Sadiq Khan has offered his support to the calls for Premier League games to be played in America.
The Premier League is facing new demands for matches to be staged across the pond, with American TV giants NBC determined to stage two from the season’s opening weekend on US soil.
TV executives and big-name agents in America are publicly lobbying for ‘Manchester United vs Chelsea in New York’, while the Premier League’s chief executive Richard Masters recently admitted the ‘door looks ajar’ for games in European leagues to be played abroad.
Now, the Mayor of London has weighed in with his opinion and argued that top-flight games being played abroad appears to be ‘the way it’s going’.
Speaking on The Sports Agents podcast, Khan said: ‘Liverpool, the club I support as Mayor of London, are currently on tour in America. They have big fans in America. Why can’t those fans see a competitive game?
Sadiq Khan offered his support to the calls for Premier League games to be played in America
Khan would be in favour of seeing top-flight matches being played in the United States
‘We’ve seen other leagues across Europe play competitive games elsewhere. All 32 NFL teams have played in London, all of them have had a great experience. We have some of the top baseball teams playing in London.
‘There are lots of obstacles, but I think that’s the way it’s going. It’s very important to take the fans with you. We don’t want fans missing out on more than one or two games a season in their home stadium.’
‘When you look at the way the Premier League works, a lot of the money the clubs receive comes from TV rights,’ he added.
‘The key thing for our fans is to make sure our fans don’t lose out. To make sure the games are in the right time zones, that the players are looked after when they come back.
‘One of the things we learnt from American Football is that often when the players go back the next game is an issue due to time zones and diet.’
Just last month, Liverpool fan groups reacted with fury after chairman Tom Werner said he wants to see Premier League games played in New York City.
‘I’m determined one day to have a Premier League game be played in New York City,’ he told the Financial Times.
Liverpool owner Tom Werner (right) also revealed a plan to move league games abroad
‘I even have the sort of crazy idea that there would be a day where we play one game in Tokyo, one game a few hours later in Los Angeles, one game a few hours later in Rio, one game a few hours later in Riyadh and make it sort of a day where the Premier League is celebrated.’
Meanwhile, Birmingham City asked for permission to play their forthcoming League One fixture with Wrexham in the United States.
The club’s American bosses raised the prospect of taking the visit of the Hollywood-owned North Wales side across the Atlantic in the forthcoming season – but the notion was swiftly declined by EFL bosses.
Had they been successful, the switch would have seen a competitive English fixture taken to outside of England or Wales for a historic first time. But insiders have disclosed that Blues got short shrift from those in charge and were left disappointed.
