American sports leagues routinely play regular-season games overseas. European soccer leagues have wanted the reverse arrangement for years and keep running into the same set of obstacles.
The commercial case is straightforward
A league selling broadcast rights in the United States gains from a physical presence there, since attendance, merchandise and media coverage all reinforce the rights value.
Spanish clubs in particular have large existing followings in North America, built through decades of televised matches and preseason tours.
A competitive fixture is worth more than a friendly because the result counts, which is precisely what makes it hard to move.
Jurisdiction is divided
A league match is governed by the national association where the league is based, but a match played abroad also falls under the host association and its confederation.
Both, plus the world governing body, have historically held that domestic competitions should be played on domestic territory.
That means approval is not a single negotiation but a chain of them, and any link can stop the proposal without needing to explain itself commercially.
Competitive fairness is the harder objection
A league season assumes every club plays each opponent once at home and once away. Moving one fixture abroad removes a home match from one club and an away trip from another.
The clubs not involved are affected too, because a rival's schedule has been altered in a season where positions are decided by small margins.
Player associations have raised the travel burden as a separate issue, since a transatlantic round trip inserted into a congested calendar affects recovery for subsequent fixtures.
Supporters lose a fixture they paid for
Season ticket holders buy a set of home matches, and removing one converts a guaranteed attendance into a television viewing.
Organized supporter groups in Spain and elsewhere have opposed such plans consistently, and their objection is about ownership of the fixture rather than about compensation.
Clubs have proposed refunds and travel arrangements, but the underlying complaint is that the match was moved without the people who attend it agreeing.
Why the idea keeps returning
The financial logic does not go away, and each rejection is followed by a revised proposal addressing the specific objection that stopped the previous one.
The direction of travel is toward some negotiated version rather than outright abandonment, because every party except supporters has an incentive to find one.
Preseason tours remain the compromise in the meantime, giving American audiences the clubs without the competitive stakes, and giving the leagues exposure without touching the integrity of the season.