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Hello! Foreign league matches in the United States are (almost) go. We’re wondering who’ll be first to cross the threshold.
On the way:
American dream: After fall of legal hurdles, leagues are battling to stage matches in U.S.
Piero Cruciatti/AFP, Alex Caparros/Getty Images – illustration: Eamonn Dalton
Bureaucratic barriers remain but assuming the many stakeholders can clear them, we’re beyond the point of asking whether foreign league matches can be staged on U.S. soil. The question now is who will take their roadshow there first — because the race to secure American eyeballs is well under way.
TAFC has written repeatedly about official overseas fixtures heading for the States, and the prospect is no longer at an impasse. The resolution of litigation there has set the hares running, with European leagues itching to enter U.S. airspace and people queuing up to help.
Those wheels have been suspended in the background since 2018, when FIFA blocked a U.S. promoter, Relevent Sports, from hosting a Spanish La Liga clash between Barcelona and Girona in Miami, saying it contravened FIFA rules. Subsequently, U.S. Soccer put up the same opposition to a match involving Ecuadorean teams. Relevent took both parties to court — but earlier this month, the anti-trust lawsuit was settled.
The suspension of legal action wasn’t an invitation for Europe’s governing bodies to cross the Atlantic immediately — FIFA still has to revise regulations which prevent clubs playing league fixtures outside of their home countries — but it wasn’t far off. The movers and shakers are mobilising, with the intention of using games in the States to tap deeper into the market there. Everyone from FIFA down wants a cut of the U.S. coin.
Adam Crafton’s read on the current state of affairs highlights two things: one, that there’s unlikely to be any turning back. And two, that the range of competing interests is vast.
La Liga? Serie A? Liga MX?
Premier League matches in the U.S. would be the golden goose. It’s the world’s richest football league with by far the biggest audience. But previous attempts to take matches out of England have been controversial, and it’s not yet at the forefront of the drive to go foreign.
La Liga is the frontrunner, but it’s not that simple. Real Madrid, for instance, are sceptical about the idea. Spain could also be beaten to the punch by Italy’s Serie A and Mexico’s Liga MX, both of whom are ultra-keen. As Serie A executive Michele Ciccarese told Adam: “It’s always a race to try to be the trendsetter. The trendsetter is the one who benefits more.”
MLS, America’s home league, is understandably worried about foreign divisions encroaching and diluting its audience. It’s especially concerned about Liga MX. The Mexican population in the U.S. is some 37million, and Club America pull in the highest audiences on U.S. television. It’s a threat.
There are other global players too. Saudi Arabia, which has already hosted certain competitions including Italy’s Super Cup, is as willing as the U.S. to host foreign league games there. Likewise Australia. And none of this can be formalised until a FIFA working group agrees on parameters for what can and can’t happen.
How popular this will be with matchgoing supporters is moot, and a comment from La Liga official Nicolas Garcia explains how the deference to traditional fans is fading. Those who pay for TV subscriptions to watch La Liga in the States, Garcia claimed, are as important as those attending matches in the flesh. “To think about our fans as only the ones that go to the stadium will be a big disservice for the sport,” he said. With that mantra in place, it’s clear which way the wind is blowing.
News round-up
(Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images)
Party’s over: Vardy, the non-League signing who won EPL title, to leave Leicester
On Monday he called it a “s*** show” and in no time, he’ll be out of there. After 11 seasons, a Premier League title, an FA Cup and a veritable fairytale of a career, Jamie Vardy is leaving Leicester City.
His presence and personality has helped to define the Premier League’s past decade and alongside his reputation as a preeminent troll (something I’ll miss), he’s a dying breed: a £1m signing from non-League who climbed to the very top. Major clubs just don’t recruit like that anymore.
Yesterday, TAFC chewed the fat about the best Premier League XI of all time, and I won’t pretend that Vardy earns a place in that. But I do wonder if any forward in the league has ever been more adept at beating the offside trap, bursting in behind and scoring at pace.
It was Vardy’s trademark — and he leaves behind the memory (above) of that half-volley against Liverpool in 2016, which only ever needs to be described as ‘that half-volley against Liverpool’. There and then, you knew Leicester’s 5000-1 bid for the title was about to come in. He hosted the celebration party at his house. Of course he did. Go well.
