via BRoBible
“Are you here for the game?”
That’s what my Lyft driver asked me as soon as I jumped in his backseat at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport around midnight on Friday night.
When I told him I was, his face lit up. He quickly told me how exciting it was to have an El Clásico played in Dallas. “A lot of people are here for the game,” he told me. “It’s exciting if you’re a soccer fan,” he told me on the ride.
Part of the Soccer Champions Tour presented by DIRECTV, the Saturday pre-season showdown between Barcelona and Real Madrid at AT&T Stadium put Dallas at the center of the soccer world map for an afternoon. This game marked the third El Clásico ever played in the United States, following meetings at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami in 2017 to a crowd of 66,014 and Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas in 2022 with 61,299 fans in attendance.
The clash at AT&T stadium was the biggest showing yet, drawing a crowd of 82,026. These numbers made it the largest El Clásico ever played in the United States – just a hair shy of Jerry World’s soccer attendance record of 84,878 for a 2014 friendly between the Mexico and Ecuador national teams.
We spent the 20-minutes ride to my hotel chit-chatting about his life-long love for soccer, how he once saw Barcelona play when Lionel Messi – his favorite player – was on the squad a couple years ago, how he’d like to see Kylian Mbappé end up at Real Madrid, and how he hopes to take a bucket list trip to Miami someday to see Messi play again someday.
“He’s the best,” he said with quiet admiration.
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All things considered, this legendary match is just another reason why soccer fans need to check out the Soccer Champions Tour presented by DIRECTV.
The massive scale and impact of El Clásico can be baffling to those unfamiliar with soccer. It’s a sports event that exemplifies the ways we live in our own cultural bubbles when it comes to preference in ball and stick sports. The rivalry is both highly revered and fierce, between both the player and fan base. Heck, even the reach of the heated LaLiga rivalry is hotly contested. When played in season, viewership itself reaches a potential (key word) audience of 450 million people in over 180 countries. Not everyone watches, of course, so some estimates indicate a more accurate El Clásico tune-in of around 75 million.
via BroBible
It’s impossible to overstate how loud AT&T Stadium was the match. It was a sustained, incomparable roar on both sides that makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand-up.
For 90 minutes straight.
I knew the crowd cheers were going to be substantial while walking the pitch before the match. But there’s no way to describe how thunderous the volume was inside the stadium in a deafening, decibel-piercing way.
extremely stoked about how loud it’s gonna be in here in a couple minutes.
El Clasico @realmadrid @FCBarcelona @TheSCTour @DIRECTV @BroBible #partner pic.twitter.com/8RC3XrznTk
— brandon wenerd (@brandonwenerd) July 29, 2023
El Clásico recap: Barcelona 3 | Real Madrid 0
Barcelona struck first early at 14th minutes off a free kick that led to a goal from Ousmane Dembélé. It could be a bittersweet moment for Barca fans, with the 26-year-old forward reportedly agreeing to join Paris Saint-Germain on late Sunday night, as part of the club’s bid for Mbappe.
A few minutes later, in the 20th minute, the crowd erupted into a roar when Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr missed the first penalty he’s ever taken for the club, hitting the crossbar.
Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen’s heroics defined the match, including a gravity-defying save on Rodrygo Silva. He easily earned the player of the match.
While things remained evenly paced on both side of the pitch throughout the match, Barcelona iced the cake with a goal from Fermin Lopez and a response from Ferran Torres in the last 15 minutes of play.
The reaction from the crowd was electric:
The response from Barcelona fans was absolute SCENES inside the iconic NFL battle palace, much to the chagrin of Real Madrid loyalists who traveled from all over the world. Afterwards, on the way out the doors, one Real Madrid fan, a 24-year-old truck driver from Houston, told me Real Madrid’s performance bummed him out. He sprang for lower-level $600 seats with his girlfriend for the occasion.
“But when your favorite sports team is just a couple hours away, you have to go,” he said with a smile.
Takeaway
El Clásico is a bucket-list sports experience for every sports fan, full stop. Not just soccer fans – sports fan of all types.
There’s no denying that soccer is becoming more than just another game here in the United States. The intensity and fervor for the sport is growing – all wonderful news considering the massive tournament coming our way in 2026.
Before the game, I grabbed pizza with a group of 30-something guys who flew to Atlanta from Dallas for the match. They were evenly split in their cheering alliances – two Real Madrid fans, three Barcelona. They said there was no place they’d rather be for the weekend – a canon experience for the friend group.
It represents what the Soccer Champions Tour presented by DIRECTV means to so many people – an unforgettable moment for friends and family to come together, united around love for the beautiful game.
It’s a historic moment. With 82,000 strong filling one of American football’s grandest coliseums, soccer’s future sure is bright.