European football bosses have admitted they are “exploring different ideas” as discussions continue behind the scenes about taking a revamped UEFA Super Cup to the United States.
The PA news agency understands substantive talks have taken place over a four-team Super Cup being played as a season-opening event in the US from 2024, potentially featuring the champions of Major League Soccer alongside the winners of UEFA’s three men’s club competitions.
Nasser Al Khelaifi, who as well as being chairman of the European Club Association and president of Paris St Germain is a UEFA executive committee member, was asked whether taking UEFA matches outside Europe was beyond the realms of possibility at the ECA’s General Assembly in Istanbul on Friday.
He said: “We didn’t discuss America, specifically, we didn’t agree anything basically.
“What we are trying to do is help to grow and develop our competitions. We have the right to think about it, to explore different ideas and to look at what makes sense or not, but for today, I can confirm nothing.
“But why not look for all the opportunities that we have to grow our clubs and our competitions?”
UEFA and the ECA see the US as a major growth market. They have achieved a 150 per cent increase in the value of their English-language broadcast rights in the US as part of their new commercial joint venture, compared to the current cycle.
That rights deal was brokered by Relevent, a company which has previously tried, without success, to organise regular-season LaLiga matches in the US.
Ajax chief executive Edwin Van Der Sar, another member of the ECA board, also did not dismiss the possibility of UEFA matches going overseas in the future.
The former Manchester United goalkeeper said: “You pretend it’s completely new or something that the games are played abroad.
“The Italian Super Cup and certain cup finals are also played in different countries than the home country itself. National associations and national leagues are already playing abroad in certain finals.
“I am not sure how far the idea from UEFA or the ECA (has advanced), but of course it’s nothing new that certain games are being played abroad.”
Sources have told PA that all options to attract families and female fans to a new-look Super Cup would be considered, whether it be placing the matches within a weekend festival or having pop acts perform before games or at half-time.
They point out that other sports have successfully taken matches into new markets, such as the NFL playing regular-season games in London.
Formula One chief executive Stefano Domenicali attended the General Assembly, with the ECA keen to hear from other sports and businesses about how they have generated new revenue streams.
As well as selling broadcast rights, F1 also sells countries the right to host its events, which may be something the UEFA-ECA joint venture could look at with the Super Cup.
Al Khelaifi paid tribute to Domenicali in his address to the Assembly, saying: “I remember the first time we met, I was inspired by your vision, your ideas and your project.
“You have made Formula 1 more than a sport. You have created a lifestyle and a brand. Entertainment is at the heart of everything you do. Formula 1 has an amazing leader. I am sure we will be inspired by what you will tell us later today.”
He added that the ECA’s relationship with F1 was evidence that the ECA was “open-minded and pushing forward ideas”.
He added: “We need always to be creative and think out of the box; standing still is going backwards.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here