Interview: Joris Evers, Chief Communication Officer of LaLiga
Interview by Christopher KL Lau
Over the past few years, Spanish football has become associated and world-renowned for excellence, entertainment and dominance. Both the Spanish national team and domestic clubs team have dazzled the world with their skills and flair.
As a result, LaLiga has enjoyed a global growth in the number of fans who tune in to watch the games in Spain on a weekly basis.
In an exclusive interview, Joris Evers, Chief Communication Officer of LaLiga, shares his thoughts on the strengths of LaLiga and the growth in popularity of the league.
What are the core strengths of LaLiga and what makes LaLiga so popular amongst fans around the world?
There are many factors, including the strength of the clubs that play in LaLiga, the attractiveness of the game they play as well as the appeal of the players.
But people follow LaLiga for more than football, LaLiga is a movement, it is a part of life. Even if you are not in the stadium, but are watching LaLiga at home, in your private stadium, you can sense the drama, the emotion, the camaraderie and laugh at the comedy and admire the spectacle. We work hard to deliver an extremely high-quality broadcast that brings every viewer close to the action, or even puts you inside of it.
Some will say that LaLiga is dominated by the same core teams which makes the games predictable. Do you think this is a fair assessment?
LaLiga has some of the best teams in the world and it is true that everyone has Real Madrid and FC Barcelona in mind. However, we can't forget that 20 teams play in LaLiga Santander.
Real Madrid and FC Barcelona are where they are because they play in LaLiga. All of the clubs in our league are world class. Atletico de Madrid and Sevilla, for example, have played in Champions League and Europa League finals recently.
In addition, LaLiga 1I2I3, the second division, is one of the most competitive competitions in the world and a stepping stone for teams entering LaLiga Santander.
What are the ways "LaLiga" can further market and publicize Spanish football to the world and especially, the Asia Pacific in places like China?
We are working for LaLiga to grow internationally. For us there are some markets that are key to that development and certainly China is one of them. We know that football is growing in China. Kids are playing more football in China and we're very involved in coaching Chinese children and coaching the Spanish way of football. We have a physical presence in China with offices in Shanghai and Beijing as well as representation in Guangzhou and Hong Kong. This is in addition to the more than 50 LaLiga coaches currently working in China.
The Spanish national team dominated world football for a decade or so and Spanish club teams are surely the best in the world, how come the global profile of LaLiga is still not as high as it could be?
Largely because we have not worked on building a brand for the league. That's what's changing. Over the past few years we have started to invest in brand building and explaining the breadth and depth of LaLiga.
It is very important to us to attract more fans, but also to tell fans more stories from LaLiga so they can get closer to their teams and players and enjoy the league even more.
If you could summarize "LaLiga" in three words then what would those words be?
Maybe I would use some more - but we could sum it up saying: It's not football, it's LaLiga.
Thank you!
Eduard Castell: LaLiga Hong Kong Delegate
Buy tickets for soccer matches around the world