BarcelonaThe two summer tours that Barça has taken after the coronavirus pandemic have had the same destination: the United States. He went there last year and now he’s back. But this bet is not new nor did it originate with the arrival of Joan Laporta in the Camp Nou chair in 2021. Josep Maria Bartomeu’s board of directors already lived their American dream. The 2019 summer tour was split between Japan and the United States and those of 2018, 2017 and 2015 were all in the country of the legendary Route 66 – in 2016 they traveled to Great Britain. What is the reason for this insistence?
“ The bet began in the previous term. The United States is the most profitable market. Not only for the amounts that pay for the parties, but also for the growth of football there – in addition to the signings such as those of Leo Messi, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, will be the seat of the Copa America 2024 and one of the three of the World Cup in 2026 – and what are spent on all concepts, ” says a concepts, “ . “Since then, growing the Barça brand in the United States has been the club’s number 1 priority globally. The second is China. And, previously, the third was Japan due to Rakuten’s sponsorship and the purchasing power there,” he adds.
Barça will enter between 6 and 8 million euros for the tour
According to this newspaper, this summer Barça will pocket between 1.5 and 2 million euros for each of the four friendly matches it will play on American soil, depending on the variable of ticket sales. Thus, a total of between 6 and 8 million euros will go into the Blaugrana’s needy coffers for this tour. The debut will be this Saturday in Santa Clara (California), where Xavi Hernández’s team will play their first pre-season match against Juventus. On the 26th he will travel to Los Angeles (California) to play against Arsenal; on the 29th there will be the classic with Real Madrid in Dallas (Texas), and the tour will end on August 1 in Las Vegas (California) with a match against Milan.
The amount that Barça will receive this summer to play in the United States is lower than what it was getting to play on American soil before the pandemic. “We used to be paid about 2.5 million euros per match,” reports the same executive. “Barça had the contact for the 2022 tour and what was done has been cloned,” says a person close to Laporta. “On the other hand, Manchester City have put together a very well structured business plan that has involved months of work and their tour of Asia this summer will give them a lot more money,” he continues. For its part, Real Madrid will also travel to the Americas. In fact, it will be the third classic to be played there after those in 2017 and 2022, both of which ended with Blaugrana victories.
Trendacissa with Relevent
Traditionally, the promoter that Barça has worked with to organize the tour of the United States has been Relevent Sports Group. But, since last year, this is no longer the case due to disagreements between the two parties. This fact somewhat complicates the ability of the Blaugrana club to play where they want. Relevent is owned by Stephen Ross, who also owns the International Champions Cup (the summer competition between major European clubs that was discontinued after the pandemic) and the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami (where the 2017 classic was played). This last possession explains why Barça played Inter Miami at the DRV PNK Stadium (smaller and further from the city than the Hard Rock) during last summer’s tour.
The Barça women’s team has also visited the United States
The first men’s soccer team is not the only one with a close relationship with the United States. The women’s team has also been there twice in recent years. The first experience was in 2018, when he did a joint tour with the male – although they flew in class business and they in tourist class. The team, then coached by Fran Sánchez, only played one game and it was against SoCal FC, a second-tier team that hosted the Blaugranas at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA).
This decision did not please most of the club employees who were working on the preparation of the tour. In fact, it led to serious internal conflict. The reason is that there was an option on the table that was considered ostensibly better: to play a match against Club America of Mexico in a large stadium in Los Angeles, where Bartomeu then intended to reach a partnership agreement with Los Angeles FC to have a Blaugrana women’s team in the Californian city. But the match did not come to fruition due to a personal conflict with a former Barça employee who at the time belonged to Club América.
The European champion will play in Mexico
After having made their first solo tour in 2021 in the United States, Barça will take the thorn out of the 2018 game by touring Mexico this summer, where on August 29 they will play precisely against Club America at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City and on September 1 they will face Tigres at the Estadio Universitario Nuevo León in San Nicolás de los Garza.
2023-07-21 06:00:45
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