This week, some of the top decision makers in world football met at the Leaders In Football conference at Stamford Bridge in London to discuss a host of topics. Richard Scudamore, chief executive of the Premier League, spoke about his vision for making the Premier League into a global league.
When interviewed about the topic, Scudamore remarked, “The audience abroad are not silly. They are very sophisticated, they know a lot about our clubs and they want real and meaningful matches.” Is that true? Do you want Premier League matches played overseas? Vote now.
No. Emphatically no. I've seen the toll travel can take on a club in the Champions League. The Premier League is an English league and their primary responsibility is to their home fans. I say this as some born, raised, and living in San Francisco. The novelty of seeing my club in person as they travel to the States is outweighed by the negative impact it would have on their play. True fans find a way to go to Europe and see their team. I've spent my hard-earned dosh to see The Arsenal play 5 times, and my goal is to see them at least once a season for the rest of my life.
I love football the way it is. Football does well enough with it's current setup where each country has it's own league and the best teams from those leagues go on to the champions league, uefa cup, world club cup, etc. The idea of national leagues trying to expand into other nations just seems like a step towards ruining the great competitions that already exist.
your title and your actual question are not the same. Despite the self-serving nature of the proposition, I do not want EPL football outside England.
But the poll question asks if I agree that others want meaningful matches outisde England. Yes, they do. I'm just not one of them.
SB