Premier league clubs are no strangers to going abroad for pre-season and playing high profile games in big cities around the world. This past summer Chelsea faced Arsenal in Orlando; Liverpool and Manchester United took their rivalry to Bangkok and Spurs battled Rangers in Seoul. From next year however, the so-called 'big six' are set to compete in their own stateside mini tournament and no doubt boosting their already healthy bank accounts.
The report comes courteous of The Athletic's David Ornstein who described a '6 club - 2 group tournament with games taking place across 'multiple cities on the East and West coast.' The premier league sees the current pre-season system where clubs decide their schedules completely independently as a missed opportunity for revenue and for exposure. Ornstein regards these plans as the 'first step towards holding meaningful matches overseas' which the premier league has been aiming to do for a number of years.
Proposals had finally been put in place for a tournament last summer, but on-going Covid-19 concerns meant the tournament never materialised but looks set to finally take place 12 months on. In that time, international TV rights have become more valuable than domestic TV rights and so the appetite for competitive games abroad is clear.
Yet, if Ornstein's right and the tournament is purely one for the 'big six', then there will be inevitable questions over fairness and a perceived bias towards them. Widespread public outrage seemingly killed off Project Big Picture and then infamously killed off the Super League in England but behind-the-scenes the premier league is attempting to placate those clubs in order to prevent future hostile power grabs. They are one clear winner from this, the other being US' rapidly expanding fanbase.