Why should any sports competition aspire to play outside its borders?

The love for the sport does not stop growing and, every day, it reaches more corners of the planet. Sports competitions want (and should) take advantage of all the interest that they arouse around the world to get more and more people to approach their disciplines. And one way to do it is for some of their official matches to be played in other countries.

OROne of the competitions that is growing outside its home country is LaLiga. If in the 2013/14 season, the percentage of income from the sale of their international television rights It represented 31% of its profits, in the present it represents 42%. “Five years ago, these revenues amounted to 260 million euros. Today, however, we are close to 900 million. That growth outside of Spain will allow us to remain one of the most competitive leagues in the world and to offer our fans the best show, ”he explains. Óscar Mayo, director of International Development of LaLiga.

Chus Bueno, NBA Vice President EMEA: “If you want to keep growing, you have to leave. Baseball does it, the NFL does it, we do it… ”

And to continue attracting and consolidating, precisely, this international fan, LaLiga has set out to follow in the footsteps of sports competitions from other countries, such as the US, that have taken baseball, football or hockey out of their usual borders. It is the case of the NBA, pioneer and a true reference in this field, for decades playing official matches in countries like Mexico, Japan or the United Kingdom. “We know that in the United States each party is seen by about two million people. But outside, we have more than 500 million fans. That is why we believe it is important to take the experience of high competition to other parts of the world, to return the love they show us with this follow-up, ”says Chus Bueno, vice president of the NBA in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

So why is it positive for LaLiga to play official matches outside of Spain? In addition to the economic issue, the key for Oscar Mayo is in the fan: “We have followers in more than 200 countries, who live LaLiga every weekend and get excited about our matches. Our next step has to be to bring them a small pill of what the competition really is. ” This is something that they have always had clear in the NBA. “We have almost 700 million fans and, of them, only about 80 are in the United States. And we want to bring the NBA experience to all of them. We want them to be able to live a game of the Rockets without being in Houston or the Lakers, in Los Angeles, ”explains Chus Bueno.

Óscar Mayo, director of International Development of LaLiga: “If you want to be a great sports competition in the 21st century you have to compete globally”

And for this system to succeed, you have to study very well how to schedule these meetings. “Every year we try to organize parties that make sense. This year, for example, we have been in Paris. Antetokounmpo, which is the MVP of last season, is European. And the Charlotte Hornets have French players who are very followed there. That's why we chose the game between this team and the Milwaukee Bucks to be played in France, ”says Chus Bueno.

And what they both agree on is that any sports competition that wants to grow must take care of the market and the international fan. “If you want to be a great sports competition in the 21st century, you have to compete globally,” says the director of International Development of LaLiga. For his part, the vice president of the NBA in Europe, Africa and the Middle East confirms that “if you want to continue growing, you have to leave. Baseball does it, the NFL does it, we do it … We all know that you first grow in your market and around your local fans, but if you want to keep growing, you have to go outside. ”