OT: Barcelona Won’t Play La Liga Game In Miami

[mike412]

Barca formally announced today that it will not play Girona in a La Liga match in Miami. The club said the “lack of consensus” that playing the match there would be a positive thing was the reason for the decision.

When the two clubs met in September at the Camp Nou (a 2-2 draw which broke my perfect 9-0 record for games I had attended), Barcelona had given 10,000 tickets to Girona season ticket holders to compensate them for the anticipated loss of their home match. Girona is only a 40 minute train trip from Barcelona. So, clearly something major has happened since then to cause the cancellation.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Barca formally announced today that it will not play Girona in a La Liga match in Miami. The club said the “lack of consensus” that playing the match there would be a positive thing was the reason for the decision.

When the two clubs met in September at the Camp Nou (a 2-2 draw which broke my perfect 9-0 record for games I had attended), Barcelona had given 10,000 tickets to Girona season ticket holders to compensate them for the anticipated loss of their home match. Girona is only a 40 minute train trip from Barcelona. So, clearly something major has happened since then to cause the cancellation.

It really bothers me that all 4 major American pro leagues can play regular season games all over the world but the European soccer leagues don't reciprocate

 

[Fk_Pitt]

It really bothers me that all 4 major American pro leagues can play regular season games all over the world but the European soccer leagues don't reciprocate

I guess they aren’t as desperate for the American $ that our domestic leagues are for the almighty euro. The day will come.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

I guess they aren’t as desperate for the American $ that our domestic leagues are for the almighty euro. The day will come.

It might come as early as next year, but all this shows is that if you want to do something like this you have to go through proper channels. The Jaguars don't just announce all on their own that they are moving a game to London, they work with the league and get approval from the league, the other teams and the players association. The Knicks don't just announce that they are moving a game to London, they work through the NBA office and get approval from the league, the other teams and the players association. The Yankees and the Red Sox don't just announce that they are moving a couple games to London, they work through the MLB office and get approval from the league, the other teams and the players association. The people who wanted to move the Barca game to Miami just announced one day that they were going to pay a sack of cash to move the game, they didn't get approval from the league, the other teams or the players association. And their answer to every question was pretty much "but look, money!".

If they go back now and start doing this the right way there will be a game here sooner rather than later. It will be a crappy game that won't be worth watching, but they will eventually play games here.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

It might come as early as next year, but all this shows is that if you want to do something like this you have to go through proper channels. The Jaguars don't just announce all on their own that they are moving a game to London, they work with the league and get approval from the league, the other teams and the players association. The Knicks don't just announce that they are moving a game to London, they work through the NBA office and get approval from the league, the other teams and the players association. The Yankees and the Red Sox don't just announce that they are moving a couple games to London, they work through the MLB office and get approval from the league, the other teams and the players association. The people who wanted to move the Barca game to Miami just announced one day that they were going to pay a sack of cash to move the game, they didn't get approval from the league, the other teams or the players association. And their answer to every question was pretty much "but look, money!".

If they go back now and start doing this the right way there will be a game here sooner rather than later. It will be a crappy game that won't be worth watching, but they will eventually play games here.

I can’t imagine MLB thinks that they can grow their product in Europe. Yikes.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

I can’t imagine MLB thinks that they can grow their product in Europe. Yikes.

I don't know if they really think they can grow the game all that much in Europe, but a one off (or in this case a "two-off") will make a lot of money. They will probably have to hire a special boat to carry all the cash back to the US.

 

[Pitt79]

I can’t imagine MLB thinks that they can grow their product in Europe. Yikes.

That is just plain stupid. It's bad enough trying to take American Football there, Europeans look at those sports as an oddity-they think football is really slow paced, they'll be bored to death with baseball, maybe a few Euro Hipsters might be interested, but the population in general won't buy those sports. NFLE failed, but somehow they think NFL can make it in Europe? Maybe, one team in London even then I feel like the novelty will wear off and people won't care about the London Jaguars after a few years.

 

[Pitt79]

It really bothers me that all 4 major American pro leagues can play regular season games all over the world but the European soccer leagues don't reciprocate

But all those teams play in the USA every summer, preseason games true, but they still play here, Friendlies and that ICC tournament.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

That is just plain stupid. It's bad enough trying to take American Football there, Europeans look at those sports as an oddity-they think football is really slow paced, they'll be bored to death with baseball, maybe a few Euro Hipsters might be interested, but the population in general won't buy those sports. NFLE failed, but somehow they think NFL can make it in Europe? Maybe, one team in London even then I feel like the novelty will wear off and people won't care about the London Jaguars after a few years.

I think the NFL in London would work. There’s plenty of Americans there. Plus, it’s not baseball. People can get into it. My daughter dates a guy from sheffield who is here playing soccer, and he really likes American football. He’s young and probably what you’re describing, but he has taken to the sport while at the same time not being able to take to MLB or NHL.

 

[Pitt79]

I think the NFL in London would work. There’s plenty of Americans there. Plus, it’s not baseball. People can get into it. My daughter dates a guy from sheffield who is here playing soccer, and he really likes American football. He’s young and probably what you’re describing, but he has taken to the sport while at the same time not being able to take to MLB or NHL.

Maybe? If you remember, London had a team in the original NFLE and it was the first one that failed. But yeah, NFL is the world's major league, so maybe, especially if there are lot's of Americans there.

NHL? I mean, why would they need it? Most of northern Europe, Russia, Germany, Scandinavia, have their own hockey leagues that are pretty decent.

Baseball? NOWHERE, except I believe for some reason the Netherlands and Italy have pro baseball leagues, obviously have to suck. The Minnesota Twins did have a 7 foot tall pitcher from Netherlands who played a little. Baseball would never catch on. The people I know in Europe wonder why they all just stand around and do nothing while two guys play catch, then I realized they where right.

You'd be better off expanding to Havana or Santo Domingo, other than those places are probably too poor.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

But all those teams play in the USA every summer, preseason games true, but they still play here, Friendlies and that ICC tournament.

Yea, and they pack stadiums to see a bunch of U20 players play most of the game while the stars get 30 minutes playing at half speed. Those games are terrible but they make tons of money.

All of the top leagues should play regular season games in the US just as the 4 major sports leagues play in multiple countries.

 

[Pitt79]

All of the top leagues should play regular season games in the US just as the 4 major sports leagues play in multiple countries.

That's because America is always thinking about marketing and the future etc. These other countries don't just change things to squeeze every penny they can, and I don't think they are obsessed with "tapping new markets" like the USA is. And like you said, they fill the stadiums for preseason games, so why change?

 

[pitt90seven]

la liga president and the intermediaries didn't get their cut so they put the kibosh on it.