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

Re: On our long way down ...

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.

 

Re: On our long way down ...

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.

 

Re: On our long way down ...

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.

 

The English Premier League is considering playing some matches overseas

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.

 

Re: The English Premier League is considering playing some matches overseas

What nonsense...Goodbye English football.

 

Re: The English Premier League is considering playing some matches overseas

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.

 

Re: The English Premier League is considering playing some matches overseas

Hmmm, I suspect a case of shill bidding.

 

EPL "International Round"

Clubs consider playing league games abroad

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.

 

Re: The English Premier League is considering playing some matches overseas

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.

 

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.

 

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.

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.

 

Re: EPL "International Round"

Not exactly a problem as it stands.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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...

 

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

 

Re: On our long way down ...

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.

 

Re: On our long way down ...

The key is numbers - the problem is while I don't doubt that a good 20,000 Liverpool and Man Utd fans could be persuaded to boycott, how much good does that do if a stupid gloryhunting twat just goes to the match instead? I really do believe that we can stop this and can make a difference, even take back the game from this dubious types, but it requires a concerted, united effort from every fan in the country. This is either where we fight back, or its the beginning of the end.

The thing about the money is, its not just about the money they'll make from the matches, but extra shirt sales and crucially TV - an entire weekend where every football fan in the country HAS to watch Sky to see their team? HOW MUCH DO YOU THINK THEY'LL PAY FOR THAT?! This is the size of what we're up against and we need to fight it with an action and I'm realy hoping the FSF can get us all organised.

 

The problem with pre-season tournaments and friendlies is that there's nothing on the line. The excitement of league footy is that each game from kickoff of the first match of the season in August to the final whistle in May means so much. They can't replicate or generate that excitement in other countries with games that don't mean anything. Also, there's no way that I can imagine pulling something like this off is possible and keep things on the up and up.

Bad, bad idea.

They could create some new dodgy tournament like the "FA Intercontinental Super Cup" or something... but even then, it's not the same, none of the bigger clubs want to play the extra matches, and they're 3/4's of the attraction.

 

Horrible idea, just pure greed from the Premier League and clubs, why can't they just stick to playing pre-season games abroad instead of premiership fixtures.

 

The problem is that the players don't want extra games, most managers don't extra games, but the clubs want every damn penny they can get.