"Fans, players and even European football's governing body Uefa have stressed their opposition to La Liga's plan to play in Miami in December, while Serie A is set to stage a game in Perth, Australia. They will not be the first sports leagues to go global, with America's big three - the National Basketball Association (NBA), Major League Baseball (MLB) and the National Football League (NFL) - having held regular-season games overseas for more than two decades."
"Since 1990, the NBA has held 40 international games across four countries while MLB has staged 37 in five countries since 1996. Both leagues have more scheduled over the next year and Leah MacNab, NBA head of international strategy and operations, says international games have "served as a catalyst for the continued growth of the game on a global basis"."
"But the growth of the NBA and MLB has been dwarfed by that of the NFL. Sunday's game at Wembley was the NFL's 54th overseas game since its first in Mexico in 2005. Although the number of global NFL fans has grown to 410 million, other sports have far more. It is just the NFL now has a business model that has proved extremely profitable."
La Liga plans to play a regular-season match in Miami in December and Serie A will stage a game in Perth, Australia, marking the first time European leagues take regular-season fixtures abroad. Fans, players and Uefa have voiced opposition to the La Liga Miami plan. The NBA and MLB have staged dozens of international regular-season games since 1990 and 1996 respectively, with the NBA calling international games a catalyst for global growth. The NFL has held 54 overseas games since 2005 and built a highly profitable shared-income model, growing league revenues from $8bn in 2010 to more than $23bn in 2024.
Read at www.bbc.com
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