Lambeau Field is primed and ready for a blockbuster matchup between two of the best teams in the business. So is Allegiant Stadium, the gleaming Raiders‘ home nestled next to the Las Vegas Strip, preparing to host the latest installment of a fierce and fiery rivalry.
No, you didn’t just take a two-month nap and wake up with the NFL season already underway. This is the time of year when a different kind of football is played out across traditional gridiron cathedrals across the country.
Yes, NFL stadiums throughout the U.S. are being pressed into summer service once more, as the latest collection of elite European soccer teams heads stateside for a lucrative part of their preseason preparations.
On Saturday, Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona will go head-to-head in Vegas. The same day, English Premier League rivals Arsenal and Chelsea — separated by just a few miles of London — will play at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, a six-hour flight from home.
Lambeau will host reigning EPL champion Manchester City against Bayern Munich, which holds the German Bundesliga title.
The list of reasons why so many teams come to America, and keep coming back, goes something like this: Money, warm weather, fine training facilities, money, exposure to the large American market, familiarity, money, large crowds, a chance to escape the pressures and distractions of home, and, you guessed it, money.
It is a flirtatious relationship between Europe’s biggest teams and the U.S., but questions still remain whether the swath of preseason exhibitions, or “friendlies,” does much to help the game in this country.
The answer is yes and no. It’s complicated.
The sums of money offered to top visiting teams are simply irresistible to the executives who control the purse strings. WIth monumental salaries paid to the best players, any chance to accrue additional revenue must be pounced upon.
However, the long-distance travel and the time away from home just weeks before a grueling domestic campaign means that the summer trips are not universally supported by the players, though most are smart enough to keep their reservations private. An ESPN report last week anonymously quoted a former EPL player as saying that the summer tours of the U.S. were hugely unpopular among players.
Furthermore, sometimes fans are left feeling shortchanged when the leading stars either only see limited playing time or do not feature at all. In many cases, such games lead to mass substitutions, as the informal nature of the contests means an unlimited number of replacements can be used.
It is a mixed bag. I attended last weekend’s matchup between Chelsea and Mexican side Club America in Vegas and the atmosphere was vibrant, helped in no small part by the clusters of passionate America fans from that team’s various fan groups interspersed throughout the U.S.
A game featuring mostly full-strength lineups was highlighted by a spectacular winning goal from England international Mason Mount — even if the scoreboard mistakenly called him Mason Hunt — and an outrageous own goal that blemished an otherwise excellent performance from Chelsea winger Reece James.
Often though, such games feature mostly second-string teams, a fact not lost on then-Manchester United head coach Jose Mourinho, four years ago.
“The atmosphere is good but if I was them (the fans), I wouldn’t come,” Mourinho told reporters. “I wouldn’t spend my money to see these teams.
“I think the passion many Americans have for soccer deserves more. They deserve the best teams and invest to bring the best clubs to the U.S. But we and some other clubs were not able to give to the people the real quality football that can attract even more passion in this country.”
Just like NFL preseason games and the NBA’s summer league, the summer tour matches played by the European clubs serve a purpose. The idea is not necessarily to field a full-strength squad and win handily, but to test out different options and give some playing time to everyone on the depth chart.
Of course, the fans who go to these games in the U.S. would prefer to be seeing meaningful league, Cup or Champions League games. Back in 2007, it briefly seemed like that might be possible, when the EPL proposed a “Game 39” — one additional match to be added to the season for every team and played at a neutral, overseas venue.
That didn’t happen and was decried so loudly it is unlikely to be revisited, meaning American fans will continue to get whatever they can. Which, for now, are what look and sound like monumental clashes between superstar-laden teams, but still leave a sense of it not quite being the real deal.