From ‘God’ To ‘Devil’: Real Valladolid fans turn on Ronaldo after La Liga relegation
In his pomp, Ronaldo Nazario (R9 to the cool kids) was a finisher without peers. If we’re talking about pure killer instinct, very few players rank above him historically.
His talent was God-given and inherent. What isn’t inherent in the former Barcelona and Real Madrid striker, however, is the ability to run a club. As president of Spain’s Real Valladolid, making friends and influencing people appears to be a long way beyond him.
Real Valladolid’s name might ring a bell because a couple of weeks back, we featured two of their players scrapping on the bench. It’s easy to sympathise. They’re at the foot of La Liga with 16 points, they’ve lost 13 of their last 14 matches, and were relegated last night after a 5-1 loss at Real Betis. Weirdly enough, the fans want Ronaldo out — and Dermot Corrigan encountered a tinderbox when he went to see how the mess looks first hand.
Ronaldo is facing banners and chants calling for his departure. One fan described him as “one of the worst club owners ever… before he was seen as a God, and now he’s like the devil.” But with his investment standing at £30million, can he afford to walk away?
Around TAFC
- Put aside some time for Jacob Whitehead’s phenomenal investigation into the world of Turki Al-Sheikh, boxing’s new kingpin and a man who will be in the thick of Saudi Arabia’s planning for the 2034 World Cup.
- Twenty years have passed since disillusioned Manchester United supporters formed FC United of Manchester. They’re still in business and, as Danny Taylor found out, still fighting for “fan culture”.
- Who will sign Bournemouth defender Dean Huijsen this summer? Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, Newcastle United, Tottenham and Real Madrid are chomping at the bit. We placed our bets on The Athletic FC podcast.
- It’s Friday, which means another cracking (and frankly unbelievable) Tifo Football video, about a ball boy who scored a goal. How it stood, heaven knows.
- Most clicked in yesterday’s TAFC: the all-time Premier League draft.
Quiz question
Name the seven London venues which have hosted FA Cup semi-finals since the competition’s inception. Answers here later today and in Monday’s TAFC.
Catch a match
(Selected games, times ET/UK)
Friday: Ligue 1: Paris Saint-Germain vs Nice, 2.45pm/7.45pm — beIn Sports, Fubo/Ligue 1 Pass.
Saturday: Premier League: Chelsea vs Everton, 7.30am/12.30pm — USA Network, Fubo/TNT Sports. FA Cup semi-final: Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa, 12.15pm/5.15pm — ESPN+/BBC One. Copa del Rey final: Barcelona vs Real Madrid, 4pm/9pm — ESPN+, Fubo/Premier Sports. League One: Wrexham vs Charlton Athletic, 12.30pm/5.30pm — Paramount+/Sky Sports. Bundesliga: Bayern Munich vs Mainz, 9.30am/2.30pm — ESPN+, Fubo (U.S. only).
Sunday: Premier League: Bournemouth vs Manchester United, 9am/2pm — USA Network, Fubo/Sky Sports; Liverpool vs Tottenham Hotspur, 11.30am/4.30pm — Peacock Premium/Sky Sports. FA Cup semi-final: Nottingham Forest vs Manchester City, 11.30am/4.30pm — ESPN+/ITV. Serie A: Inter vs Roma, 9am/2pm — CBS, Paramount+, Amazon Prime, Fubo/TNT Sports, OneFootball; Napoli vs Torino, 2.45pm/7.45pm — Paramount+/OneFootball.
MLS: Inter Miami vs Dallas, 5pm/10pm — MLS Season Pass/Apple TV.
And finally…
We gave a shout to arguably the worst long throw ever yesterday, prompting a colleague of mine to chastise me for overlooking an all-timer of a miss.
So here it is, from this month’s Ligue 1 game between Angers and Montpellier. Farid El Melali (for it was he), take a bow.
(Top photo: Manchester United and Liverpool players stand for a photo during a pre-season friendly match at Williams-Brice Stadium in 2024, Columbia, South Carolina. Grant Halverson/Getty Images)