Barcelona will play Villarreal in Miami on December 20, marking the first time a La Liga match will be held outside Europe.
The league confirmed the fixture on Wednesday, describing it as a “historic step” for Spanish football.
La Liga president Javier Tebas said the decision would help expand the league’s global reach.
“With this match, we take a historic step that projects La Liga and Spanish football into a new dimension,” Tebas said in a statement. “We understand and respect the concerns this decision may generate, but it is important to put it in context — it is a single match out of the 380 that make up the season.”
The match, originally scheduled to hold at Villarreal’s Estadio de la Cerámica, will now be played at the Hard Rock Stadium in Florida, United States.
Villarreal will compensate their season ticket holders for the change. According to La Liga, fans who travel to Miami will be able to do so for free, while those who choose not to travel will get a 30 percent discount on their season ticket renewal.
The move comes despite earlier opposition from supporters. In September, 18 fan groups from both clubs signed a joint statement expressing “complete opposition” to the plan to move the fixture abroad.
Real Madrid also criticised the move in August, saying it could “alter the competitive balance” of the league and set “an unacceptable precedent.”
Although UEFA has generally opposed league matches being played overseas, the body said it would allow the La Liga fixture and a Serie A game between AC Milan and Como in Australia next February as special cases.
La Liga has been trying to stage regular-season games abroad since 2017, but the Spanish Football Federation repeatedly blocked the plan, even while hosting the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia.
