La Liga launched an office in Singapore yesterday as part of its international expansion strategy to grow Spanish football in Southeast Asia. The purpose is to increase the visibility in the region, in particular in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines.
In addition, La Liga plans to change kickoff times to suit Asian audiences.
According to La Liga, this is just a start and more game times could be changed in the future as the popularity of Spanish football increases in Asia.
Speaking at the press conference during the launch of the new office, La Liga president Javier Tebas was enthusiastic about the opportunities at hand:
“We are delighted to extend our presence in Asia, and this is the next step in our efforts to grow the sport and La Liga’s popularity globally. Asia has always been a very important market for us, and we feel that the time is right to grow out presence in the region even further, where we have a huge fan base. I am eagerly looking forward to our visit to Singapore for this historical project.”
“In this part of the world, more that 55 per cent of the world’s population lives here. It would be a mistake in our strategy if we don’t reach out to the people in Asia.”
“We have changed kickoff schedules so that they can be seen at reasonable times here in Asia and we will continue to take steps to ensure that this part of the world can enjoy La Liga as much as possible,” Tebas said.
“For us, Singapore will be the gateway to East Asia and a platform from which to reach a far greater number of fans.”
The #LaLigaSingapore office launched this morning in the company of @realmadriden, @FCBarcelona & @valenciacf_en representatives. ??✈️?? pic.twitter.com/d4WX4Vpl1N
— LaLiga (@LaLigaEN) March 23, 2017
The Singapore office is La Liga’s fourth to open in Asia, after Dubai, China and India.
It remains to be seen what impact such a change will have on the season ticket holders and the viewers in Europe, in particular for the marquee matchups that traditionally took place in the evening.
