Premier League sides envious of LaLiga after US game race

LaLiga appear to have stolen a march on the Premier League by lining up a regular season fixture in the US.

Mail Sport revealed that Barcelona's clash with Atletico Madrid - scheduled for December 22 – could be shifted to Miami should FIFA, UEFA and the Spanish FA give the green light.

While Premier League insiders insist they have no plans to take a competitive fixture across the Atlantic, eyebrows have been raised across at a number of clubs at the development.

Sources at various sides believe that, should the fixture shift happen, the Spaniards will have pulled off a smart move to 'get in first'.

America is seen as a huge opportunity for growth and a vast, comparatively untapped market.

There has been a traditional resistance among club support in England, and any attempt to take a match overseas would be viewed as controversial and likely to trigger furious opposition from fans.

While wary of making their views public, officials at a number of sides have privately disclosed that taking as few as two matches per season to America could prove hugely lucrative.

However, it appears as though LaLiga will beat them to the punch, with sources in the US disclosing that they are hopeful of the switch being approved and the game going ahead.

Javier Tebas, the president of LaLiga, has made no secret of wanting to play a league fixture in the US for some time.

Last summer he said: 'It's a mark of respect to the US fans [of LaLiga]. We are seeing NBA and NFL playing in Europe or in Mexico. This would resonate in the American market.'

Barcelona faced Real Madrid in a friendly in the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey last summer in front of 82,500 spectators.

Miami's Hard Rock Stadium is the proposed venue for the December fixture.

The Spanish FA has previously opposed the idea of taking a competitive fixture abroad. La Liga made two failed attempts in 2019 to play one of its fixtures on US soil but they were both while Luis Rubiales was Spanish FA president.

LaLiga tried without success to move Girona vs Barcelona, and subsequently Villarreal v Atletico Madrid away from Spain. In the post-Rubiales era there is more optimism that La Liga would be backed by Spain's national association.

FIFA have traditionally opposed the idea. However, earlier this year they withdrew from a court case between US soccer officials and promoter Relevant Sports over the federation blocking attempts to stage La Liga games in the US in an apparent change of stance.

And at a subsequent meeting in Bangkok, FIFA's ruling council set up a working group which is expected to give approval to 'out of territory matches'.

LaLiga has taken UEFA president Alexander Ceferin's aspirations to hold a Champions League final in the US one season as an indication of a softening of the resistance to the idea.

Barcelona played a friendly in Dallas last December and are the club in Spain most open to the idea. They are also the club in most financial need of the benefits of a US payday.

The financially-troubled club have a debt recently estimated at 2.5 billion by Victor Font who was current president Joan Laporta's main rival in the club's most recent elections.

They lost an estimated 50m euros playing away from the Spotify Camp Nou last season while the arena is being renovated.

Their temporary home at Montjuic, which would lose the proposed match, only holds 45,000 spectators.

In June, Mail Sport revealed that US-owned Birmingham City had raised the prospect of playing Wrexham in the country, only to receive short shrift from the EFL.

Last month, Blues chief exec Garry Cook confirmed that desire.