- Many European soccer teams tour the US in the summer for preseason
- Casey Wasserman believes competitive games will soon be played in America
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The Premier League matches will be held in the United States in 2034, according to the head of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Casey Wasserman, also founder of sports agency Wasserman, explains The times he would be ‘shocked’ if there are no competitive Premier League matches in the United States in the next decade.
He also expects LaLiga in Spain to follow suit, but admits there is the potential for an angry reaction from fans in Europe following the failed launch of the Super League in 2021.
Speaking to The Times, Wasserman explained: “Just as the NFL has done a really good job of taking their games abroad, I think you’ll see European professional (soccer) games played in the United States.
‘It’s the biggest sport in the world and this is the biggest sports market in the world.
It has been predicted that Premier League matches will be played in the US within the next decade
Premier League teams such as Manchester City are touring the US for pre-season this year
The game is growing in popularity in the US, especially with interest in the Premier League
“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.’
The NFL already hosts several competitive matches in Europe – last season Super Bowl winners Kansas City Chiefs played the Miami Dolphins in Germany – while the Philadelphia Eagles will start their campaign in Brazil next season.
NFL teams also play just 17 games in the regular season – far fewer than the 38 each in the Premier League.
MLB teams are also heading abroad, with the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies playing two games in London later this season and the Los Angeles Dodgers starting their 2024 season in South Korea.
European football teams are clearly eager to tap into the US market, which is seeing growing interest in the sport, which has always struggled to get off the ground.
The United States will host the Copa America later in 2024 and will host the 2026 World Cup along with Canada and Mexico.
Lionel Messi’s move to David Beckham’s Inter Miami in Major League Soccer has also only helped.
Several giants from across Europe are heading to the US for pre-season this year, including Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Barcelona, Real Madrid and AC Milan.
Wasserman, head of the Los Angeles Olympics, thinks the Premier League is tied to the US
But Wasserman said the anger from fans in the European Super League is a warning about the US’s plans
NFL games are often held abroad – last year Travis Kelce and Chiefs played in Germany
But European fans are fiercely protective of competitive games being moved abroad – as evidenced by hundreds of thousands of supporters in Britain and Europe protesting in the streets when the failed plan to launch a Super League emerged in 2021.
Those scenes are not lost on Wasserman.
“The emotion around football, as you saw with the European Super League, is at a completely different level, so they will have to work through that,” he said.