As more European soccer leagues open up to the possibility of matches overseas, Italy’s top-flight appears the most ready to take the leap. FootItalia explores how far away the possibility of a Serie A game in the USA is, and why it could be sooner rather than later.
Has Serie A Ever Played a Match Abroad?
Serie A has always remained within the confines of Italy, and its surrounding islands. In fact, no European league has ever ventured beyond their own country to stage a match, but everything points towards that changing imminently.
Just this week, Barcelona president Joan Laporta said he is “open” to staging La Liga in the USA from next season.
Italy has had a surprisingly long history of staging the Supercoppa Italiana overseas, the first being in 1993 when AC Milan faced Torino in Washington D.C.
It has since been hosted in China, Qatar, and most recently Saudi Arabia, all with a view to expand audiences and maximizing commercial opportunities in alternative markets.
Although regular season Serie A matches have never been played abroad, that is set to change at the start of 2026.
Serie A in Australia
Proposals are still subject to approval, but Italian soccer officials have green lit plans to stage one regular season Serie A game in Perth, Australia next season.
A host of soccer federations, including FIFA, UEFA, Football Australia, and the Asian Football Confederation still need to sign off on the plans, but it would make it the first European league fixture to be played overseas.
The proposed game would take one of Serie A betting sites‘ frontrunners AC Milan, and Como, to Australia on February 7th, 2026.
Australia has a significant Italian ancestry group, making up around 4.4% of the entire population, so the scope for bringing Serie A matches ‘Down Under’ is vast.
Will There Ever Be a Serie A Game in the USA?
The game in Australia is not expected to be met with much resistance from global federations, although Como manager Cesc Fabregas slammed Serie A over the plans, saying it “doesn’t seem like the right thing to do”.
Staging a match overseas would likely be a watershed moment, much like we have seen across American sports leagues such as NFL and NBA, who now regularly hold games across Europe each season.
The logical next step for Serie A would, of course, be taking the league to the USA, which has a large Italian-American population – around 17.8 million people.
Not only that, but viewing figures for Italy’s top-flight have skyrocketed in the States in recent years. Since the airing of every live match in the USA became available, the cumulative live audience grew by 50% last season, compared to the previous year.
The demand is clearly there, and Serie A’s commercial and marketing director, Michele Ciccarese, confirmed there are early discussions taking place as to how the league could bring live matches to American audiences.
“Yes, we would love to do it as the president said, but there are barriers that we need to overcome.”
Ciccarese cited the ever-explaining soccer calendar, midweek European competitions and the potential strain it may put on players.
He continued by saying “Who knows, maybe in a window of one to two years potentially we will see the league playing [in the US] if the approvals come.”
