Ceferin: “It is possible to watch Champions League games in the USA”

UEFA President, Alexander CeferinShe spoke to the US podcast Men in Blazers about the possibility of playing Champions League games on the other side of the Atlantic.

“It is possible that we will see Champions League games in the United States. We started talking about it, but in one year there was the World Cup, in 2024 there will be Euros, this year the final will be in Istanbul, 2024 in London. 2025 in Munich. And then we’ll see. It’s possible, it’s possible.” said the head of the European Football Association first, although he had claimed in a previous interview that there had been no such talks.

“Football is extremely popular in America these days. Americans are willing to pay a lot for the best and nothing for less. So you will see European football the way basketball fans in Europe see the NBA. This is very important and promising market for the future. The point is that we license successfully. Sponsorships from the USA are fine for the time being, but here the merchandising is completely different than in Europe. The Americans are more talented than the Europeans at this.

The 55-year-old Slovenian admitted that the reason for such a move is financial: “The fans will kind of think ‘these bastards in Switzerland are only in it for the money’ and I repeat a thousand times, we redistribute 97% of the money. Of course our earnings are huge. I want it to be like that, more than current”.

He also claimed that television viewing was guaranteed in such an endeavor: “What shocked me is that the final stages of Euro 2020, the finals of the European national teams, were watched by more people in the US than the NBA finals were at the level of the Super Bowl. So I think we’re doing well.

The main reason why this idea has not yet been implemented is clear to him: “The problem is the time difference, because if you drive on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 3 p.m. or 12 p.m. Pacific, there is a problem. We would have higher ratings if times were different.”