English soccer’s top-tier Premier League has officially opened its first office in the US.
The 20-team league now has a base in the Manhattan region of New York City, established to “support the continued growth of the Premier League and its clubs in the US.”
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The announcement came on Friday, in the build-up to the pre-season Premier League Summer Series, which involves six clubs from the top tier playing across nine matches in five US East Coast cities in the next few days.
The league has brought in Akash Jain, a former executive at basketball's NBA, American football’s NFL, and Major League Soccer, as its managing director in the US. He arrives with close to 20 years of experience “driving fan and commercial growth for sports properties globally.”
The Premier League joins Spain’s LaLiga, Italy’s Serie A, and Germany’s Bundesliga in establishing a US office.
In the US, Premier League action is covered live by the NBC Sports network, which has been a league partner since 2013 and last renewed rights in November 2021, in a major deal running until 2028.
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By GlobalDataJain said: “I am excited to be joining the Premier League at this time. We know, among sports fans in the US, the Premier League has the highest interest of any soccer league. Establishing an in-market presence will provide a great opportunity to strengthen our on-the-ground relationships with fans, NBC Sports, and other partners.
“With close to a quarter of a million fans likely to attend the Premier League Summer Series this month, it illustrates the tremendous popularity of the league and clubs here.”
Richard Masters, chief executive at the Premier League, added: “The Premier League’s popularity has strengthened significantly in the United States over the last decade so opening an office in New York is a great chance to build on that success. We look forward to having a permanent base here and working even closer with NBC Sports.”
The league has said that in the future, it will aim to “deliver more opportunities for fans in the US to engage … while developing partnerships and content strategies to deepen relationships with existing supporters as well as attracting new fans.”
Since 2018, the league and NBC Sports have hosted eight Premier League Mornings Live fan festival events, involving live screenings of matches, across multiple US cities.
Last season, US players in the top English league included Christian Pulisic, Tyler Adams, Brenden Aaronson, Weston McKennie, Tim Ream, and Antonee Robinson.
The league opened its first international office in 2019, in Singapore.
