American TV giant NBC wants two opening day Premier League games played in the US as price of mammoth £2bn TV deal – sparking backlash among fans after 39th game debacle 17 years ago

The Premier League is facing new requirements for matches to be played in the USwith US TV giants NBC determined to move two matches from the opening weekend in the United States.

TV executives and big names in the US are publicly lobbying for ‘Manchester United vs Chelsea in New York’, and even the CEO of the Premier League Richard Masters admits the ‘door is ajar’ for matches in European competitions to be played abroad.

However, Masters insisted it is not currently a topic of discussion, which appears to have put cold water on the idea for the time being.

It comes at a time when football in the US is experiencing a huge growth spurt, with Lionel Messi’s arrival at Inter Miami cited as one of the factors, but there is also a surge of interest in the English game.

A record 2.6 million viewers tuned in to watch Manchester City’s 0-0 draw with Arsenal, which was widely reported as a match that would decide the league title, and NBC’s president of acquisitions and partnerships has revealed that ‘talks’ are taking place took place.

NBC is paying £2 billion for Premier League television rights – spread over a six-year deal – and is keen to capitalize on the growing interest in England’s top flight by hosting games in the US.

“We’ve had conversations with the Premier League and they’ve been very open and receptive to listening to me,” NBC acquisitions director Jon Miller said. told The Athletic.

‘Last year we did the Premier League Summer Series (in preparation), where six teams came along; Fulham, Aston Villa, Newcastle, Chelsea, Brighton & Hove Albion and Brentford.

‘We had nine games in seven days in five cities in America (and 265,000 fans in attendance). It was amazing.’

“All the teams that came through did really well, had a great experience and were really able to interact with the fanbase. And the Premier League saw that it was very successful. At some point in the future I’d like to see a few Premier League games opening the season here in big stadiums on our opening weekend.

“And I know that’s something we’ll continue to push for because I think there’s an American audience here that would love to see regular season games, but in the meantime we’ll continue to work with the Premier League to do everything we can.” be able to. to make the games available to as many people as possible.

It comes as Casey Wasserman – head of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and founder of sports and entertainment agency Wasserman Media Group – suggested the move was likely to happen in the future.

Wasserman cited the example of NFL games being played at Wembley, which has been something of a success story with English fans regularly flocking to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and Wembley.

Notably, LaLiga chief Javier Tebas has already voiced his support for Spanish league matches moving across the Atlantic, suggesting the 2025-2026 season as a starting point.

“Just like the NFL has done a really good job of taking their games abroad, I think you’re going to see a European professional [soccer] games played in the United States,” Wasserman claimed.

“It’s the biggest sport in the world and this is the biggest sports market in the world.”

“Look what Messi, as an MLS player, is doing for MLS, it’s amazing. But if you had a Manchester United-Chelsea match in New York or a Real Madrid-Barcelona match in Miami, the levels of play in American cities – real matches that count – could be enormous. I would be shocked if it didn’t happen.’

However, it is worth noting that an NFL team plays only 17 games in the regular season before the playoffs, which is far fewer than the 38 that a football team plays in the league alone, before games in at least two Cup games. competitions for Premier League clubs.

Traveling across the Atlantic Ocean would therefore infringe on an already full schedule, which is constantly criticized by top managers, as Pep Guardiola mentioned in the calendar earlier last month.

There would also likely be environmental consequences if an entire football team were to regularly fly across the Atlantic to play just one match, with similar complaints already raised over the impact of clubs traveling around Europe in the middle of the week.

The concept was met with stiff opposition from fans – who played a key role in defeating the ’39th game’ idea some 17 years ago – with many US supporters also opposing the suggestion.

The Football Supporters Association wrote of

Another user added: ‘I’m an American fan, and this is not something I want. Premier League is not an American sport and they should not have to travel here for competitive matches. Ever.’

A third claimed: ‘From an American obsessed with English football to Jon Miller, NO! English games belong in England.’

One wrote: ‘Absolutely and unequivocally no. The hardest of the hard passes. An absurd idea championed by people with less than zero ideas about football culture, community or history.’

And a fifth user concluded: ‘There is literally no reason for any European league to start playing truly competitive matches in the US… players already have an extremely busy schedule, it’s not comparable to the NFL where teams only Having to play 17 matches a year. season without international competitions.’

The fact that fans appear to be so strongly opposed would prove to be a major obstacle to the movement, with supporters notably playing a key role in the dissolution of the proposed European Super League in England, as well as the rejection of the 39th game proposal.

NBC Sports currently has a six-year contract with the Premier League for continued exclusive coverage of matches in the US since 2022.

The deal is said to be worth $450 million per season (approximately £360 million) to the Premier, ‘representing more than five times the first deal signed with NBC when they started broadcasting the Premier League in 2012’, according to The Athletic. .

Additionally, nearly 40 million viewers have watched the Premier League every season on NBC for the past eleven years, and a Nielson survey found that 48 percent of all U.S. soccer fans now have a favorite Premier League team.

Miller also revealed that he wants to provide more audio access to fans as he looks to provide a deeper insight into how managers interact with fourth officials, players and the rest of their coaching staff.

He told The Athletic: “There are two things that really bring the viewer and the fan closer to the action: access and audio. So whenever you can increase your access and build your stars, that’s great. And people like to hear what Jurgen Klopp says to his team or what he says on the sidelines.

‘We realize that there must be some protection against this. But we think these are the kinds of things we’ll continue to push the boundaries on. And the Premier League is responding. They are very good when we come to them with ideas. Far be it from me to try to tell the Premier League what a good product is. Their product is spectacular.

“But just like we do with the NFL and golf, we’re constantly having conversations with our partners and brainstorming things we can do to make the games better and more engaging, to try to grow our audience.”