THE most ambitious signings this summer in Spanish football have been made not by the country’s clubs but by its top league. On August 16th La Liga announced plans to hold a regular-season match between two as-yet-unnamed Spanish teams in America, as part of a 15-year deal with Relevent, an American sports promoter. Two days earlier it emerged that it had sold the rights to show its games in South Asia to Facebook.

Javier Tebas, La Liga’s president, yearns to match the success of England’s Premier League. English teams earn more, even though Spain’s top clubs are superior on the pitch, winning the past five Champions League competitions, Europe’s most prestigious tournament. The idea that the Premier League is more competitive is a bit of a myth: FiveThirtyEight, a statistics website, reckons Spain has 13 of the world’s 40 best teams. England has six.

The Premier League enjoys several advantages over La Liga. Some 58% of British households have cable television, compared with 32% in Spain. Unlike Spain’s evening games, its mid-afternoon kick-offs suit Asian fans. Its managers squabble in widely spoken English. Clubs were quick to court foreign stars and sponsors. And they joined forces to drive a harder bargain with broadcasters.

Some of that edge is being blunted. La Liga has tweaked its timings (though players may rue games in torrid Iberian afternoons). Spanish clubs feature players from 50 countries, not far behind the Premier League’s 66. In 2015 they began to bargain collectively with broadcasters. The Premier League’s first online offering, of 20 games to British viewers via Amazon, looks timid next to La Liga’s Facebook deal.