The Week UD Las Palmas Took Over Brooklyn and Times Square
The ‘Canary Cup’ gathered 300 participants in Brooklyn, where the Nets hosted UD Las Palmas for a day of activities that included meetings with the NBA and NFL. The week wrapped up with a visit to ESPN’s headquarters in Connecticut, the most-watched sports network in the U.S.
In UD Las Palmas’s second venture into the U.S., after a visit to Texas last July, New York and Connecticut served as new locations, continuing the team’s international expansion strategy.
The Canary Cup kicked off in Brooklyn with 300 amateur players competing in a 6-on-6 tournament. The top prize, provided by the Gran Canaria Tourism Board, was a luxury trip for the winners to attend the match between Las Palmas and FC Barcelona in February.
The tournament also reflected Brooklyn’s unique lifestyle, leading to a partnership that will make it possible for the local community to purchase UD Las Palmas jerseys, given the excitement sparked among the Canary Cup participants.
During the week, the UD Las Palmas delegation made strategic visits to several major sports organizations, including the NFL, Brooklyn Nets, and NBA. These visits focused on exploring management models, international fan engagement strategies, expansion plans, and operational methods, exchanging ideas that could be applied to connect tourism and sports in Gran Canaria.
A standout moment of the trip was an agreement by the UD Las Palmas Foundation to facilitate sports scholarships for young players from its youth academy at U.S. universities, furthering their academic and athletic development.
The trip concluded in Bristol, Connecticut, home to ESPN’s headquarters. This visit underscored the steady audience growth UD Las Palmas is seeing in Mexico, the U.S., and Canada, as shared by ESPN executives.
