Soccer

FSA promises ‘two-footed’ response to any plan for Premier League games overseas

American broadcaster NBC has expressed a wish to stage games in the United States on the opening weekend of the season.

No Premier League game has ever been held outside of England and Wales
No Premier League game has ever been held outside of England and Wales (Peter Byrne/PA)
By PA Sport Staff

Any attempt at resurrecting plans to stage Premier League fixtures outside of England and Wales will be met with vehement opposition by the Football Supporters’ Association.

Premier League chief executive Richard Masters revealed last week the “door looks ajar” for English top-flight matches to be played overseas – although there are no plans in the pipeline currently.

However, a high-ranking executive at NBC Sports, which holds the rights to screen the Premier League in the United States, told the Athletic the broadcaster is intent on bringing games to American audiences.

Such a topic was broached by the Premier League itself 16 years ago, although proposals for a 39th round of fixtures overseas was mixed after a negative backlash from fans and pressure from FIFA.

Quote tweeting the Athletic article, the FSA wrote on X: “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.”

Two Premier League clubs – Chelsea and Manchester City – will be playing competitive games in the United States in the summer of 2025 at FIFA’s inaugural 32-team Club World Cup.

As for bringing Premier League games to the USA to widen the scope of English football with American fans, NBC Sports’ president of acquisitions and partnerships Jon Miller is in favour.

Richard Masters said last week the “door is ajar” to staging Premier League matches overseas
Richard Masters said last week the “door is ajar” to staging Premier League matches overseas (Steven Paston/PA)

“Very much so,” he said. “This is a point that we’ve had conversations with the Premier League and they’ve been very open and receptive to listening to me.

“At some point in the future, I would love to see a couple of Premier League games open the season here in big stadiums on our opening weekend.

“I know that’s something that we’ll continue to push for because I think that there’s an American audience here that would like to see regular-season games.

“But in the meantime, we’ll continue to work with the Premier League to do everything we can to make the games available to as many people as possible.”