News
JUE 31.03.2016
On top of the outdoor #ElClasico event organised by LaLiga and beINSPORTS in Miami, the match between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid will be watched on television in bars right across the United States. We are going to follow four supporters’ clubs in another four cities outside of Florida, in Chicago, Houston, New York and Los Angeles, to see how they experience LaLiga’s showcase event.
Chicago
In Illinois, we will follow the official Real Madrid supporters club, Peña Madridista Windy City. Their headquarters is at AJ Hudson’s Public House, a sports bar in the Lakeview district of the city. The Windy City Peña was founded in 2013 and gathers together over 150 members to watch games.
Houston
In Texas, we will be keeping in touch with another group of Madridistas, the Real Madrid Houston Peña. They are a new supporters’ club, formed last year, but already draw over 100 members to watch games at their meeting venue, an Irish sports bar called the Galway Hooker. Club president Eddie Mendoza said one of their most memorable events was watching Real Madrid win the ‘Decima’, the club's 10th European Cup in 2014, when around 500 fans gathered to watch them beat Atletico Madrid in the final. They expect to have around 200 fans watching the game.
New York
In New York, we’ll experience El Clasico with the Penya FC Barcelona New York City, which was founded in 2001. “Our members are from around the world and we embrace the Barça saying 'it doesn’t matter where we come from'…it is open to everyone, united in friendship." This season they have grown to around 350 members. The Penya’s home is Smithfield Hall (www.smithfieldnyc.com) at 25th Street in Manhattan. Their growth has been such that the bar itself has had to expand to double its size to continue accommodating the group. Games against Real Madrid can easily attract over 700 Barça fans to their events and we are expecting around 1000 fans for Saturday's showdown.
Los Angeles
In California, we’ll be watching El Clasico through the eyes of the Peña Madridista Los Angeles, which was founded in 2011. The peña have over 200 official members and can call upon a further 800 associate members for events which they claim makes them the second largest Real Madrid supporters club in the USA. Their aim is ‘to create an environment that unites soccer fans through the beautiful game as played by our Real’ and to ‘create an environment for fans to get close to their stars.’ They meet up at Tom’s Urban LA Live in Los Angeles (www.tomsurban.com).
© LALIGA - 2016