Global Fútbol

LaLiga continues to set an example in development, growth and expansion on an international level. A very clear and defined strategy over the last few years has allowed LaLiga to reach more and more fans around the world. In this sense, LaLiga International Director Octavi Anoro was recently asked to discuss his department’s approach at the Thinking Football Summit in Porto, doing so in a round table titled ‘Conquering the World: How to Expand Football into International Markets’.

There, Anoro explained the importance of the LaLiga Global Network, through which the competition has a physical presence in 41 countries through 44 delegates and 11 offices. This allows for a ‘glocal’ approach, with the local knowledge of the delegates allowing LaLiga to think both globally and locally about internationalisation.

He said: “Our project is huge, with a lot of people working around the world, but we’re also really flexible. We have a high adaptability in all the markets as we have local people who are well connected in the market but also have a high understanding of the market. We receive the latest news, reports and feedback from every country every day. It gives us a lot of flexibility and adaptability.”

Anoro continued: “When it comes to international strategy, you have to adapt the strategy to each market. It’s not the same promoting LaLiga in Mexico as it is in Japan. For us, finding the local knowledge and approaches is really important. You have to work with local influencers and local media. You have to speak the local language of the markets. Your engagement obviously is not the same if you speak in English compared to speaking in the local language.”

A related element of LaLiga’s internationalisation strategy is storytelling, identifying content that will resonate with different markets. On this, Anoro said: “We want to let people know that LaLiga is more than just FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. We want to take advantage of the Boost LaLiga plan, to explain different realities and stories, whether that’s Real Betis, Sevilla FC, Villarreal CF, Athletic Club, etc. For us, it’s really important to connect with the local fans and to build local stories. We find and promote local heroes from the likes of Asia, Mexico or North America, where people might follow the players more than the teams. We’ve seen this work in Japan with Takefusa Kubo or South Korea with Kang-in Lee. Our international team put in a lot of effort to find stories that resonate with the local communities. This is really important for us to engage better with international fans.”

Finally, Anoro explained to the Thinking Football Summit audience why LaLiga also works with international clubs as part of its internationalisation strategy. He outlined how important knowledge sharing is for LaLiga and why the competition believes that developing the football industry in other countries will eventually lead to benefits for the Spanish football industry.

As Anoro put it: “We want to share our knowledge with the local teams. In the end, we understand that if one club grows in, for example, Africa, then the football industry is going to grow in Africa and LaLiga is going to grow. For example, in Angola we are assessing and giving a consultancy service to Petro de Luanda, which is one of the biggest clubs in the country, to transform the club with the know-how of LaLiga. If they are better managed and the fan engagement with their community is higher, this is going to be good for football and it’s going to be good for LaLiga.”