US TV giant NBC wants two Premier League opening day matches to be played in the US as price to pay for colossal £2bn TV deal – sparking backlash among fans after debacle from the 39th match 17 years ago.

Premier League faces new demands for matches to be played in USwith American television giants NBC determined to move two opening weekend games to the United States.

In the United States, high-profile TV executives and agents are publicly pushing for “Manchester United vs. Chelsea in New York”, and even the general manager of the Premier League Richard Masters admits that “the door seems ajar” for matches being played abroad.

It comes at a time when football is seeing huge growth in the United States, with Lionel Messi’s arrival at Inter Miami being one of the contributing factors, but there is also great interest in English football .

A record 2.6 million viewers watched Manchester City’s 0-0 draw with Arsenal, widely seen as a decisive match for the league title, and NBC’s president of acquisitions and partnerships revealed that ” conversations” had taken place.

NBC paid £2bn for TV rights to the Premier League – over a six-year deal – and wants to capitalize on growing interest in England’s top flight by bringing matches to the United States.

The American channel NBC wants to organize two opening matches of the Premier League in the United States

The Premier League has grown in popularity in America in recent years (Photo – Premier League Fan Fest in Nashville in April)

“We’ve had conversations with the Premier League and they’ve been very open and receptive to listening to me,” Jon Miller, NBC’s president of acquisitions, told The Athletic.

“We participated in the Premier League Summer Series (in pre-season) last year, where six teams came; Fulham, Aston Villa, Newcastle, Chelsea, Brighton & Hove Albion and Brentford.

“We played nine games in seven days in five cities across America (and 265,000 fans were in attendance). It was great.’

“All the teams that came did really well, had a great experience and really got to interact with the fans. And the Premier League saw that it was a great success. At some point in the future I would love to see some Premier League games opening the season here in big stadiums on our opening weekend.

“And I know that’s something we’ll continue to push for because I think there’s an American audience here that would like to see regular season games, but in the meantime we’ll continue to work with the Premier League to do everything we can do to make games accessible to as many people as possible.

It comes as Casey Wasserman – the head of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics and founder of sports and entertainment agency Wasserman Media Group – suggested the move was likely to happen in the future.

Wasserman cited as an example the NFL matches played at Wembley, which were something of a success story with English fans regularly flocking to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and Wembley.

Notably, La Liga chief Javier Tebas has already thrown his support behind Spanish league matches taking place across the Atlantic, suggesting the 2025-26 season as a starting point.

Jon Miller – NBC Sports president of acquisitions and partnerships – claimed “conversations” had been had with the Premier League.

Premier League CEO Richard Masters (pictured) said “the door seems ajar” for matches played abroad.

“Just like the NFL has done a really good job of broadcasting its games overseas, I think you’re going to see European professional (football) games being played in the United States,” Wasserman said.

“It’s the biggest sport in the world and it’s the biggest sports market in the world.”

“Look at what Messi plays for MLS and does for MLS, it’s astounding. But if you had a Manchester United versus Chelsea game in New York or a Real Madrid and Barcelona game in Miami, those levels of games in the cities American games – real matches that matter – could be huge. I’d be shocked if it didn’t happen.

It should be noted, however, that an NFL team will only play 17 games in the regular season before the play-offs, which is far less than the 38 games a football team plays in the league alone, before the playoffs. at least two cup matches. competitions for Premier League teams.

Travel across the Atlantic would therefore undermine an already busy schedule which constantly attracts criticism from top managers, Pep Guardiola has already commented on this month.

There would also likely be environmental consequences associated with regularly having an entire football team travel across the Atlantic Ocean to play a single match, with similar complaints already being raised due to the impacts of clubs traveling across the Europe midweek.

The concept was met with stiff opposition from fans – who played a key role in the failure of the “39th Game” idea around 17 years ago – and many American supporters are also opposed to the suggestion .

The Football Supporters Association wrote on

The Premier League hosted several pre-season “summer games” across the United States last summer.

The likes of Chelsea, Newcastle and Brentford crossed the Atlantic to take part in the Summer Series last year.

Another user added: “I’m an American fan and this is not something I want. The Premier League is not an American sport and they shouldn’t have to travel here for league games. Never.’

A third said: “From an American obsessed with English football to Jon Miller, NO! English games belong to England.

One wrote: “No, absolutely and unequivocally. The most difficult of the difficult passes. An absurd idea promoted by those who have less than zero idea of ​​football culture, community or history.

And a fifth user concluded: “There is literally no reason for a European league to play real competitive matches in the United States… The players already have an extremely busy schedule, it is not comparable to the NFL where teams only have to play 17 games per year. season without international competitions.

The fact that fans appear so fiercely opposed would prove a major obstacle to the movement, with supporters having notably played a key role in the dissolution of the European Super League project in England, as well as the rejection of the 39th match proposal .

NBC Sports is currently locked in a six-year contract with the Premier League for continued exclusive coverage of matches in the United States since 2022.

The deal was reportedly worth $450 million per season (around £360 million) to Prime, “which is more than five times the first deal signed with NBC when they started broadcasting the Premier League in 2012”, according to The Athletic. .

Additionally, over the past 11 years, nearly 40 million viewers have watched the Premier League each season on NBC, and a Nielson study found that 48% of all soccer fans in the United States now have a team favorite Premier League.

The idea received heavy criticism from fans on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.

Miller also wants to provide better audio access to fans, which will include the managers’ microphone.

Miller also revealed that he would like to provide better audio access to fans, as he wants to offer a deeper insight into how managers interact with fourth officials, players and the rest of their coaching staff.

He told The Athletic: “There are two things that really bring the viewer and the fan closer to the action: access and audio. So any time you can increase your access and grow your stars, it’s great. And people love hearing what Jurgen Klopp says to his team or what he says on the sidelines.

“We realize there needs to be some protection against this. But we think these are the kinds of things we continue to push the boundaries on. And the Premier League is responsive. They are really good when we present ideas to them. Far be it from me to try to tell the Premier League what makes a good product. Their product is spectacular.

“But just like we do with the NFL and golf, we’re constantly talking with our partners and thinking about things we can do to make the games better and more engaging to try to expand our audience.”