Could major soccer games be held in US?
Few places in sports scream “blue” (with a touch of maize) as loudly as the Big House, yet Michigan Stadium will be a blanket of red on Saturday.
Manchester United and Liverpool, perhaps the two most iconic clubs in the English Premier League and with both a shared color and a mutual loathing, will do battle in Ann Arbor as part of the International Champions Cup.
The tournament, in which 18 of the world’s biggest teams square off as part of their final preseason preparations, has provided further proof of America’s appetite for top-level soccer. Yet it also raises the question of if, and when, soccer’s European heartland will take steps to broaden its core product beyond geographical boundaries.
With a strong crowd expected this weekend for a preseason game, it makes many wonder what might be possible if a regular-season game from the EPL, or Spain’s La Liga, or the Champions League, was to take place in the States.
“I am sure it is going to happen,” Charlie Stillitano, chairman of ICC organizer Relevent Sports, told USA TODAY. “When you look at the people involved, it just makes too much sense. As for when? That’s the multimilliondollar question.”
When Stillitano references the people involved, he is alluding to how there are numerous ownership crossover links between American sports and the EPL. The Glazer family controls both United and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. John W. Henry owns the Boston Red Sox and Liverpool. Stan Kroenke has both Arsenal and numerous American sports entities including the Los Angeles Rams, while Fulham’s Shahid Khan has the Jacksonville Jaguars as part of his portfolio.
And it has escaped no one’s attention that the NFL has had significant success in playing games overseas, most notably London, where it has staged 22 matches over the past 11 years. The NBA has held eight regularseason games in London and six in Mexico City since 2011. Major League Baseball has headed to Mexico, Australia and Japan.
“I think it is inevitable,” Stillitano added. “You have to think it is a natural progression. These clubs are big brands that have done an incredible job in their home countries. If you’re looking at it, how are they going to get huge further growth at home? It’s not really possible; everyone already loves it. As we know, the U.S. is a big market and it is going to be appealing.”
ICC’s attendances have been down this summer, but Stillitano was unconcerned. A combination of some leading players missing – Tottenham’s Harry Kane and Dele Alli and Juventus’ Cristiano Ronaldo are all resting postWorld Cup – plus soccer fatigue after a month of wall-to-wall soccer beamed in from Russia, have had an effect.
As a result the crowd in Ann Arbor is expected to top out at around 90,000 instead of a full house of 107,000. The lower figure is one Stillitano can comfortably live with, given that the same problem is unlikely to arise for another eight years, with the next World Cup in Qatar to be held in winter time.
By then, who knows what soccer in America will look like, or if it will include European powers coming to the States as part of their season, instead of before it.