LaLiga, one of the most followed European football leagues in the world, celebrates its fifth anniversary since establishing a local presence in India. The bid to increase accessibility for local fans has also led to numerous other success stories in these five years, including a 2000% increase in social audience, the establishment of several grassroots development initiatives that have impacted more than 20,000 youth in the country, the creation of strong relationships with local partners and strengthening ties with Indian fans.
Through unique experiences and initiatives across different parts and partnerships with local brands, including a broadcast partnership with Viacom18, it claims that it has been able to increase the fan following on social media by 2000%, going from 300,000 when LaLiga started working in the country to 6,400,000+ in 2022. Another key objective has been to develop football at the grassroots level to work towards bringing India to the global stage in football.
“As we celebrate five years of being in India, we want to thank our fans and partners in the country for having helped us achieve so much more than we imagined. The 2000% growth in the social audience is an exciting number, but a big outcome cannot be measured – how we have deepened our connection with local fans. For the future, we are looking forward to making more meaningful contributions towards improving grassroots football in the country and delivering the best possible experience for the Indian football fans,” said, Jose Antonio Cachaza, Managing Director, LaLiga India.
Meanwhile, the Spanish Football Federation, which agreed upon a deal for the Spanish Super Cup with Saudi Arabia set to host the Spanish cup competition till 2029, has been facing criticism from human rights groups. Amnesty International had asked the four teams that traveled to the mini-tournament to wear armbands to protest the suppression of women’s rights and attacks on the LGBTQ community in the country.
Jose Antonio Cachaza.
However, defending the move Cachaza said, “As Tebas said before, basically it has been good for the promotion of football. It meant an increase in revenue for participating clubs and also grassroots football in Spain. So I think it is good for football. Usually, people criticize when others do what they do themselves and usually forget when they do it themselves,” he said.