Barcelona inks deal with MLS
The Catalan giants will play 6 games in the next half decade here in the United States. No opponents or dates have been scheduled as of yet.
FC Barcelona will tour the United States later this year, part of a five-year commercial agreement with Major League Soccer signed Thursday.
The two-time European club champion will play six games in America over the next half-decade.
No dates or other details of the tour were disclosed. But officials of MLS’ marketing arm, Soccer United Marketing (SUM), and of the 18-time Spanish league champion said the contract also included the U.S. soccer league negotiating the club’s sponsorship rights, and handling the public relations and marketing in the United States.
“If you want to be a global brand, you have to be in the United States,” said FC Barcelona vice chairman Ferran Soriano, the club’s executive responsible for marketing. “We want to have a permanent presence here, and maybe that permanent presence will mean a team here someday.”
I believe that it would be very beneficial for the club’s brand to have a franchise in the United States. And may I suggest to both Barcelona and the MLS that the next franchise be in San Diego. Not only is it a great place to live but has a large soccer fan base it can use to it’s benefit. Not only are their a large number of Americans who play soccer in San Diego County but just across the border you have an even bigger pool to choose from. If it happens within the next two years, then they could think about bringing in Rafa Marquez to appeal to the Mexican fans and the MLS already has a good number of San Diego born players who could be brought home.
