By: Manic Loop
Having seen the “spectacle” that was American Football coming to England again it got me thinking a lot about the scheme the Premier League tried to implement a couple of years ago about staging matches abroad.
Now I for one really am against the notion of these teams playing games on foreign soil. It doesn’t actually add anything to the experience, just manages to fill someone’s pockets. I like their talk though when they try to make out it’s about giving something to the fans. It simply smacks to me of teams forgetting who made them. The fans
Now it kind of works easier for American sports. Most of them are simply franchises that never did start were they are playing anyway, so to lose a connection with the roots isn’t a big deal (at this juncture I will admit that yes, a number of American teams have never moved city) But really Manchester United, Arsenal or Liverpool hosting a game that has meaning in Hong Kong or Shanghai just seems inherently wrong.
Apart from MK Dons every single British team has grown up in its city, the likes of Arsenal may have moved across the city they are in, but they have always been a London club. To have a club of their ilk wanting to play games abroad, well that’s fine as long as it’s a friendly. One of these increasingly common foreign pre season tournaments. But a game that has meaning? I don’t like that one bit.
The only game like that I would take abroad would be the Community Shield. It is a game that counts per se, but no-one actually cares about it. So play that on a rotation. My case in point is would the NFL allow the Super Bowl to be played outside of the America. No.
The whole idea seemed laughable. Let’s play a 39th game, when the clubs already complain about fixture congestion. Let’s be flying halfway round the world just because some rich chairman wants to make a few extra pounds.
I also imagine there would have to be a kind of seeding for this. If it was a random fixture can you really imagine the people of Dubai or New York being excited about Wigan v Hull? So of course there would have to be a system whereby each city gets a “good” team.
The other main factor to me is what message does this send to the host cities domestic league. It’s a huge insult to them. The A League in Australia would be hugely undermined if they hosted a game in Sydney or Melbourne.
Now I know the idea was shelved, but it wasn’t permanently forgotten. Make no bones the Premier League will have watched with interest today’s events at Wembley. And when the NBA comes to the O2 Arena too, that will be noted.
So anyway, yes. The NFL razzmatazz came to Wembley. I just hope we don’t reciprocate.
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