English football fans rejoice. The Premier League is coming to Columbus.
Chelsea and Manchester City are set to play a pre-season friendly match August 3 at Ohio Stadium as part of the 2024 FC Series.
Tickets to the match go on sale March 27 at 10 a.m. on Ticketmaster.
Liam Twomey covers Chelsea as a staff writer for The Athletic.
Matthew: For those who maybe don't follow English soccer, tell us a bit about these two teams and what fans can expect.
Twomey: Well, they're really the two most successful teams in England over the last decade or so, but vastly different fortunes right now. Manchester City won the treble last season. They are widely acknowledged to be the best team in the world, although it's not yet certain whether they'll win the Premier League again this season.
Chelsea, meanwhile, are in the midst of a massive rebuild under new ownership. And they are mired in mid-table, as they were last season. And there's a fair bit of fan toxicity, lots of inconsistent performances. So very much a mixed picture when it comes to Chelsea. But Manchester City are still, I think, very much the dominant force in English football and probably European football.
Matthew: They call this a friendly—that doesn't sound terribly high stakes. How competitive is this game going to be?
Twomey: I think it will be competitive between the players that take to the field. It's harder to say which players will take to the field because there was always a little bit of rotation when it comes to these pre-season matches. But both of these clubs have big, deep, talented squads. So I think the local U.S. fans who attend this game should be able to see some some very high caliber footballers and hopefully a competitive, entertaining match.
Matthew: What does it say about Columbus to host this match?
Twomey: I think it says that the Premier League clubs are interested in building their profiles and their supporter bases right across the U.S. You're not just talking about, you know, New York, L.A, the real international centers. You know Chelsea's playing in Indiana on this tour as well. North Carolina. So they're very much going right across the the country trying to build a kind of grassroots fan base.
I mean, this isn't just starting this year. Chelsea have been doing this for for many years now, but I think there has been a greater focus since the change in ownership. Chelsea have American owners now, and I think that's a bigger focus for them to try to grow the club commercially. I think they're already aware that they have a committed, loyal fan base in the U.S. They just want to make it bigger.
Matthew: Yeah, what's driving the popularity of Premier League football here in the U.S.?
Twomey: Yeah, I think the sport as a whole has been has been growing in the U.S. I get that sense as an outsider over there over the last 10 to 15 years. I think you've probably seen that in the development of the U.S. men's national team as well. There's so much more talent in that team. It certainly seems like the U.S. is investing more resources to be really competitive in football.
But when you're talking about the Premier League specifically, it's the most watched sports league in the world. It's commercially the most successful. I think they do a very good job of packaging it and marketing it in different areas of the globe. And it's no surprise to me (about) the U.S. sports fans. I know how passionate they are about American sports. So it would make complete sense that once they sit down and watch football or soccer for five minutes, they would really get into the competitive element of that as well.
Matthew: And what's your sense about the players themselves? Do they look forward to crossing the pond for these matches?
Twomey: Yeah, I think they really enjoy the trips. I'm sure a few of them have been on holiday to the U.S., but you know, it's it's quite nice to go and play. They don't get many opportunities to do that within the European schedule. And there will be probably a little bit of fatigue in the legs, because I think there is a there is a calendar crunch in football broadly where the top players are expected to play every week forever, it seems, throughout the year, either for their clubs or their country.
So I think that's where the squads come in. That's where the rotation comes in. And that's why you won't necessarily see Manchester City or Chelsea's "strongest" elevens from the start in Columbus. But I think they are trips that the players relish (and) that they're trips that the clubs really prioritize to really engage with their local fans. And there should be plenty to enjoy.
