League One club chairman urges Premier League to move games abroad to help lower leagues
Peterborough chairman Darragh MacAnthony has urged the Premier League and EFL to consider playing matches abroad to help lower-league clubs financially.
The issue of playing league games abroad has been a sore point for fans who are not thrilled with the idea of not being able to watch their team live in domestic matches.
Premier League clubs regularly undertake trips to the United States, Asia or Australia as part of lucrative pre-season campaigns aimed at building fan bases and increasing marketing opportunities.
However, the topic of doing it mid-season is not popular, with Ryan Reynolds is already closing reports that Wrexham would play Birmingham in the United States this season.
But while fans are adamant it is not a good idea for their clubs, the owner of League One side Peterborough claimed it would actually be good news for more than just English football's elite.
Asked whether Premier League and EFL matches would be played abroad, MacAnthony told White and Jordan: “It's an absolute certainty.
“You have to look at the NFL, which is the second biggest industry in sports after the Premier League and the money spent on television deals.
“The reason for this is that they have grown their product by having games in Brazil, London, Germany; I think they will go to Mexico next year and the following year it will be Asia.
“Forget about friendlies in the summer, I have no doubt that the next evolution in moving the product towards bigger TV deals will be to have the odd Premier League and EFL game overseas so that in the next TV rights deal, we have fewer financially troubled clubs in the EFL.
“It’s a good thing. I know the fans will hate it, but I’m telling you, a bigger TV deal for us is good for business and anything that helps us get our product out to the world, like this, is something worth doing.”
Responding to fan outrage, who compared it to the Super League debacle (where supporters were left furious by the Big Six's plot to form a new, more lucrative league), MacAnthony said: “This is not the Super League.
“The NFL has two games a season in England, one in Germany and one in Brazil. There are hundreds of NFL games.
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“It’s an EFL game, a Premier League game – we need to grow our product.
“As a League One club, we were in the top 45 clubs in England by league table after finishing fourth in League One and we got around £1.5m in TV money, does that make sense to you?
“How does the EFL grow its product? By going into markets we are not in yet and showcasing our product. Wrexham cannot be making documentaries to attract the attention of the EFL.
“We have to do it. The only way to achieve this is by playing maybe one or two competitive matches in those countries.”
MacAnthony added: “There is a huge appetite in the United States for our product.
“Some people from the United States go to watch NFL games in some of these countries – they go to Brazil, they go to Mexico and they go to London – so you can take the fans with you.
“There's no reason why if there was a game in Florida that people on vacation at Disney couldn't go to the game, so I think everyone is overreacting.
“It's always the typical angry crowd, but what if it helps improve the product?
“What if it makes the stadium more beautiful or makes the ticket price cheaper? If it could be like that in the EFL, would that help? Would the fans be willing to do it? Because that’s what I’m talking about here.”
