Premier League games being held abroad is inevitable, says Sadiq Khan

Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, likes to portray himself as a football fan, but he risks much displeasure by claiming that Premier League matches will inevitably be played abroad.

The idea of ​​staging top-flight English matches outside the country was first floated by the Premier League in 2008 and was met with an immediate backlash from domestic fans, with several bodies, including the Football Association, also raising objections. The proposal, which would have seen clubs receive around £5 million for participating in an extra “international round”, was quickly dismissed but resurfaced this year when Jon Miller, an executive at NBC Sports, which holds the rights to broadcast the Premier League in the United States, outlined the network’s desire to stage matches there, with Premier League chief executive Richard Masters soon after stating that “the door is ajar” for such a move.

Now Khan, who in his eight years as London mayor has been a big supporter of American sports, particularly the NFL and Major League Baseball, by holding competitive games in the capital, has entered the debate with cautious support for football going the other way. “I think that’s the way it’s going,” the 53-year-old told the Sports Agents podcast. “We’ve seen other leagues in Europe hold some of their competitive games elsewhere. All 32 NFL teams have played in London now and they’ve all had a great experience. We’ve got some of the best baseball teams playing in London now.

“We have seven Premier League clubs in London, but if you look at the way the Premier League works, a large part of the revenue they get is TV rights. Liverpool, the team I support, are on tour in America at the moment. I think the point the Premier League and some of the owners would make is: why can’t their fans in those countries benefit from a competitive game?

“The most important thing for me is to make sure our fans don’t lose. What we’ve learned from American football is that when players go back to America, the next game is often a problem because of the time zone, diet and so on.”

Following Miller and Masters’ comments, the Football Supporters’ Association made it clear that it opposes competitive English matches being played abroad. “We covered Game 39 in 2008 and we would meet any attempted revival with a full-on, two-foot-off-the-ground, studs-to-the-knee tackle,” the FSA said, re-emerging in response to Khan’s comments. “Dear @MayorofLondon – quick question. Are you seriously saying you’d like to see the North London derby played in LA or NYC?” X read. “We encourage you to talk to matchgoers (or the Prime Minister!) to find out what supporters really want – and we’d be happy to meet you.”

Khan may be aware that Liverpool chairman Tom Werner last month expressed his desire to see a Premier League match in New York, as well as in other cities around the world, a notion that was quickly played down by Fenway Sports Group principal owner John W Henry and rejected outright by Liverpool supporters’ union, Spirit of Shankly. “Anyone determined to play competitive LFC Premier League matches abroad should remember that we as fans are determined that they do not,” the message read.