A report from The Athletic has revealed details of plans for a pre-season tournament in the USA next summer, but Tottenham Hotspur and the other so-called Big Six sides are not currently involved.
Pre-season breaks used to be more of a formality, with the sole focus of getting players fit and ready for the league season to begin. Historically, they have also been a great opportunity for clubs from different levels of the game to stage a nice, friendly match.
That’s all changed, with pre-season tours proving a lucrative way for clubs to enhance their reputation in other countries. Now, you’re more likely to see Chelsea and Arsenal battle it out in Orlando than you are to see the big teams visiting a Football League stadium.
This notion looks to be taken further next summer, as plans start to take shape for a pre-season tournament involving Premier League clubs in 2023. It follows the announcement in 2021 that executives wanted to host ‘meaningful’ games overseas (The Athletic).
While normal league games appear to be off the table, pre-season fixtures are ripe for the picking it seems. The latest report from The Athletic details a competition will take place in the United States in the summer of 2023.
The “enhanced pre-season tournament” was initially planned for the summer of 2022, but Covid-19 delayed that. Now, “it is anticipated the event will occur in late July,” but exact details are yet to be confirmed.
The Athletic said: “[The tournament] would benefit from Premier League branding and would be expected to sell out major stadiums, while also attracting plenty of interest from sponsors and generating significant broadcast rights deals.”
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At present, it is not known what teams will be involved, but according to The Athletic, “14 of the Premier League’s current 20 sides appear keen to participate. The intentions of the so-called Big Six are less clear, but there is optimism that at least one of them would decide to join the project.”
Spurs Web Opinion
The schedule for any top football team is already hectic, but between these plans and the disastrous planning for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, it’s getting out of hand. Pre-season should be for the benefit of the players’ fitness levels and nothing else.
Sadly, in this day and age, money talks louder than ever. It seemingly doesn’t matter if players are exhausted or a club’s core base of fans will miss out, as long as the sponsorship is there.
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