[Jake]

I doubt this would ever happen to the EPL. There would be be a massive backlash from the fans. The EPL is a national treasure no way we will sell that to America

 

[Sarni]

Why? Because its the right thing to do? Sorry, IMO the corruption of football will find a way to maximise its profits at any cost. The match going fans dont matter to them.

Because it’s completely ridiculous to expect them to refuse to ever play one of the biggest if not the biggest fixture of European football in the country of origin of both teams and this would not be accepted by the fans and any additional gain from it would be nullified.

Once in a while, maybe they will try to do that. I actually expect it to happen. Definitely not every single year forever. It would actually probably make it less interesting for fans worldwide and would decrease the profit if you knew you would never see Barca v Real at Camp Nou and Bernabeu ever again. If they are looking to make more money it’s a ridiculous thing to do.

 

[AlwaysRed66]

The fact that some united fans seem to be okay with the hypothetical scenario where United plays a home game on another continent is the most stupid thing that came out of this announcement.

The old saying 'You can never underestimate the stupidity of the general public.' springs to mind.

 

[Sarni]

I doubt this would ever happen to the EPL. There would be be a massive backlash from the fans. The EPL is a national treasure no way we will sell that to America

I think one or two games a year in USA will happen eventually and it will be less of a problem than people think it will. You will end up playing your home game in US every 6-10 years.