Soccer fans in North America will get the opportunity to watch La Liga stars in person after it was announced that the Spanish league will host a regular-season game either in the U.S. or Canada.
On Thursday, multinational media, sports and entertainment company Relevent revealed it had reached an agreement with the Spanish league to promote the tournament in North America over the next 15 years.
"This extraordinary joint venture is the next giant leap in growing soccer's popularity in North America," said Relevent chairman and owner Stephen Ross.
"This unique relationship will create new opportunities for millions of North American soccer fans to experience the most passionate, exciting and highest level of soccer in the world."
The deal between Relevent and La Liga will create a joint venture, called LaLiga North America, which will represent the league in the U.S. and Canada. While the locations and dates remain unknown, it would be the first time the league has played regular-season games outside Spain.
Earlier this week, Sevilla and Barcelona faced each other in the Spanish Super Cup–the trophy contested by the winners of the league and of the Spanish Cup from the previous season–in Tangiers, Morocco, but regular season games have always been held in Spain.
"We're devoted to growing the passion for soccer around the world," La Liga president Javier Tebas said in a statement.
"This ground-breaking agreement is certain to give a major impulse to the popularity of the beautiful game in the U.S. and Canada. Relevent has filled stadiums across the U.S. with the International Champions Cup, [and] we're thrilled to partner with them on a joint mission to grow soccer in North America."
It is understood, however, that under the proposal El Clasico—the annual two fixtures involving Real Madrid and Barcelona—will not be considered among the games that could be played in the U.S.
There is a strong suggestion the game could be held in Miami, which would prove to be an incredibly popular choice given the strong Latino population in the area. Furthermore, Ross also owns the Miami Dolphins and is a part owner of their ground, the Hard Rock Stadium.
"Joining with Relevent to create La Liga North America is a major milestone in our international expansion strategy," Oscar Mayo, the league's international development director, said. "This agreement ensures not only a bright future for soccer in North America, but also for La Liga and our clubs."
The joint venture, which is also set to establish youth academies and develop youth soccer coaches in North America, will be headed by Boris Gartner. Gartner was former head of strategy at Televisa, the largest media company in the Spanish-speaking world.
Relevent CEO Danny Sillman told ESPN the joint venture will also control the sale of broadcasting rights on the continent, once the current deal with beIN Sports expires at the end of the 2019-20 campaign.
"The [North America] media rights now sell for about $120 million to beIN, and if you look at the upticks of the other leagues—the English Premier League doubled, the Champions League doubled—even if we grew 15 to 20 percent a year, you're talking [a total of] $2 billion just in media value," he said.
A decade ago, the Premier League tried to introduce an additional game, intended to be played abroad, to its 38-match season. The proposal, however, never got off the ground amid strong opposition from fan groups and FIFA, world soccer's governing body.
Tebas had previously floated the idea of playing a La Liga game in China and the agreement with Relevent is a step in the same direction, as the Spanish league seeks to keep pace with the Premier League's ever-growing financial power.
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