Why European Soccer Is Coming To America

With their home markets saturated, the teams want U.S. fans—and endorsement deals.

- Eben Novy-Williams

In 1937 a cash-strapped Spanish soccer team came to the U.S. in an effort to stay afloat during the brutal civil war back home. On what is now known as the “salvation tour,” the club spent three months in North America, playing exhibitions that saved the team from bankruptcy. Eight decades later, FC Barcelona is returning to the U.S. in much better shape. The team is one of the most valuable sports franchises in the world, home to superstar Lionel Messi. Its American expansion is critical for Barcelona’s plans to reach €1 billion ($1.17 billion) in revenue by 2021, a 51 percent jump from its €655 million revenue in fiscal 2017.

On July 29 the club beat Spanish rival  Real Madrid 3-2 in a highly anticipated showdown in Miami that drew 66,014 fans—and 35,000 bought tickets to see the teams practice the previous evening. In addition to playing in the U.S. this summer, the team—aka Barça—is opening a residential training academy in Arizona, part of a wider network of facilities, and is in talks to launch a California-based franchise in the National Women’s Soccer League. Both would be firsts for a European club.

“We want to lead in the project of introducing soccer to more and more young people in the U.S.,” says Barcelona President Josep Bartomeu. “We know that if we teach them soccer, they will be soccer fans, and probably most of them will root for Barcelona.”