What readers think about Villarreal-Barcelona being played in the U.S.

New York Times

8 hours ago

It is fair to say La Liga's plan to stage Villarreal's home match against Barcelona in Miami has been met with mixed reviews.
On Monday, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) approved the league's request, allowing it to be elevated to UEFA. European football's governing body will initiate the procedures for FIFA to grant authorisation for the fixture, which was initially due to take place at Villarreal's Estadio La Ceramica, to go ahead at Miami Gardens' Hard Rock Stadium in December.
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Real Madrid issued a strong rebuttal on Tuesday, calling on FIFA, which presides over the global game, to prevent the relocation from taking place and calling it an 'unacceptable precedent' that they said clearly affected 'sporting integrity' and risked 'the adulteration of the competition'.
Athletic Club goalkeeper Unai Simon, a Spain international, also condemned the plans at a news conference on Wednesday: 'Football always has to belong to the fans and to be about respecting them. It seems like a lack of respect for the fans.'
But what do you think about the proposal to play a European league match in the United States? We asked you via a survey this week, so let's analyse your responses.
Opinions were fairly conclusive about the U.S. hosting La Liga games — four out of five responders did not think it was a good idea.
The answers to the next question reflected that mindset, with a similar number of responders being against the idea of more La Liga matches being hosted anywhere on the continent.
Most people agreed with Madrid's argument about the move affecting the integrity of the competition. Three-quarters of respondents said taking the game to the U.S. risked ruining the competition's integrity.
However, most responders — more than two-thirds — believe the fixture move would be popular in the States. Barcelona and Real Madrid have regularly attracted significant crowds in recent years when playing pre-season games in the U.S., and Madrid were one of the big draws at the revamped Club World Cup this summer.
This would not be the first official European club match to take place outside the country in which a league is based. The Supercopa de Espana has been held in Saudi Arabia for five of the past six years and its Italian equivalent has been hosted by countries including the U.S., China and Libya. But again, four-fifths of people who responded did not think it would be a good idea for other European leagues to follow suit.
We had 2,319 responses in total and asked readers to tell us which continent they were answering from. There were roughly equal numbers from Europe (46.5 per cent) and North America (43.8 per cent), with smaller numbers from Asia, Australia, Africa and South America.
We also asked readers for their suggestions on how to make the proposed move work or how it could be improved. Many simply replied with variations of 'Don't do it' — some in stronger terms than others.
Those who were against the idea referred to the European game being taken away from its roots for financial reasons. One fan from North America said: 'The whole idea is crazy. One of the biggest things I admire about soccer in Europe is the strong local ties. To purposefully degrade that bond with the local community is shameful.'
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Others pointed out the climate concerns and player welfare issues with teams flying across the Atlantic for a one-off match. There was plenty of discussion about sporting integrity and how La Liga would address the loss of home advantage, with one fan asking what would happen if Barca beat Villarreal and won the title by a point but their closest competitors had lost away to Villarreal.
Villarreal president Fernando Roig was asked about those questions at a media appearance this week. 'At our ground, we have not beaten Barcelona and at their ground we have beaten them several times in recent years,' he said. 'So maybe we have a better chance.' Villarreal last won a home game against Barca in 2007, before the remodelling of their Ceramica stadium.
Some readers drew comparisons with the regular-season NFL and NBA games that are played in Europe. But one respondent argued the reason NFL games abroad worked was due to the 'irregularity of their schedule' — teams do not play every other team in a season — in contrast to the 'standardised and equal' European calendar. 'For it to be considered fair, all teams in the league should have a game played in the States throughout the season,' another respondent said.
Villarreal's Roig said this week that supporters would be able to 'fly for free' to the game and that those who did not want to would have a 20 per cent discount on their season ticket — which was one way some readers said the idea could be improved. 'If you make it work for fans financially, then I am OK with it,' one Europe-based fan wrote.
Readers also had different suggestions for when the match should take place. Some said it should be a game later in the season, when each team's schedule was less busy, or after the NFL season finishes, to attract maximum exposure. Others said it would make more sense to hold a cup final there or create a 39th matchday to be held overseas, as the Premier League discussed in 2008.
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Many respondents said Major League Soccer should be promoted rather than importing European games. One suggested they should take place as double headers with MLS matches and that the U.S. Soccer Federation should benefit financially. But the majority of those who gave longer answers rejected the idea altogether.
'I'm American and this is a horrible idea,' one said. 'No one is asking for this. We already get to see plenty of football between pre-season tours, the Club World Cup this year, the World Cup next year and MLS/NWSL. This waters down the competition, and I'd much rather travel to Europe to see these teams play.'
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