sport news Premier League & NBC Sports execs in talks to potentially hold 39th league ... trends now
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The Premier League is in talks with NBC Sports to potentially hold a 39th game in the US, as a network executive vowed to 'continue to push for' the first English top-flight fixture to be played overseas.
Jon Miller - NBC Sports' president of acquisitions and partnerships - revealed that the USA's exclusive broadcaster of Premier League games (since 2013) is currently in the works with league executives to come up with a plan to further deepen ties between English soccer and its American Audience within the next few years.
'We've had conversations with the Premier League and they've been very open and receptive to listening to me,' Miller told The Athletic's Adam Crafton, in part, this week.
'We did the Premier League Summer Series (in pre-season) last year where we had six teams come over; Fulham, Aston Villa, Newcastle, Chelsea, Brighton & Hove Albion, and Brentford. We had nine games in seven days in five cities around America (and 265,000 fans were in attendance). It was great.'
The Premier League has previously tried and failed to organize a 39th round of fixtures across the world in 2008 but dropped its plans after facing backlash from supporters and the media.
The Premier League organized several pre-season 'summer games' across the US last summer
Jon Miller - NBC Sports' president of acquisitions and partnerships - backs the overseas game
Last week, Premier League chief executive Richard Masters remained coy over the possibility of an official league game being played abroad, saying it's not currently in the Premier League's plans
