[Football] league matches in the usa?

[A1X]

Do you think it may not happen as you describe it?

I don’t see how it happens at all TBH if it’s a “39th game”. If they move a regular season game that changes but even then there’s a likelihood it has a material impact (e.g. a team with a great home record and terrible away one playing one fewer home game has consequences).

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

I don’t see how it happens at all TBH if it’s a “39th game”. If they move a regular season game that changes but even then there’s a likelihood it has a material impact (e.g. a team with a great home record and terrible away one playing one fewer home game has consequences).

Yeah. It seems about as likely as the match kit being changed to crop tops, mini skirts and frilly knickers.

 

[Flounce]

I think it should happen but as part of the breakaway Super League and leave us minnows to carry on as we are

 

[A1X]

Yeah. It seems about as likely as the match kit being changed to crop tops, mini skirts and frilly knickers.

Wasn’t that one of Sepp Blatter’s ideas for the women’s game?

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Wasn’t that one of Sepp Blatter’s ideas for the women’s game?

I think he opted for no knickers in the end. And a minimum bust limit.

 

[Official Old Man]

Only a matter of time before the Charity Shield is moved. Let's face it, the teams involved are all away on tours anyway so why not just play that game in Saudi or China or USA two weeks ahead of season start.
As mentioned, the Spanish Super Cup is already played overseas but as a tournament rather than a one off game.

 

[pigmanovich]

Only a matter of time before the Charity Shield is moved. Let's face it, the teams involved are all away on tours anyway so why not just play that game in Saudi or China or USA two weeks ahead of season start.
As mentioned, the Spanish Super Cup is already played overseas but as a tournament rather than a one off game.

I'd be more than happy to sacrifice hosting the Community Shield in England if it meant no overseas league games.

 

[Albion my Albion]

Last summer it was all east coast. Will there be some Midwest and West Coast matches for PL 39th games?

Game 39 resulted in opposition from several club managers. The proposal also met with strong condemnation from supporters' organisations, who saw it as solely motivated by money to the detriment of fans. Sepp Blatter, president of the sport's global governing body at that time, expressed a negative opinion of the proposal and stated that it could affect England's bid to host the 2018 World Cup, and the football authorities in a number of the areas suggested as possible venues for the matches were also opposed. In May 2010, the Premier League said that it was no longer actively considering game 39,[1] but in October 2014 it was said to be re-considering the idea.[2]

Apparently Sepp hadn't negotiated his cut of the money yet.

The TV dollars and the many fans that start talking about world football "on the street" in the US will only continue to grow. ESPN, NBC, Fox Sports, etc. never talked about the PL before. Now they always do.

 

[dwayne]

Wouldn't really care if it was one match a season. Could be fun.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

They will ask for a league game, we will say no

They will be given the charity shield and it will be made into a 4 team mini cup

 

[crodonilson]

So who decides who plays who, as the decision could have real world impacts. Luton playing Man City three times while Nottingham Forest play Palace three times would have a direct outcome on the relegation battle, for example.

And if it’s done on the back of size of teams then it’s purely down to the Big 6. You could sell out Man City vs Liverpool anywhere in the world, but you can’t sell out Brighton vs Aston Villa in Brighton.

I'd guess it would be decided on previous season finishes, so 1st v 20th (or team coming up via the play-offs), 2nd v 19th (or Championship runners up) and so on. The games would be neutral venues so all teams would still have equal numbers of home and away games. So based on current league positions would give you:

Arsenal v Leeds?
Man City v Ipswich
Liverpool v Leicester
Villa v Forest
Tottingham v Brentford
Newcastle v Everton
Chelsea v Fulham
Man U v Wolverhampton
West H'aa'm v Palace
Brighton v Bournemouth

 

[Beanstalk]

The Premier League came up with a similar idea (playing an extra round of league games overseas) back in 2008. It was rightly shot down.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_39

I have never understood (and still don't understand) how this would work in practice.

