As we all know, football is a global game, played by millions across the globe every day of every year. Each country has its own domestic league and all games are played within the confines of that specific country, until now. With the news that La Liga, the Spanish national division, is set to announce their first game to be played in the United States as part of a marketing deal, we are asking, is marketing going to change football as we know it?
The proposed game is likely to be held in Miami and its purpose is to continue to raise the profile of football, or soccer, in the United States due to its explosion in the past 5 years with the rise of Major League Soccer. On the face of it, it could be suggested that this goes against the football tradition of playing home games in your own country and own ground, a notion which is very important to many football fans. However, in a commercial sense, this is a fantastic opportunity for all parties involved. The American people are much more interested in football than they ever were 5-10 years ago and are therefore a captive audience for La Liga, one of the best leagues in the world. La Liga bosses therefore can realistically hope for a sizable growth in the popularity of their league in the USA as a result of this proposed partnership, and thus, an up turn in things such as TV revenue, with massive American stations such as NBC and Fox Sports most likely to be interested in the uptake of some rights to show the games.
Many English football fans will be watching intently as this proposal could be reflected upon in years to come as a Watershed moment for football, with a whole host of lucrative English fixtures being weighed up by many wealthy people as potential money spinners if taken to huge venues abroad in the name of marketing. Until then, watch this space.
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