Darragh MacAnthony reveals fans ‘will hate’ new controversial Premier League and EFL plans

Darragh MacAnthony reveals fans ‘will hate’ new controversial Premier League and EFL plans, being only a matter of time before it happens.

The Peterborough chairman appeared on talkSPORT this week, and was vocal about his ideas for improving football, saying it would help lower league clubs.

MacAnthony has suggested that they could benefit from TV revenue by broadcasting their matches. Currently, most televised matches feature big clubs, but he believes that lower league sides should also have a chance to showcase their games and generate revenue.

His proposal involves allowing lower-league clubs to keep gate money and potentially featuring them on television instead of exclusively showing Premier League matches.

Interestingly, MacAnthony supports the idea of playing matches abroad. This could have several benefits, including financial gains and exposure for clubs. It might also facilitate the exchange of talent between the UK and other countries.

Questioned if Premier League and EFL games will be played abroad, MacAnthony told White and Jordan: “It’s a dead-cert.

“You have to look at the NFL who are the second biggest industry in sports after Premier League money for TV deals.

“The reason for that is that they’ve grown their product by having games in Brazil, London, Germany – I think they’re going to Mexico next year, Asia will be next.

“Forget friendlies in the summer, there’s no doubt in my mind that the next evolution to move the product along for bigger TV deals will be to have the odd Premier League and EFL game abroad so that in the next TV rights deal, we’ll have less clubs in financial trouble in the EFL.

“It’s a good thing. I know fans will hate it, but I’m telling you that a bigger TV deal for us is good for business and anything that helps us have our product reach across the world, like this, is something worth doing.”

On anger from fans, MacAnthony said: “This isn’t the Super League.

“The NFL have two games a season in England, one in Germany and one in Brazil. There’s hundreds of NFL games.

“This is about a game in the EFL, a game in the Premier League – we need to grow our product.

“As a League One club we were in the top 45 clubs in England by ranking after finishing fourth in League One and we got about £1.5million in TV money, does that make sense to you?

“So how does the EFL grow its product? By going into markets we’re not in yet and putting our product on display – it can’t just be Wrexham doing documentaries that puts eyes on the EFL.

“We have to do it – the only way we can do it is to play maybe a competitive game or two into those countries.

“They have such an appetite in America for our product.

“Some people from America go and watch the NFL games in some of these countries – they go to Brazil, they go to Mexico and they go to London so you can bring the fans with you.

“There’s no reason why if you had a game in Florida that the people on Disney holidays couldn’t go to the game, so I think everyone is overreacting.

“It’s always the usual outrage mob, but what if it helps the product be better?

“What if it helps the stadium be nicer or makes the price of tickets cheaper? If it could in the EFL, would it help, and would fans be up for it? Because that’s what I’m talking about here.”

There was plenty of reaction as Darragh MacAnthony reveals fans ‘will hate’ the new controversial Premier League and EFL plans he talked about while on talkSPORT…

@djcwarbs1: Help out the lower leagues, they wouldn’t see the money, the Prem would pocket all the money! 🤷

@hughjas32792347: @DMAC102 if a Peterborough home game was moved abroad would you pay for your season ticket holders to go out there? 🤡🤡🤡

@scottie_game: Silly talk, @DMAC102. The Premier League and its member clubs must do right by there domestic based fans. @theposh fans would be in uproar if you tried to do this to their club. The football without fans message is clearly no longer valid to chairman and the money men.

@relax792: Absolute rubbish

@markordynamics376: Yes let’s get Plymouth Argyle vs Rotherham at the Yankees stadium, absolute ripper of an experience that

@paddygladman5876: thank god alex was there to show some sense

@Leenufc1993: The more money clubs make the more transfers and wages increase…nothing will get filtered down to the fans, it just means average players that go for £30m already will start going for £40m-£50m…

@lewisdirienzo201: With each passing day i’m turning away from the pro game, non league is where real football is at, the money men/guys in suits have destroyed our beautiful game

@9320Cityzens: my question is who misses out the most, and that’s the season ticket holders for the respective clubs. I’m guessing they will want United v Liverpool, City v United, games like that abroad, and not Bournemouth against Crystal Palace. So, a team doesn’t get to play a home game against a rival and misses out on that advantage, match going fans, the most loyal of the fans miss out on watching the biggest game of the season live. For what? Money? Sounds incredible.

@paddygladman5876: the NFL is completely different to english football. nfl teams don’t represent a town/city, they constantly move around so get supported by different fans all across america. there is zero reason for english teams who represent english towns and cities to play games abroad, taking the sport away from true, proper fans. if you’re american and you like football then go and support your local team in america and leave our game alone. they won’t care about watching a random premier league game between brentford and bournemouth!! they only want the big teams. you CANNOT take our sport away from us.

@EnglishForFootball: It’ll be 1 game. Then 5 games. Then when all the clubs are owned by American business, it’ll go global and only 10 games will be played in England. The you’ll never get it back. Darragh will be one of the first to complain when it inevitable creates a bigger divide between PL teams and EFL teams

@DanJ88: If you really think that taking premier league games overseas is going to help the likes of Peterborough United you are deluded.

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