London: England's Premier League could be going global.
The League's 20 clubs agreed unanimously on Thursday to examine proposals to expand the regular season and play 10 games overseas starting in 2010-11.
The matches would be played at five venues around the world over a single weekend in January 2011. Each city would host one game on Saturday and one on Sunday.
The "international round" would be in addition to the traditional 38 home and away matches each of the clubs currently play.
"We can't escape the fact that globalisation of sport is with us," Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore said.
"This is a response to that globalization. By design we have become a global phenomenon. We cannot go on manifesting that phenomenon as a broadcast proposition only."
No potential host cities or countries have been discussed, Scudamore said.
However, he said the league would avoid venues with potential bad weather conditions. That would appear to rule out the US East Coast and Midwest.
Despite protests from coaches that their players already suffer from too many matches, the switch to a 39-game season would start in 2010-11 when a new television broadcast agreement is scheduled to take effect.
The Premier League initiative follows the success of the top American leagues in staging football, basketball, hockey and baseball games outside of the United States.
The NFL held its first regular season game outside North America in London last October when the New York Giants beat the Miami Dolphins 13-10, the same month the Boston Celtics and the Minnesota Timberwolves played a preseason NBA game there.
"We have been wrestling with how we might do something internationally for quite some time," Scudamore said.
"We've been inundated over the last five years with a whole host of proposals. It reached a crescendo when the NFL came to Wembley."
Still to be worked out would be how the team matchups would be decided.
"All clubs have an equal chance of being treated unfairly," Scudamore said. "It's better than taking somebody's home game."
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No league games would be played in the week before or after the round of overseas matches.
All 10 games would be broadcast live in Britain. They would be sold as a separate package under European Union law and would be put for bids.
Scudamore said the club chairman would hold a two-day meeting in June to further discuss the proposals. A final decision is expected next January.
"We have not voted today to do it," Scudamore said.
"We have not voted today to say, 'This is how it will be done.' We have voted to further examine a proposal."
Most Premier League clubs already embark on annual preseason overseas tours to promote themselves and boost revenue.
Manchester United and Liverpool have already toured Asia in the offseason.
Chelsea played AC Milan and DC United last year in a preseason tour of the United States, while Manchester United even took part in a friendly match in Saudi Arabia last month during the middle of the regular season.
Not all Premier League managers were enthused by the overseas plans.
Middlesbrough's Gareth Southgate compared the proposal to a practical joke, while Wigan's Steve Bruce questioned the extra load it would place on players.
"It's bad enough with international friendlies, let alone going overseas," Bruce told Britain's Press Association. "I wouldn't be surprised, although there will be a few irate people.
"It is not something you would relish, but it's interesting."
The Football Association is anxious to ensure that the plans do not hamper the performance of the national team by adding to the load on the England players.
"We look forward to discussing the detail with the league and looking carefully at the implications, to ensure that the proposal fits well alongside the existing fixture list, including our domestic cup and league competitions and our national team games," the FA said in a statement.
England have already failed to qualify for this year's European Championship, while some fans and commentators have attributed the team's generally poor performances at summer tournaments partially to the failure to follow Germany, Italy, Spain and France in having a midseason winter break.
The Premier League instead seems to be contemplating an extra match while other leagues are resting.
"All the proposals we had up until this one looked a bit contrived, a bit one-off, like talk of Manchester United playing Arsenal in New York," Scudamore said. "This had to be for all clubs because not all clubs would get the opportunity.
"If you let the market decide this, there are some clubs that can do this more easily than others."
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