MisterE Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 English Premier League expanding with overseas matcheshttp://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/301490Feb 07, 2008 05:17 PMLONDON?England's Premier League could be going global.The league's 20 clubs agreed unanimously Thursday to examine proposals to expand the regular season and play 10 games overseas starting in 2010-11.The matches would be played at five venues around the world over a single weekend in January 2011. Each city would host one game on Saturday and one on Sunday.The international round would be in addition to the traditional 38 home and away matches each of the clubs currently play."We can't escape the fact that globalization of sport is with us," Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore said. "This is a response to that globalization. ... By design we have become a global phenomenon. We cannot go on manifesting that phenomenon as a broadcast proposition only.''No potential host cities or countries have been discussed, Scudamore said. However, he said the league would avoid venues with potential bad weather conditions. That would appear to rule out the U.S. East Coast and Midwest.Despite protests from coaches that their players already have too many matches, the switch to a 39-game season would start in 2010-11 when a new television broadcast agreement is scheduled to take effect.The Premier League initiative follows the success of American leagues in staging football, basketball, hockey and baseball games outside of the United States.The NFL held its first regular season game outside North America in London last October when the New York Giants beat the Miami Dolphins 13-10, the same month the Boston Celtics and the Minnesota Timberwolves played a preseason NBA game there. Major League Baseball is opening its season in Tokyo for the third time."We have been wrestling with how we might do something internationally for quite some time," Scudamore said. "We've been inundated over the last five years with a whole host of proposals. It reached a crescendo when the NFL came to Wembley.''Still to be worked out would be how the team matchups would be decided."All clubs have an equal chance of being treated unfairly,'' Scudamore said. "It's better than taking somebody's home game.''No league games would be played in the week before or after the round of overseas matches.All 10 games would be broadcast live in Britain. They would be sold as a separate package under European Union law and would be put for bids.Scudamore said club chairman would hold a two-day meeting in June to further discuss the proposals. A final decision is expected next January."We have not voted today to do it," Scudamore said. "We have not voted today to say, `This is how it will be done.' We have voted to further examine a proposal.''Most Premier League clubs already embark on annual preseason overseas tours to promote themselves and boost revenue. Italy has played its preseason SuperCup at Washington and East Rutherford, N.J.Four EPL clubs are controlled by U.S. owners: Manchester United (Malcolm Glazer), Liverpool (Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr.), Aston Villa (Randy Lerner) and Derby (Andy Appleby). Five others are controlled by foreigners: Chelsea (Russia), Portsmouth (Russia), Manchester City (Thailand), Fulham (Egypt) and West Ham (Iceland)."I'm very positive about the proposal and very excited,'' Appleby told The Associated Press. "It will provide more exposure for English football and in order to grow the whole league, per se, you have to do these initiatives.Things were thought out really well, because we didn't want to create anything less for the loyal fans at home and we still have the same amount of home games.''---------------I would be excited if the EPL came to the US to play a pair of regular season matches. Only problem for me is that they are expected to play the matches in January and have already ruled out any cold-weather cities. So much for a city near me hosting any games. I could see the EPL placing two pairs of matches in the US, probably Los Angeles and Miami. Get Ron Santo in the Hall of Fame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-kj Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 No.No no no no no.No. Buy some t-shirts and stuff at KJ Shop! KJ Branded | Behance portfolio POTD 2013-08-22 On 7/14/2012 at 2:20 AM, tajmccall said: When it comes to style, ya'll really should listen to Kev. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred T. Jane Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 No.No no no no no.No.Quoted for truth.Preseason Friendlies? Sure.The Community Shield? Fantastic.Regular season matches involving the whole that mean something, much less in the middle of the season? Silly. [Croatia National Team Manager Slavan] Bilic then went on to explain how Croatia's success can partially be put down to his progressive man-management techniques. "Sometimes I lie in the bed with my players. I go to the room of Vedran Corluka and Luka Modric when I see they have a problem and I lie in bed with them and we talk for 10 minutes." Maybe Capello could try getting through to his players this way too? Although how far he'd get with Joe Cole jumping up and down on the mattress and Rooney demanding to be read his favourite page from The Very Hungry Caterpillar is open to question. --The Guardian's Fiver, 08 September 2008 Attention: In order to obtain maximum enjoyment from your stay at the CCSLC, the reader is advised that the above post may contain large amounts of sarcasm, dry humour, or statements which should not be taken in any true sort of seriousness. As a result, the above poster absolves himself of any and all blame in the event that a forum user responds to the aforementioned post without taking the previous notice into account. Thank you for your cooperation, and enjoy your stay at the CCSLC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SDX Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 Absolute joke of an idea, proves how our league is no longer about sport but business and money making. Hopefully all the fans will stick together on this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mania Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 I'd go see a match if they came here, and I'm not much of a soccer fan(which makes me alone here in Buenos Aires, but still). Off The Top Rope: A Pro Wrestling Podcast Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Nation Posted February 10, 2008 Share Posted February 10, 2008 Bad idea, domestic soccer is already overscheduled, especially the EPL with 4 competitions to participate in. And what about a World Cup or Euro year, when there is no summer break, adding an extra game with heavy travel would be overkill in those years. Ca$h grab. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Helix- Posted February 10, 2008 Share Posted February 10, 2008 Yeah, weird that they would add a whole other round for international matches. Just play a few existing matches across seas. Not every team needs to be involved anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alphabet Man Posted February 10, 2008 Share Posted February 10, 2008 A match at the MCG would be mad as. Anywhere they go they'll sell out. If it was an exhibition series, I think more would take liking to it, where the match is rather meaningless. twitter.com/thebrainofMatt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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