Why did Atletico Madrid decide to invest in Canada?

l’Athletics Ottawa Last born in the house Atletico Madrid. Indeed, the Spanish community has decided to take root across the Atlantic. Atlético San Luis first in Mexico and then in Canada: same prefix, same colors. This is one of the new frontiers Commercial Football – Giampolo Pozzo knows something about it with the owner of nine clubs – Udinese, Granada and Watford and the City Football Group, which recently bought Palermo -, Owning more football teams, diversifying, changing players and trying to combine increasing movementsEspecially considering the 2026 World Cup.

l’Athletics Ottawa Founded in 2020 and the epidemic did not help the development of the club, forced to carve out a supporting role in the organized competition as a whole, but last year it was worse by finishing last among the eight franchises of the Canadian Premier League – in a total of twenty-eight games they face each other four times -, subscribing to the Mls Canadian League. However, right now, the team coached by Carlos Gonzalez Juarez, who started as coach at Atletico Madrid Cantera, is at the top of the standings and will certainly participate in the playoffs, playing for the title. Now it has its own space at TD Place, which it shares with the Ottawa Redblacks, Canadian Football League, and Ottawa 67’s, Ontario Hockey League, with all the amenities of a big club: from offices to locker rooms, with motivational phrases. Everywhere, even in the bathroom, the players’ concentration and mood must be centered. However, in the beginning, he had to constantly change the training grounds as the Redblacks took precedence.

Fernando López is the company’s CEO, taking over from Fury in Ottawa, who will remain until 2019 when the ownership rights of the United Soccer League are sold to Miami FC. Seven Spaniards are in the squad, including Diego Espejo and Sergio Camus from Madrid’s B team. Fourteen Canadians, of course, are in the majority: “The mandate of the league – Lopez explains – is to develop domestic players, but such an important international bond allows us to bring new talent to Canadian football, and perhaps, in the future, Canadian talents . In Spanish “, Alfonso Davies (Bayern Munich) and Jonathan Like David (Lily).

The choice of Canada, after Mexico, which is no accident. We are talking about a Country in which Football The women are the national Olympic champions and the men’s team is returning to play for the World Cup after thirty-six years.; The World Cup will also be played every four years, being one of three co-hosts along with Mexico and the United States. Sponsorships are managed by Canadian Soccer Business, which has been criticized by clubs for paying the Canadian Soccer Association less — 3.5 million Canadian dollars — for the national team’s broadcast and sponsorship rights until 2027, pocketing the difference in excess revenue.

Atletico Ottawa has its sponsors, but Fernando López is very cautious, above all his recent arrival: “Now it is important to keep the league growing, from which we will all gain, and in the future we can create individual commercial contracts. In this sense, having three teams around the world provides better visibility and therefore business advantages for any global company. The idea of ​​a single league between the top teams in North America, Canada (CPL), Mexico (Liga MX) and the United States (MLS) is rumored, but on closer inspection MLS is far from over. Forward to wait for other movements.

Commissioner David Clanachan, Cpl, was also delighted by the arrival of the Spaniards, the ripe fruit of a club with almost a hundred and twenty years of history, lending credibility to an almost unknown league. And the choice of Ottawa was not trivial or trivial: “We also had other opportunities, but Ottawa is a capital like Madrid and we wanted this bond”, López underlined. The stadium, TD Place, can accommodate 24,000 spectators and currently has only 1,200 subscribers, but Atlético Ottawa is one of the Canadian teams, and one of the most visible Canadian teams. A long way to go.

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