With major US sports leagues regularly playing regular-season games overseas, it would be no surprise if American owners of Premier League clubs pushed to do the same, especially given some of them also own US franchises in the NFL, NBA and MLB.
Last year Liverpool chairman Tom Werner told the Financial Times that he hoped to see Premier League games played in New York, Tokyo, Los Angeles, Riyadh and Rio de Janeiro, raising fears among some fans of an attempted resurrection of the ’39th game’ concept that was considered and then abandoned by the Premier League in 2008 after a fan backlash.
“The recent revival of ideas like a 39th game played abroad is a stark warning sign,” said Couper.
“It shows a willingness to prioritise global markets over local fans and to turn our national game into a global entertainment brand rather than a sacred institution.”
Last year Premier League chief executive Richard Masters told BBC Sport there were no plans to reintroduce such an idea, and Bournemouth’s American owner Bill Foley said he does not support staging league matches abroad.
However, Spain’s La Liga has said it is hopeful of staging games in the US next season, and, with Fifa set to change its rules to allow such a move, some remain concerned.
The UK government was reportedly considering tabling an amendment to the Football Governance Bill in order to prevent any possibility of staging league matches overseas, but it has chosen not to do so.
There have also been reports that US-run Premier League clubs have been secretly pushing to scrap the Saturday 3pm TV blackout which prevents games being screened live domestically, in order to maximise media rights revenues.
The Premier League recently said the current arrangement is in place until the end of the 2029 season, and that it supports the blackout as a means of protecting grassroots participation and attendance across all leagues. “Anything beyond that is speculation at this stage,” it said.