Let’s be honest Newcastle United have already done the dress rehearsal a few times now when it comes to playing a Premier League game overseas.
In 2019, the Magpies travelled to China to play Wolverhampton Wanderers in Nanjing and then took on West Ham in Shanghai a few days later in the Premier League Asia Trophy. Then last summer they participated in the Premier League Summer Series in games in Philadelphia, Atlanta and New Jersey in front of thousands of American-based fans against Aston Villa, Chelsea and Brighton & Hove Albion.
The events were Premier League games abroad in everything but name in reality with the top-flight’s theme tune cascading down from venues such as Lincoln Financial Field in Philly and Hongkou Stadium in the Premier League Asia Trophy. United’s trip to America last summer was taken seriously by Toon chiefs who absorbed the trip to the maximum, inspecting merchandise stalls and tapping into the US fanbase in every city.
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The club know that their global expansion plans are at stake, that’s why they were happy to sign off a lucrative seven-figure deal to play Tottenham Hotspur in Melbourne next month in another game that will go under the microscope of football fans around the globe. So what price a Premier League match that should be getting played at St James’ Park for the right to win three points taking place in say Chicago or Tokyo?
Well, Premier League supremo Richard Masters has been very careful with his words but has hardly ruled it out completely at some stage. The payoff for Newcastle could be huge with millions at stake and the coffers set to be boosted. Masters said on Friday: “The door looks ajar for matches abroad. It is not part of our current plans.”
But try telling that to a diehard from Howdon or Percy Main who hasn’t missed a Toon home game for decades. We’re approaching a very interesting time with the Premier League fearing they are in danger of being overtaken by major sporting divisions across the world.
When it comes to the American sports network, they already have and closer to home too. We’ve had NFL in London for years with the likes of Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers delighting UK fans by playing a full scale game for points at Tottenham and Wembley.
Major League Baseball has also found a home at West Ham with New York Mets vs Philadelphia Phillies taking place in June in the capital while NHL has been played in Sweden with Detroit Red Wings, Minnesota Wild, Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs no less taking a cheque to play many miles away from home.
From a coaching point of view, Eddie Howe knows that going to Australia is not something he’d have planned at the end of a long hard season with major international tournaments just around the corner. He said recently: “I don’t think it’s something that, being honest, in my position you’re saying ‘I want to go’. But I understand the club’s position and we will back it if the club say: we’re going.
“From a physical perspective, being honest, it is something we wouldn’t want to do.
“But we respect the club and respect the demands, that the club is moving very quickly, so when asked to do these things we will do them with the best attitude we can.”
The Premier League may not be there yet when it comes to taking a full scale game for three points on a global adventure. But they will be, and the teams involved will be massively compensated, as Newcastle try to keep pace with Man United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Man City, can they afford to overlook it?
View news Source: https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/newcastle-play-premier-league-game-29071221
