La Liga targets ALa Liga reschedules mouthwatering El Classico, targets Asian moneysian money with mouthwatering El Classico

Barcelona’s Lionel Messi (L) and Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo [PHOTO: COURTESY]

For the ?rst time, Spanish football’s showpiece event, El Clasico between giants Real Madrid and Barcelona, has been scheduled for a lunchtime kick-off (3pm) on Saturday as La Liga seeks to capture Asia’s attention and its cash.

“We are keen to provide our fans in Asia the opportunity to watch Real Madrid and Barcelona face off at a time that is convenient to them,” La Liga’s Chief Communications Officer Joris Evers said.

With a potential television audience of 650 million people, El Clasico is the most watched club match around the world thanks to its unique mixture of star pro-tagonists and a ?erce rivalry fostered over decades both on the ?eld and off it by the distinct cultural differences between Catalonia and Madrid.

However, it is not just a boom in lucrative television rights that La Liga and its two biggest clubs are seeking with an early start this weekend, but a showcase for all of their lucrative sponsorship contracts. 3pm Kick-off time for El Clasico on Saturday.

 “It is the ideal shop window, the marquee match to show to people Spanish football.” Expert in Spanish football finances, Jose Maria Gay de Liebana Last year Barcelona signed a club record shirt sponsorship deal worth a minimum of $258 million (Sh26.6b) over four years with Japanese online retailer Rakuten.

“They want to sell their products to international markets, above all in Asia,” said Jose Maria Gay de Liebana, an expert in Spanish football ?nances, said.

According to a study carried out by consumer analytics specialists Nielsen Sports, last season’s corresponding ?rst La Liga Clasico of the season generated more than $42.5 million (Sh4.3b) in media value for sponsors.

“The kick-off of the next El Clasico on December 23 is at 1pm Madrid time, 8pm in Shanghai, 7pm in Jakarta and 6pm in New Delhi,” added Evers.

“These are all locations where we know there are many La Liga fans and where we will be hosting events to celebrate El Clasico. Such events are a sign of La Liga’s awareness of how the Spanish top ?ight lags behind England’s cash rich Premier League in the battle for Asian based fans