Liverpool-backed plan could get go-ahead after ‘door opens’ – Keith Wyness
Everton’s former chief Keith Wyness has claimed it could take up to five years before Liverpool-backed plans for overseas Premier League games become reality.
Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, the 66-year-old – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – suggested other American owners at top-flight clubs, including Arsenal, Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Chelsea and more, would get behind the project.
Speaking to the Financial Times (7 June), Liverpool chairman Tom Werner insisted he is “determined one day to have a Premier League game be played in New York City”.
He claimed games could be held worldwide across one matchday as part of a “celebration” of English football.
The Reds chief suggested domestic fans could be compensated with cheap travel and accommodation to attend matches taking place overseas.
However, Liverpool owner John Henry also told the Financial Times that playing games worldwide is “not something that I advocate or am particularly interested in”.
Liverpool plans for Premier League games abroad could come in five years, says Wyness
When asked for a potential timeline for overseas games to become a reality, Wyness told Football Insider‘s Insider Track podcast: “I think you’d be looking at the media cycle, which goes up for auction every three or four years.
“You work out what the domestic TV companies are paying for.
“I think eventually it could take up to five years for this to come to fruition.
“The likes of NBC in the US are putting a lot of money into the Premier League, and that will only increase if there are American fixtures.
“If you look at the Premier League owners, especially American owners, they will argue for this – as Werner has done.
“They have a say in the game now, we’ve opened the door – so we have to open the door for international fans.”
In other news, Liverpool contract talks put on hold in “surprise” twist.
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