July 29 – The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has caused a major stir for saying he believes Premier League fixtures being played abroad is inevitable.
Speaking on a podcast, Khan said: “I think that’s the way it’s going. We’ve seen some other leagues across Europe have some of their competitive games held elsewhere.”
“All 32 NFL teams have now played in London and all of them have had a great experience. We have some of the top baseball teams now playing in London.
“We’ve got seven Premier League clubs in London but when you look at the way the Premier League works, a lot of the revenue they receive is TV rights. I think the point that the Premier League would make and some of the owners would make is, why can’t their fans in those countries benefit from a competitive game?”
England’s Football Supporters Association passed a motion at its AGM last week opposing competitive matches taking place overseas, a concept first mooted by the Premier League in 2008 and met with an immediate backlash from domestic supporters.
In a statement, the FSA said: “We defeated Game 39 in 2008 and we’d attack any attempted revival with a full blown, two feet off the ground, studs to the knee tackle. Dear @MayorofLondon – a quick question. Are you really saying you’d be happy to see the North London derby played in LA or NYC? We suggest you talk to match goers to find out what supporters really want.”
“We’re not sure how moving games abroad against supporter wishes fits with making this country the best place to watch football [or how it fits into environmental/sustainability pledges].”
Nine Premier League clubs are majority-owned by Americans and discussions of Premier League matches being played in the United States have intensified recently, with NBC Sports’ Jon Miller saying the network hoped to air matches soon. This led to Premier league chief executive Richard Masters to say the “door looks ajar” for future games in the US.
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