There are 11 US-owned clubs in the top flight, closer than ever to the two-thirds majority of 14 that is needed to impose changes to the Premier League’s rules.
A third of EFL clubs are also partially or majority US-owned, and a number of English clubs are for sale or seeking fresh investment, so it may not be long until that tipping point is reached.
With Serie A and La Liga announcing their intention to take matches to Australia and the USA, respectively, and with major US sports leagues regularly playing regular-season games overseas, it would be no surprise if American owners of Premier League clubs pushed to do the same, especially given some of them also own US franchises in the NFL, NBA and MLB.
Last year Liverpool chairman Tom Werner told the Financial Times that he hoped to see Premier League games played in New York, Tokyo, Los Angeles, Riyadh and Rio de Janeiro, raising fears among some fans of an attempted resurrection of the ’39th game’ concept that was considered and then abandoned by the Premier League in 2008 after a fan backlash.
Niall Couper, chief executive of football campaign group Fair Game, told BBC Sport that “the recent revival of ideas like a 39th game played abroad is a stark warning sign”.
