LaLiga and Relevent Sports expand their joint venture into Mexico to continue driving soccer growth across North America

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• Latin America - español

NEW YORK, June 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- LaLiga North America, a joint venture split 50/50 between LaLiga and Relevent Sports Group, will expand its operations to include Mexico as part of the territories that it manages with the aim of driving growth and increasing LaLiga and its clubs' brand presence in North America. LaLiga North America's expansion to Mexico will focus on managing the media rights in the region, strengthening its commercial operations, developing, and producing content to grow and better serve LaLiga fans in Mexico, as well as offering support to LaLiga's broadcast partner in Mexico, SKY Sports.

Since the creation of LaLiga North America in 2018, the company has centred its efforts on promoting soccer culture in the United States and Canada through the undeniable prowess of LaLiga, the most important league in the world, boasting the best clubs and most renowned international players. With the expansion of LaLiga North America's sphere of operation, there will be an increase in promotional activities in Mexico, as well as business development for both the competition and the clubs that comprise LaLiga.

In addition, this expansion falls within the timeframe of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will be held in Mexico, the United States and Canada, a strategic period for soccer in the region.

"For LaLiga, this is the ideal moment to seize the opportunity and accelerate our growth throughout North America," commented Javier Tebas, President of LaLiga. "Stephen Ross and the Relevent Sports team have been great partners and expanding our collaboration with them will no doubt help further boost the LaLiga brand and LaLiga Santander and LaLiga SmartBank clubs throughout the region."

"LaLiga is among the world's best entertainment brands," noted Stephen Ross, Chairman and Owner of Relevent Sports Group. "We are very proud of the work we have done so far in the United States and Canada through LaLiga North America. We are delighted to have the opportunity to make good use of our experience in Mexico through the expansion of this agreement. Furthermore, we hope to continue expanding our collaboration to even more ambitious projects with LaLiga in the upcoming years."

The cornerstones of LaLiga North America's work in Mexico will include managing LaLiga's media rights and supporting SKY Sports - LaLiga's broadcast partner in the market - to continue promoting the competition; bolstering commercial activation in the market; the management and creation of content to generate a greater sense of closeness with fans; as well as the creation of events to continue promoting the competition in Mexico.

"Partnering up with Relevent to create LaLiga North America has been a great milestone in our international development strategy," added Executive Director of LaLiga Oscar Mayo. "With the expansion of this agreement to Mexico, we know that we will be able to replicate the resounding success we have achieved in the United States and Canada since the creation of this joint venture."

"LaLiga and Relevent Sports Group have delivered on the promise of their first-of-its-kind joint venture, by expanding the influence and reach of LaLiga throughout North America. The expansion of LaLiga North America into Mexico validates our work and demonstrates that the model we recreated is scalable and replicable," commented Daniel Sillman, CEO of Relevent Sports Group.

"For the past three years we have built a close relationship between LaLiga and soccer fans in the North America, understanding their habits and preferences, and connecting with them in a unique way. We will take advantage of the already successful operation of LaLiga North America using the knowledgeable team of experts we have in the region, which allows us to be in an excellent position to scale the operation by expanding our reach into Mexico and maximizing the opportunity that this market has," remarked Boris Gartner, CEO of LaLiga North America.

LaLiga has had a presence in Mexico since 2017 through the LaLiga Global Network program, in which a delegate was sent to represent the competition in the local market. Due to Mexico's strategic importance and the resulting demands, the decision was made to establish a permanent LaLiga office in Mexico City in 2018 to continue promoting the competition and supporting LaLiga Santander and LaLiga SmartBank clubs. The expansion of LaLiga North America to Mexico is an important step forward for LaLiga to continue developing in the market with the help of a strategic partner such as Relevent Sports, and provide all the means to continue flourishing in the region.

Based in New York, LaLiga North America's CEO is Boris Gartner, a seasoned media executive with extensive experience in the Hispanic market across the United States and Latin America, former Head of Strategy and Operations for Televisa in Mexico, and with previous executive roles at Univision in the United States. The joint venture is formed by a team of more than 25 people dedicated to developing the brand and driving the competition's growth in the territory, including a commercial and business development team specialised in the region, and a development and production content unit, LaLiga North America Studios, based in Guadalajara. Since the creation of LaLiga North America in 2018, important commercial agreements have been reached in the region, currently, it has six partner brands, including Verizon, PointsBet, and Herbalife. Recently, LaLiga North America sealed a landmark broadcast agreement with ESPN in the United States and Canada for the next eight years, which will give LaLiga and its clubs significant exposure and market reach.

LaLiga staff in Mexico will be integrated into the LaLiga North America team and expanded to further drive market development.

The LaLiga North America Board of Directors is comprised of: Stephen Ross, Chairman and Owner of Relevent Sports Group; Daniel Sillman, CEO of Relevent Sports Group; Boris Gartner, CEO of LaLiga North America; Javier Tebas, President of LaLiga; and Oscar Mayo, Executive Director of LaLiga.

About LaLiga

LaLiga is a global, innovative and socially responsible organisation, a leader in the leisure and entertainment sector. It is a private sports association composed of the 20 teams in LaLiga Santander and 22 in LaLiga SmartBank, responsible for the organisation of these national professional football competitions. In the 2019/20 season, LaLiga reached more than 2.8 billion people globally. With headquarters in Madrid (Spain), it is present in 55 countries through 11 offices and 46 delegates, directly reaching over 90 countries. The association carries out its social action through its Foundation and is the world's first professional football league with a league for intellectually challenged footballers: LaLiga Genuine Santander.

About Relevent Sports Group

Relevent Sports Group (RSG) is the premier soccer events and media business in North America and Asia. RSG operates the International Champions Cup, the summer's largest club tournament featuring the world's best teams in iconic venues, the WICC, and ICC Futures, a youth tournament for the top clubs in the world. Regarded as one of the most influential privately-owned soccer companies internationally, RSG is focused on expanding its footprint, creating a year-round soccer platform including new digital properties and the first-of-its-kind joint venture with LaLiga to promote soccer in North America.

CONTACT US FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
LaLiga Communications Department [email protected] / TLF: +34 912 055 000 / TLF: +34 616 035 335
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SOURCE Relevent Sports Group