Serie A’s strategy to challenge La Liga and Premier League: Milan’s Christian Pulisic and other USMNT stars to play regular season games in the US
Serie A has been rapidly growing its presence in the United States, fueled by increasing viewership and the rise of American stars in Italy’s top league. With Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah starring for Milan and Weston McKennie and Tim Weah playing a key role at Juventus, the league is capturing more attention from U.S. fans than ever before. Now, Serie A has outlined an ambitious plan to take its expansion a step further—by hosting regular-season matches in the States, aiming to outpace both La Liga and the Premier League in bringing top-flight European soccer directly to American stadiums.
Serie A’s growing popularity in the United States has been evident in recent years. With viewership soaring by 50% across North America, Italian soccer is finding a solid foothold in an English-speaking market long dominated by the Premier League. With increased exposure on CBS and Paramount+, the league is steadily carving out a stronger presence in American sports culture. However, its ambitions go beyond television screens—the Italian top flight wants to bring live league matches to American stadiums.
Serie A officials have revealed that the league is actively working on plans to host official matches in the U.S. within the next two years. The idea is not without obstacles, but Serie A’s commercial and marketing director Michele Ciccarese remains optimistic about overcoming the challenges.
“Yes, we would love to do it, as the president said; we are working in order to potentially do it, but there are barriers that we need to overcome,” he explained, citing scheduling conflicts with European competitions and the logistical strain on players as some of the main concerns. “Who knows, maybe in a window of one to two years, we will see the league playing [in the US] if the approvals come.”
This development follows FIFA’s decision to lift the restriction on domestic leagues playing official matches outside their home countries, a rule that had previously blocked similar attempts. While there is still opposition from some fan groups and clubs, Serie A sees this as a crucial step toward expanding its global influence.
Outpacing the Premier League and La Liga
The race to host European league games in the U.S. is not exclusive to Serie A. La Liga has also made previous attempts, with plans to stage a match between Barcelona and Girona in Miami in 2019 before regulatory opposition forced its cancellation. More recently, the Spanish league attempted to schedule a match between Barcelona and Atletico Madrid in Miami, though it failed to secure approval.
Ciccarese believes that being the first to successfully implement this plan will give Serie A a significant advantage. “It’s always a race to try to be the trendsetter because then the followers come, and the trendsetter is who benefits,” he stated. However, he also acknowledged the importance of maintaining the integrity of Italian soccer’s traditions.
“It should be done in a way that makes sense for the club without forgetting the fans … you cannot play a Milan derby in America because the fans in Italy will get very upset. That game has a big meaning in Italy. So we have to play in a way that is respectful of our audience.”
First European league to play game in the US?
Despite its recent progress, Serie A still faces an uphill battle against the Premier League’s dominance in the U.S. The English top flight has been aggressively expanding its brand overseas for decades, having secured lucrative TV deals with ESPN, Fox Sports, and, most significantly, NBC Sports, which has been instrumental in embedding the Premier League in American sports culture.
“The Premier League did an amazing job, especially when we were at the top,” Ciccarese admitted, referencing the 1990s and early 2000s when Serie A was widely regarded as the strongest league in the world. “In that period, the Premier League started really promoting itself and creating the product abroad, so we came a little bit late. We took a good slip, let’s say like that. But now we want to go fast.”