Is it just a whole round of fixtures, played across the world that have no bearing on the league table? As in glorified end of season friendlies? or would it be a complete destruction of the fairness of the home-away round-robin schedule to shoehorn in an extra game at the expense of the table? How on earth would you make that work in practice?

 

[Jim in the West]

Hi there Premier League managers....you know you moan on about fixture congestion, player fatigue, injuries, etc, etc...? Well - GOOD NEWS....you're all going to play another match! Plus - it will be somewhere in the US, so there'll be a lot of travelling across time zones to cope with, too! And we need to get the matches shown on TV in Europe at a decent time, so kick-offs will be in the early afternoon heat. And there's no reason to question the integrity of the competition, even if some teams have an easy extra game, and some teams don't. But don't worry, we'll all make EVEN MORE money.

PS: Next stop: no relegation!!

 

[Worried Man Blues]

Have a mini tournament anywhere you like but leave our leagues alone!

 

[US Seagull]

Some background:



Note: I do not understand at all how a competitive 39th game is supposed to work and still be fair to everybody.

 

[US Seagull]

I'd guess it would be decided on previous season finishes, so 1st v 20th (or team coming up via the play-offs), 2nd v 19th (or Championship runners up) and so on. The games would be neutral venues so all teams would still have equal numbers of home and away games. So based on current league positions would give you:

Arsenal v Leeds?
Man City v Ipswich
Liverpool v Leicester
Villa v Forest
Tottingham v Brentford
Newcastle v Everton
Chelsea v Fulham
Man U v Wolverhampton
West H'aa'm v Palace
Brighton v Bournemouth

That feels a lot like just giving the top 3 teams a bonus 3 points in the table.

 

[Beanstalk]

Some background:



Note: I do not understand at all how a competitive 39th game is supposed to work and still be fair to everybody.

It's a really good video, as is the work it's based on by Adam Crafton in the Athletic.

At the same time, I think the FA and Wembley pose a ridiculously complicated issue if English football wanted to go abroad. It would probably be near impossible to move a regular season game from the UK to the US without causing riots first and foremost, both at fan and club level. The obvious candidates for moveable games are neutral games (FA Cup finals, League Cup final, Charity Shield) but having big games at Wembley is core to the FA's business so it's not something they're going to have any interest in going for.

Where does that leave the space for a US game to be played by Premier League teams that isn't just a glorified friendly? I can't find where it could work for football in this country (whereas the lack of a devoted neutral national stadium in Spain, Italy offers less of a roadblock).

 

[crodonilson]

That feels a lot like just giving the top 3 teams a bonus 3 points in the table.

It probably is, but given the top sides from this season are likely to be the top sides again next season it is the 'fairest' way to do it, all of the sides who have competed at the top this season have easier games so none of them has significant advantages over their rivals for the league/top 4 etc and it's done on some sort of merit system from where you finished in the previous season. It probably helps the attractiveness of the games for a foreign audience too, they're not likely to be particularly interested in the sides promoted but will be interested in the bigger sides. Even the mediocre middle of the table sides will carry some support and those fixtures should be really competitive, if it was done on this seasons current placings you would probably say our game v Bournemouth would be the hardest sell.

 

[A1X]

I'd guess it would be decided on previous season finishes, so 1st v 20th (or team coming up via the play-offs), 2nd v 19th (or Championship runners up) and so on. The games would be neutral venues so all teams would still have equal numbers of home and away games. So based on current league positions would give you:

Arsenal v Leeds?
Man City v Ipswich
Liverpool v Leicester
Villa v Forest
Tottingham v Brentford
Newcastle v Everton
Chelsea v Fulham
Man U v Wolverhampton
West H'aa'm v Palace
Brighton v Bournemouth

I would imagine the plastic 6 wouldn't like that as they were hoping to make a fortune flogging tickets to the games between each other

 

[Mellotron]

I can definitely see Community Shield moving overseas.