New threat to move Premier League games abroad: Liverpool chairman says he's 'determined' to have matches in New York and multiple global cities all in one day - with a bizarre plan for travelling fans

Liverpool chairman Tom Werner has expressed his ambition of seeing Premier League matches being played abroad.

England's top flight, which has run as the Premier League since 1992, has never in its history seen a game played outside of the United Kingdom, though such an event appears to be edging ever closer to happening.

There have been a number of proposals over the years to present the league on a bigger scale, most-recently the European Super League, which was announced in 2021 and met with major backlash from fans.

A number of arguments have been put forward for it happening, with the money-making benefit obvious and others claiming it would help grow the league worldwide in allowing more fans to watch and engage with teams.

It is a proposal that Werner, an American whose group Fenway Sports Group took over Liverpool in 2010, is keen on, as he expressed to the Financial Times.

'I'm determined one day to have a Premier League game played in New York City,' he said. 'I even have the sort of crazy idea that there would be a day where we play one game in Tokyo, one game a few hours later in Los Angeles, one game a few hours later in Riyadh and make it a sort of day where football, where the Premier League, is celebrated.'

Werner's proposal is similar to that of Game 39, which was first imagined in 2008. It would have seen an extra round of Premier League matches played worldwide mid-way through the season.

It was planned that the event would start in the 2010-11 season, then 2013-14, but has not yet happened due to the FA ruling it 'unsustainable'.

The event would have seen venues bid to host unspecified games, with coverage available of all 10 games due to staggered start times.

Werner, who's co-owner John W Henry apologised after his side pulled out of the Super League plan hours after it was announced, however, appeared to suggest that regular-season games should be held abroad, meaning fewer matches would be held at home teams' stadiums, instead playing at neutral venues.

The American, who also owns Major League Baseball's Boston Red Sox among a number of other sports teams, suggested a way around fans from England being unable to watch their sides.

'Let's figure out a way to offer them very cheap travel and accommodations,' he said. 'If Liverpool is playing Nottingham Forest, we will support fans coming to New York and make this an attractive thing for the fans as well.

The Premier League has previously said it has no plans to stage matches abroad, but Manchester City's battle against the Premier League could be a deciding factor on if it happens in the near future.

Major changes to Premier League rules need 14 out of the 20 clubs to vote in favour to pass, but that could all change if City triumph in arbitration.

Daniel Gore, a senior associate at law firm Withers, told The Athletic of how a two-thirds majority rule is generally in place in corporate procedure.

He said: 'It is hard to see how effective governance could take place without a threshold such as this, so Manchester City's challenge could plunge the Premier League's governance structure into chaos and make it harder for any decision to take place.' 

The number of clubs have American owners who, for example, may want games played in the USA, or to introduce rules from American sports leagues such as closed leagues or how TV revenue is dealt out between the teams.

A move to have, for argument's sake, five Premier League games played in the US could in future need only 11 votes to pass if all clubs stake their votes, rather than the 14 currently mandated by the two-thirds majority rule.