Barca wants to schedule friendly in the US this winter

Barca apparently hope to schedule a friendly in the US this winter.

The club hopes to capitalize on their recent momentum, winning LaLiga in 2022/23, and continue to market themselves in North America.

According to sources at ESPN, the Spanish side is looking to play a Mexican club in mid-December. This is, of course, during the middle of the current campaign. Barca are tentatively set to play Almeria on December 20th and then have a two-week break before LaLiga resumes in early January.

The aforementioned news source is adamant that the friendly will take place on the east coast of the country. This decision almost certainly comes down to the ease of travel from Spain. Although facing an Major League Soccer team is not yet out of the question, Barca are likely play a team from Liga MX.

Mid-season overseas friendly is uncommon for club

Spanish news outlet Cadena Ser also reports that the match is being organized by Media Solutions SA. This is the same firm that previously helped schedule Barca women’s team friendlies this past summer.

Barcelona Femeni traveled to Mexico to face Club America and Tigres in August and September.

The decision to schedule a mid-season friendly in America is fairly unusual. In fact, Barcelona have played just one overseas exhibition match during December in recent memory. The Spanish giants previously traveled to Saudi Arabia to play Boca Juniors in December of 2021. The friendly was a tribute to Diego Maradona.

Organizing a Stateside friendly will aid Barca’s financial problems

Recent financial difficulties at the club are clearly a motivating factor of scheduling these friendlies. Los Cules were hit with a Financial Fair Play violation in January as a result of severe overspending.

The club has since been coming up with ways to help curb their financial issues. This includes shutting down Barca TV, selling squares of Camp Nou grass, and, of course, scheduling lucrative friendlies.

Cadena Ser has reported that Barca generated over $5 million by playing an exhibition match in Australia in May of 2022. The club then made a few million dollars more by scheduling a friendly in Japan back in June as well.

Barca tend to raise significant crowds in the United States. Joan Laporta is hoping that they can generate extra money from the friendly before the year is out.

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