SPECIALREPORT
Europe, can command higher TV rights.
This summer was set to be particularly
important for the Premier League’s “big
six.” As they do the most touring, they
used this to argue for a greater share of
international TV rights in 2018, and were
expected to continue attracting big
crowds from across the globe.
On average, 75 per cent of all
preseason friendlies over the last decade
played by Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool,
Manchester City, Manchester United and
Tottenham Hotspur have been overseas.
In that time, Man. City managed just
four games in the UK. Even when these
big clubs do play in the UK, opponents
are often brought in from overseas to
drive up gate receipts and commercial
income. On average, over the last decade
just15 per cent of preseason games by
the “Big Six” were against other UK
clubs, while 35 per cent were played
overseas in neutral venues. Some are
matches in training camps, but many
are exhibition games like the ICC.
This touring drives up overseas TV
rights, which – unlike domestic Premier
League rights – is rising and totalled
£4.35 billion for 2019-22. The league
is marketing rights for a new deal from
2022 and tours are an ideal marketingMichigan...supporters
at Manchester United
v Liverpool in 2018Japan...Chelsea and
Kawasaki Frontale
players pose togetherare very lucrative as clubs can charge a
seven-figure fee. If 80,000 people pay
$50, with catering and other income,
you could probably gross $5 million.
Divide that between the two clubs –
that’s $2m each and you keep the rest.”
The International Champions Cup,
run by Relevent Sports, the promoters
controlled by Miami Dolphins owner
Stephen Ross, is the biggest attraction.
Global names from the Premier League
and other major leagues play exhibition
games in the USA and Asia.
With an average of nearly15
substitutions per game, there is not
much strain on the players, but fans
don’t seem to mind. When Barcelona
played Real Madrid in Miami in 2017
in only the secondClasicoheld outside
of Spain, tickets cost nearly nine times
as much as that season’s Champions
League final, prompting a “Greed All
About It” headline in UK newspaper
The Sun.
With a $20m fee for the biggest
names, most clubs won’t care. However,
this year’s ICC has been cancelled.
Asia has also been a long-standing
target for the Premier League but with
a different strategy. Teams from North
America are the second most popular
opposition for Premier League clubs- behind Germany – but there is less
interest in playing Asian clubs.
The Premier League Asia Trophy
has been staged every two years since
2003 but after the 2015 event in
Singapore, the tournament was
restricted to Premier League clubs only.
Over the past decade, English sides
played 68 preseason games in nine
Asian countries, but only 45 were
against local sides.
Premier League clubs have played
24 games in China since 2010 but only
seven against Chinese teams. Since
2013, the only matches played by a
Premier League club against a Chinese
side were by Southampton, who are
owned by Chinese businessman Gao
Jisheng. Poor pitches are one reason –
in 2016, Beijing was due to host the first
Manchester derby on foreign soil until
it was cancelled due to the state of
the playing surface. Another is that
matches in China against other high-
profile European sides, usually fromShanghai...fans at the ICC clash between Tottenham and Manchester United