Relevent Sports has "struck a 15-year promotional deal" with La Liga that "includes plans to play at least one league match at a U.S. venue every season," according to Steven Goff of the WASHINGTON POST. Relevent Exec Chair Charlie Stillitano said that the two sides have "begun discussing a single game this season, sometime after Jan. 1, perhaps in Miami and almost certainly involving one of the league's famous clubs." Stillitano added that to "properly market the match," one of the participating teams "would have to be Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Sevilla or Valencia (but preferably one of the first three)." Stillitano: "The league knows that." Goff notes Miami is the "front-runner" for this season's match, but Stillitano has "not ruled out other venue options." In future seasons, multiple La Liga matches "might end up" in the U.S. The news is a "positive development for U.S. soccer fans who have been paying high prices to attend" the Relevent-owned Int'l Champions Cup, which features, "in essence, preseason games for the likes of Manchester United, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich" (WASHINGTON POST, 8/16).
DETAILS TO WORK OUT: In N.Y., Kevin Draper notes La Liga under the deal will "become the first European league to stage a regular-season match" in the U.S. La Liga President Javier Tebas said, "The big American leagues are playing matches all over the world, so why would La Liga not play a match in the United States?" Draper writes the match "must be sanctioned" by U.S. Soccer, and La Liga "still must navigate the prickly logistics of holding a match abroad, such as the revenue split between the clubs and which team will surrender one of its home matches." Although La Liga and Relevent "would like" to have the match in the U.S. this season, it "might not happen" until '19 (NYTIMES.com, 8/16). The AP's Tales Azzoni notes Tebas "dismissed the possibility" of taking a Real Madrid-Barcelona match away from Spain (AP, 8/16).
NEW OPPORTUNITIES: The joint venture will operate under the name La Liga North America and will represent all of the league’s business and development opportunities, including marketing agreements, exhibition matches, youth academies and consumer activation. The venture also will sell the league’s U.S. media rights, currently held by beIN in a deal that expires in two years. Former Univision and Televisa exec Boris Gartner will serve as La Liga North America CEO. Advising on the agreement for La Liga were O'Melveny & Myers in N.Y., led by Irwin Raij, and J&A Garrigues in Madrid. Relevent was advised by Stefan dePozsgay of Paul Hastings in N.Y. (Ian Thomas, Staff Writer).
TIME FOR MORE TV MONEY: Relevent CEO Daniel Sillman said that while there will be "efforts on multiple fronts to increase revenue and build awareness, the media rights will be the biggest revenue driver." He added that La Liga is "already the second-largest soccer league in terms of media rights," behind the EPL. Sillman: "The (North America) media rights now sell for about $120 million to beIN, and if you look at the upticks of the other leagues -- the EPL doubled, the Champions League doubled -- even if we grew 15 to 20 percent a year, you're talking (a total of) $2 billion just in media value." Sillman said that Tebas has been "working on the next media rights deal for the last six to 12 months, so the intention is to sustain that effort" (ESPN.com, 8/16).
CLIMB TO THE TOP: USA TODAY's Martin Rogers writes the U.S. regular-season game is "part of La Liga's push to extend its scope beyond Europe and usurp" the EPL as the "most popular in the world" (USATODAY.com, 8/16). THE ATHLETIC's Paul Tenorio writes the game "marks an assertive move by the Spanish league to amplify its presence on this side of the Atlantic." This deal for La Liga is "further evidence of the growth potential that still exists for soccer in the U.S." With such a "large audience and such a diverse set of interests, it's hard to see how bringing a regular-season La Liga game to the U.S. could be perceived as a bad thing for the sport" (THEATHLETIC.com, 8/16).
