On our long way down: The Premier League Games Abroad Thread

[Matt Clark]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/7232390.stm

The English Premier League is considering playing some matches overseas, BBC Sport has learned.

At a meeting in London on Thursday, all 20 clubs agreed to explore a proposal to extend the season to 39 games.

Those 10 extra games would be played at venues around the world, with cities bidding for the right to stage them.

It is understood the additional fixtures could be determined by a draw but that the top-five teams could be seeded to avoid playing each other.

What's that Willie Nelson lyric about wicked spirals?

[act smiley]

Here was me thinking they'd realise how stupid this would be, but it seems that was naeive. Here's hoping UEFA grow some balls and tell them that if they do that they wouldn't get into Europe, but unfortunately that's unlikely, isn't it.

[Matt Clark]

It's absurd in any case. If the result of the games is worth 0,1 or 3 points like any other league match and counts toward the final league standings, but the teams have all already played each other twice, then there's scope for all sorts of mayhem. Imagine United and Chelsea are one point apart after 38 games and then a draw is made for each EPL team to play another EPL team a third time. United get Derby, Chelsea get Aston Villa - oh and the winning bid for the Chelsea game was Tokyo, whereas United's game was acquired by Oslo.

[erick]

this is stupid. club games should be play at home and not in other places. they need to think about the fans and stop thinking about the money.

[Prenn]

It's absurd in any case. If the result of the games is worth 0,1 or 3 points like any other league match and counts toward the final league standings, but the teams have all already played each other twice, then there's scope for all sorts of mayhem. Imagine United and Chelsea are one point apart after 38 games and then a draw is made for each EPL team to play another EPL team a third time. United get Derby, Chelsea get Aston Villa - oh and the winning bid for the Chelsea game was Tokyo, whereas United's game was acquired by Oslo.

Or even worse would be the teams fighting to avoid relegation. One gets the top team and the other gets the bottom team.

If this really did go ahead I could not hope for Bolton to be relegated quick enough.

[DCU1996]

Top clubs consider overseas games

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_prem/7232390.stm

At a meeting in London on Thursday, all 20 clubs agreed to explore a proposal to extend the season to 39 games.

Those 10 extra games would be played at venues around the world, with cities bidding for the right to stage them.

[Emperor_Norton]

What nonsense...Goodbye English football.

[RichardL]

Those 10 extra games would be played at venues around the world, with cities bidding for the right to stage them.I can see it now...

The big 4 will have fixtures with countries entering sealed bids of millions.

Reading v Middlesbrough going for £38.65 on eBay.

[Prenn]

Reading v Middlesbrough going for £38.65 on eBay.

Hmmm, I suspect a case of shill bidding.

[Postmaster]

Clubs consider playing league games abroad (http://soccernet-akamai.espn.go.com/news/story?id=505866&cc=5901)

The proposal is to add a 39th EPL match at a netrual international site (seeded based on standings). Results would count in EPL standings.

(+): $$$, increases visibility of the league
(-): introduces an unbalanced EPL schedule, an additional travel game in a already-crowded schedule

I'm a Yank and have only been following the EPL for a few years, but I'm interested in what long-time English supporters think about this proposal.

[RichardL]

Hmmm, I suspect a case of shill bidding.No. Just heavy bidding from Reading and Middlesbrough, but pipped by a small boy from the island of Vanuatu, winning the right, via his dad's credit card, to have a premier league match take place in his back garden.

[M]

I'll go on record as saying both that this is a poor idea and that it won't happen. When they try and work out the logistics of how to fit a trip half way round the world into the schedule, they'll realize the issues. Plus, I really wonder whether some of the likely candidate city FAs will be thrilled at the Premier League trying to steal its thunder.

[Kazuma]

Stupid. On so many levels. This is getting to the point of NFL hype. And having to had to deal with the NFL in my city a few years back this is something I don't want to experience again.

Besides, you cannot beat the actual experience of seeing your club play at its respective ground. And to make things worse you have the idiot plastics, (Yes this is coming from a Chelsea fan) who will only say "We love Man Utd/Chelsea/Aresenal/Liverpool" and wouldn't know their own club's chant if it bit them on the ass. The Prem's doing just fine on the exposure they have anyway but this is ridiculous.

I doubt it'll go through anyway because of the distances traveled.


And this comment made me want to punch something.

Some fans may feel aggrieved, but their concerns will be outweighed in the eyes of the clubs by the financial advantages.

If this keeps up I might as well just up and pull a FC United and do the same for Chelsea. I'm starting to wonder if this is stupid week or something because this is the 34,759 time I've heard something stupid said this week.

[Peakite]

(+): increases visibility of the league


Not exactly a problem as it stands.

[RichardL]

And this comment made me want to punch something.

Some fans may feel aggrieved, but their concerns will be outweighed in the eyes of the clubs by the financial advantages.
I do wonder quite how much money they'd make anyway. Talk of an extra £1 million per club is hardly the sort of sum that should be persuading people to do away with the integrity of the league programme.

And could every game even really make even that sort of money anyway? Who knows? I mean, I was in Bangkok recently and I was quite surprised to see as many as one Thai person wearing a Reading shirt on the streets. That could be indicative of Reading's global brand spreading across Asia, or it could be indicative of Bangkok's 65,000 seat Rajamangala Stadium having 64,999 of those seats empty if we played there.

[leafdolfan]

I'm a canadian United fan and think this is a stupid idea. This is what pre-season is for!!! FFS play some pointless tournament during the summer, but if this was done to the PL, the PL would lose all respect in my eyes. The clubs should all come out and refuse to play these games.

[mplsTOON]

the Prem looks at it like a Buy and Drive program such as BMW's. But instead of dropping a pile of cash to get to travel to the BMW factory in Bavaria and drive your car off the assembly line and onto the Autobahn, you get to pick it up in South Carolina and drive it onto I-95.

Sure it makes money but what they don't realize is how much more people will pay for the actual experience of a game at Old Trafford, Stamford Bridge, or, yes if they are crazy enough, the Reebok.

It does not suprise me that this is in response to the NFL game in Wembley this past October...

[act smiley]

t
Sure it makes money but what they don't realize is how much more people will pay for the actual experience of a game at Old Trafford, Stamford Bridge, or, yes if they are crazy enough, the Reebok.

Oh but they do, only now thats not enough and they want more...

[shuvy87]

Here was me thinking they'd realise how stupid this would be, but it seems that was naeive. Here's hoping UEFA grow some balls and tell them that if they do that they wouldn't get into Europe, but unfortunately that's unlikely, isn't it.Do you know who really have the power. It's the fans back in England....

As much as I love English football, I will boycut the domestic games if the proposal goes through.

[Matt Clark]

I do wonder quite how much money they'd make anyway. Talk of an extra £1 million per club is hardly the sort of sum that should be persuading people to do away with the integrity of the league programme.
It was enough to persuade United to go and do a one-off mid-season game in Saudi Arabia recently, complete with shit-grinning "look Ma, a sword!" photo op for Wayne Rooney in the land of public beheadings.

Anyway, I saw Dave "The Dark Lord" Richards on SkySports News last night and he was explaining it in more detail: they're apparently looking for five hosts cities, each of which will stage four games over a weekend (two on Saturday, two on Sunday), so the format will be a bit like the pre-season tournaments that already take place out in Singapore and wherever with EPL teams (it did seem unlikely that this idea would be based on original thinking, rather than some sweaty northerner in the Chairman's lounge going "we had a raat good doo out in that there Hong Kong this summeh, mebbe it'll do us agin laaaike").