Why Spain's women's clubs are furious with Real Madrid

Tom Weber

• 15 Oct 2025 12:02 CDT
• 4 min read

News

Real Madrid have antagonised the rest of Spain's top women's clubs by vetoing a proposal to play the upcoming Super Cup in Miami.

Over the summer, the Spanish federation outlined plans to stage January's Supercopa de Espana Femenina in Miami, Florida, to capitalise on the considerable interest in women's football in the United States.

The idea was that by staging the Super Cup across the pond, it would significantly bolster the image of Spanish women's football and open up new commercial opportunities.

The men's Super Cup has been played abroad, in Saudi Arabia specifically, for several years already, after an initial three-year agreement worth €120 million ($140m, £104m) in 2019. This deal was extended until 2029 two years later.

The money involved in the women's Super Cup wouldn't have been comparable, but it is believed that each of the four teams competing in Miami would have received at least a guaranteed €150,000 ($174,000, £130,000).

Real Madrid reject Super Cup proposal

The four clubs involved in the women's edition will be the same as in the men's, namely Athletic Club, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Real Madrid. Last month, these clubs voted on whether to go ahead with the proposal or to scrap it.

Mundo Deportivo reports that, bizarrely, Real Madrid were the only club opposed to moving the Super Cup to Miami despite being in favour of the men's version in Saudi Arabia.

The publication claims that this has 'considerably annoyed' not only the other three teams but also the rest of Spain's top-flight women's clubs, who believe that this could have significant consequences for Spanish women's football as a whole.

"They believe that this has not only slowed revenue for this season, but also for future editions and for other teams," the report states. "Furthermore, this refusal hinders any potential expansion of the Spanish women's league brand abroad, in a market like the United States."

The reason behind Real Madrid's rejection is not entirely clear. The Catalan outlet, with a hint of pro-Barca bias, posits that Florentino Perez is afraid that Los Blancos' brand could be damaged if they were to get thrashed by perennial champions and hated rivals Barcelona on the big stage.

The Blaugrana have scored a whopping 44 goals in eight games across all competitions so far, recently demolishing Bayern Munich 7-1 in the UEFA Women's Champions League. They have yet to play Real, but they have already defeated Atleti (6-0) and Athletic Club (8-1) this term.

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