La Liga seeks expansion to catch up with Premier League
August 20, 2018
From David Del Valle in Madrid
Spain’s top flight football league La Liga is seeking international expansion to become as big as the Premier League in terms of revenues.
The latest move is a 15 year deal with the US media and sports company Relevent to promote La Liga in the US and Canada. Thanks to this agreement, some important matches from La Liga involving Real Madrid and Barcelona will take place in the US, being the first time that a competitive European league match has occurred there.
Marketing company Relevent has been organising The International Champions Cup since 2013 with participation of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atlético de Madrid. According to La Liga, 33 million fans out of the 47 million US football fans follow La Liga, and 30 per cent are Hispanic people.
“A deal with Relevent to launch La Liga North America is a milestone in our International expansion”, said Oscar Mayo, director of International expansion of La Liga.
La Liga’s recent agreement with Facebook to air games in Asia, the opening of offices worldwide, and the digital expansion in social networks are all part of its International strategy to reach the same level as the Premier League.
In revenues, the Premier League made €2.77 billion versus €1.38 billion in Spain in the 2016-2017 season. La Liga International revenues amount to €800 million per season and the aim is reaching over €1 billion in three years.
Mayo, speaking to El Pais, added: “We are a world leading company in entertainment since we are present in 182 countries through 90 international operators. The domestic market is limited and to be competitive we need to go international. The Premier League is our ambition more than a mirror. Actually, Premier TV revenues have fallen whereas La Liga’s are growing at a pace of two digits”.