La Liga Finds New Ball Supplier

La Liga announced it will replace ball supplier Nike with Puma starting next season. The Puma deal will run through the '21-22 season. La Liga's deal with Nike dates back to '96-97, but the league was "not happy with the current ball because it resembled the ball used in other leagues" such as the EPL (AS, 3/17).

Meanwhile, with La Liga side Valencia celebrating its 100th birthday on Monday, club President Anil Murthy discussed his team's int'l growth strategy in Monday's edition of La Liga's newsletter. He also addressed the club's involvement in the growth of women's soccer, as it recently opened a training base exclusively for its women's team. Murthy said that future matches for the women's team will charge admission. On social media, Valencia's total following now exceeds 6 million, including over 500,000 in China.