When La Liga announced that Barcelona would travel to Miami in December to face Villarreal, many thought “wow, football globalised” — but it...
When La Liga announced that Barcelona would travel to Miami in December to face Villarreal, many thought “wow, football globalised” — but it’s not happening. The Spanish top-flight has pulled the plug on the planned match between FC Barcelona and Villarreal CF in the USA, citing “uncertainty in Spain” and organisational challenges. It’s like when the Premier League floated games in the US and fans pushed back — a similar revolt now stopped La Liga’s big move.
The bold idea: stage a regular-season match for La Liga abroad. On 20 December 2025, FC Barcelona were set to travel to Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium to play Villarreal CF. That would have been a landmark — the first time a European top-flight league match was held outside the home country.
But the dream hit a wall. The league confirmed the match has been cancelled, after discussions with the match promoter revealed insufficient time and growing domestic push-back in Spain.
Why did this unravel?
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Clubs and players voiced concern. For example, several La Liga teams and their players – including those from rival clubs – protested the plan, saying such a fixture abroad would skew home/away fairness and threaten competitive integrity.
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The promoters themselves, US-based Relevent Sports, told the league that “given the current uncertainty in Spain, there is insufficient time to properly execute an event of this scale, and it would be irresponsible to begin ticket sales without a confirmed match in place”.
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The La Liga statement lamented the lost “historic and unparalleled opportunity” to globalise Spanish football — citing leagues like the Premier League or the UEFA Champions League which already go global in reach and revenue.
From Barcelona’s side, the club said formally: they respect the decision but regret the missed chance to “expand the image of the competition in a strategic market with growth potential”.
From Villarreal’s side, frustration ran high: one club official described the manner of the announcement — mid-game of their Champions League match no less — as “a complete lack of respect”.
This episode echoes other footballing moves where leagues sought foreign fixtures and faced backlash. For instance, when the English FA and Premier League explored matches in the US, they had to navigate fan outrage and questions about sporting fairness. Similarly, for us in Africa, imagine if the South African Premier Division announced a league game in London – fans would cry foul over travel, home advantage and whether clubs get fair treatment.
So where does this leave us? The game will now revert to being held in Spain at Villarreal’s home ground. La Liga’s president, Javier Tebas, while disappointed, vowed the league will keep trying to stage matches abroad.
In short: ambition met reality check. The mass-market dream of taking Spanish football to the US stumbled because the sport’s internal stakeholders in Spain weren’t aligned. And the message is loud: global reach is tempting — but not if your own domestic base revolts first.