Serie A Wants To Be The First European League To Hold A Match In The United States

Nine of the 20 Serie A teams owned by Americans hope the highest league in Italy becomes the first major European football league to host a match in the United States.

This was revealed by Serie A President, Ezio Simonelli, on Tuesday, March 4, 2025.

The possibility of holding overseas matches became more likely after the company headquartered in New York, Relevent - a company run by Miami Dolphins billionaire Stephen Ross - settled an antitrust lawsuit against FIFA over the league's ability to stage matches in foreign areas.

FIFA later said it would reconsider their law banning such matches even though it had not issued a new policy on the matter.

Relevent is still in a legal battle with the United States Football Federation (USSF) over that capability.

Given that the USSF has previously used the FIFA policy to only allow exhibition matches in that context, it is possible that there will be matches from European leagues being played in the United States in the near future.

"Signing matches abroad also requires permission from local leagues. So, we need to make a deal on that."

"However, we are considering a suitable timeframe for this. We want to be the first league to host an event like this in the United States," Simonelli said at an event in New York.

"This is a market we rely on a lot. We have nine clubs owned by Americans. One club belongs to Canadians."

"So, I also need to thank them because they have chosen me. We have other potential buyers," Simonelli said again.

United States clubs include Atalanta, Fiorentina, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Parma, Rome, Venezia, and Hellas Verona. Bologna is owned by Canadians, namely Joey Saputo.

Serie A is also home to some of the United States' outstanding players, such as Christian Pulisic (Milan), Weston McKennie (Juventus), and Timothy Weah (Juventus).

"All different leagues are discussing the possibility of playing regular (outside the country) games," said Serie A Commercial and Marketing Director Michele Ciccarese, in a quote reported by The Athletic.

"If you look at the NFL, they play in Germany, they play in London, they will play in Australia."

"So, there are a lot of things that happen that make it (more real)," he said.

When asked about the timeframe for organizing matches in the United States, Ciccarese added that some agencies still need to agree to the proposal.

"In my opinion, it is up to us to formulate a piece of this puzzle and present the right strategy to the authorities."

"This is what we are doing. Who knows, maybe within a period of one to two years, we will see the league played if the agreement is in place."

"For us, we need approval from the Italian Federation (FIGC), with UEFA approval, then we will go up to FIFA, and then return to the local community," Ciccarese said.

Discussions surrounding matches taking place in the United States were previously focused on La Liga, with President Javier Tebas repeatedly speaking of his desire to play regular overseas games.

When a October 2024 report emerged about a possible Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid match taking place in Miami, it turned out the news "wouldn't have come out" if the two clubs had not maintained interest in getting involved.

However, in December 2024 it turned out to be too fast, holding a match in Florida was not done.

The reason is that the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) firmly opposes the proposal to hold La Liga matches abroad.

However, in contrast to Serie A. Ciccarese said Serie A hopes to beat La Liga in holding competitive matches in the United States, adding that it is also concerned about fan base reactions in Italy against matches taking place abroad.

"We want to do it as President (Seerie A) (Ezio Simonelli) says. We are trying to do it, but there are obstacles we need to overcome with the right strategy and support of the club."

"We must not forget that players are players and they have a lot of competition, when they have to play in Serie A, Coppa Italia, the Champions League, and play in international trophies."

"There is always competition to try to be the determinant of the trend because followers will come. The determinant of the trend is people who have the potential to gain greater profits in terms of income by realizing this."

"So, once again, this has to be done in a way that makes sense to the club, without forgetting the fans."

"The problem is, you can't play Derby Milan in the United States because fans in Italy will be very angry because the game has an important meaning in Italy. So, we have to play in a way that respects our audience," Ciccarese said.