Tebas: Real Madrid once opposed overseas games and almost complained to the Pope, but the Bernabeu held NFL games

As a football mecca, Real Madrid’s Bernabeu has a long and glorious history. However, the stadium is now a multi-purpose "show field" where the NFL held its first game. Regarding Real Madrid's approach, La Liga President Tebas expressed his views on social media.

Tebas wrote: For weeks we have been hearing talk of a "historic day for Spanish sports" as the NFL will hold its game in Madrid. Cover reports, special programs, red carpet ceremonies, etc. all provide excellent publicity for the NFL in Spain, and Spanish stadiums become the showcase.

Most strikingly, the stadium belongs to a club that once led opposition to La Liga hosting games in Miami. Now, they readily agree to rent the space, provided they pay the fee, of course. At the time, they had players and spokesmen repeating the same rhetoric, accusing the game of destroying the purity of competition in the same terms, sending letters of protest to every possible institution and coming close to complaining to the Pope. Meanwhile, the European sports commissioners wave the flag of "tradition" and the Spanish Professional Footballers' Association talks about "information" and "transparency", even though they are fully aware of how the competition is organized and know it complies with regulations.

With games in Miami already sold out, the event schedule is as packed as these days and will help promote our league internationally. Moreover, this is just one of the 380 games played in La Liga throughout the season.

Obviously, misunderstanding and lack of vision prevailed at that time. The issue is not so-called purity, tradition or transparency, but who is pushing this. The driving force is La Liga, an institution that everyone wants to control. We have seen that some want it stagnant to make it easier to promote their own Premier League; some want to make more money from it; and still others use it to further their own political agenda.