Football News | Miami won't be hosting La Liga match

There’s a growing rift in Spanish football.

A game between Villareal and Barcelona will no longer be hosted in Miami, as had been announced a few weeks ago.

Author | Jack L

The Hard Rock Stadium in Miami hosted games in the Club World Cup

When La Liga announced plans to stage a league fixture in Miami, it presented the idea as a bold step forward - one that would elevate the visibility of Spanish football, enhance the profile of its players, and strengthen the sport's brand in a key international market.

The project, fully compliant with federation regulations and competition integrity, was envisioned as a new frontier for a game seeking global relevance.

But the controversy that followed showed just how far Spanish football still is from speaking with one voice.

The way the cancellation was handled has left deep marks. Villarreal felt blind-sided, saying the timing damaged their image and that of the competition. "We found out 10 minutes before kick-off [in Tuesday's home Champions League game against Manchester City]," one senior figure said.

The players didn't like the idea

Players protest in Barcelona

Among the most vocal critics were the players themselves - arguing not against the concept, but against the process. They had been asking for months how logistics would work: Would there be 72 hours of rest between fixtures, as agreed? Would insurance cover them abroad? What is the payment distribution?

When answers never came, teams staged symbolic protests. Their message was simple: Listen to us.

Across Spain, opposition built quickly. Many clubs voiced doubts, the media questioned the transparency and logic of the project, and details about how - or whether - clubs would be compensated remained unclear. Villarreal even stated publicly that they weren't receiving any money from the deal, while Barcelona insisted they were being paid from the moment they boarded the plane to Miami.

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Meanwhile, Real Madrid intensified their opposition, filing a second complaint with Spain's national sports council (CSD) to block the Miami match. The club argued that playing a league game abroad would "violate competitive fairness".

A new debate has started. It is one thing to alter the competition, another to adulterate or corrupt it - La Liga accepts the first suggestion, but not the second.

Amid this legal and institutional tug-of-war, the Spanish federation offered its support, while the government trod cautiously through the regulatory maze, waiting to see how events unfolded.

For La Liga, Villarreal and Barca, the refusal to move forward represents more than just one cancelled match: it's a setback in the effort to build new revenue streams and maintain international competitiveness.

The league insisted the project aimed to generate long-term value for all stakeholders - clubs, players, and fans - by opening new commercial and sporting avenues abroad. It emphasised that international expansion remains vital to ensure Spanish football's global relevance.

The Miami experiment has shown that Spanish football, for all its talent and ambition, is not yet ready to make that leap - into a future that feels irresistible for some, and unstoppable for many.

Influenced by the NFL

Of course, La Liga have seen what has happened with the NFL and are perhaps using this as inspiration. How much can you grow a sport and a league outside its traditional catchment area. 

The NFL’s International Series began on 28 October 2007, when the New York Giants edged past the Miami Dolphins 13-10 at Wembley Stadium. The Giants would later go on to lift their third Super Bowl title. Between 2007 and 2012, Wembley hosted one regular-season NFL game each year, introducing British fans to the spectacle of American football on home soil.

In 2012, the Jacksonville Jaguars agreed to play one home fixture at Wembley annually from 2013 to 2016, before extending that arrangement through to 2020. The series expanded during this period, with two games held in 2013 and three in both 2014 and 2015.

Further growth came in 2016, when the NFL staged its first game in Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca since 2005. That same year saw Twickenham Stadium added to the roster, hosting the first of three games there.

In 2019, the Oakland Raiders met the Chicago Bears at the newly opened Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, marking another milestone for the league’s international ambitions. The north London venue signed a 10-year deal with the NFL to host two games each season. The International Series went on to feature four games in 2016, five in 2017, three in 2018 and five in 2019.

The International Series paused in 2020 because of the pandemic, but returned in 2021 with two games at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. By the 2024 season, the NFL had played 36 regular-season games in London, four in Mexico City, and three in Germany. Seven more games took place in other countries around the world in 2025, including the one in Dublin pictured above.