‘We should be in Miami’: Will Barcelona eventually play a La Liga match in the U.S.?

The planned La Liga match between Barcelona and Villarreal, which was scheduled to be played in Miami, Florida, was ultimately cancelled. The game, which would have been the first European top-flight league fixture in the United States, was called off in October just two months before kick-off due to protests in Spain against the idea.

Instead, the match was played as originally scheduled at Villarreal's home stadium, with Barcelona winning 2-0. Separately, plans for a Serie A game in Perth, Australia, were also abandoned.

The promoter for the Miami event, Relevent Sports, stated the cancellation was due to "insufficient time" to properly organize it and the irresponsibility of selling tickets without a confirmed match. Relevent, which has a joint venture with La Liga, had planned to host the game at Hard Rock Stadium.

Despite this setback, supporters of the concept believe there is significant interest and value in hosting one-off, top-level competitive matches overseas, similar to the NFL's international games. Legal challenges to getting such games into the U.S. have been settled, but the primary obstacle now is opposition within Spain, notably from the players' union and Real Madrid.

La Liga views the failure to hold the Miami game as a temporary setback, not a fatal blow to its long-term objective of playing domestic league games overseas to grow the league's global fanbase and commercial opportunities.