We’re now two weeks away from the start of the Premier League season. I hope you’re as excited as I am!
Today, we have:
🔴 Man Utd make De Ligt and Mazraoui double offer
🏟 USC, United and Liverpool — an unlikely union
🇰🇷 Analysing ‘Sonmania’
🤞 Inside the ‘second chance’ summer camp
❓Quiz Fridays
USC’s Premier League debut
(Lance King/Getty Images)
What’s the big deal?
Mention USC to the average Briton and they may shrug their shoulders and respond with musings about a clothing chain that was popular in the 2010s.
But USC — University of South Carolina — is a widely regarded sporting institution. Its stadium, the Williams-Brice, has a capacity of 78,000, but when it comes to the Premier League’s huge commercial pull in the U.S., it’s been untouched.
Until now.
Their venture into hosting matches kicks off in the biggest way — Manchester United and Liverpool facing off in Columbia.
To realise the significance of this venue hosting a game of this magnitude, here are a few headline stats: Columbia’s population is less than 140,000. Los Angeles, where United lost to Arsenal on Sunday, and Philadelphia, which hosted Liverpool vs Arsenal on Wednesday, are ranked No 2 and No 4 in a list of designated market areas — Columbia ranks 76th.
With no track record of hosting soccer events, this is a leap into the unknown.
But they have sensational facilities and their stadium capacity dwarfs any in the Premier League.
So, in theory, as Adam Crafton explains, it all makes sense.
How did this come about?
(Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images)
The idea of hosting soccer at USC was born during the Covid-19 pandemic, but the wheels really spun in motion last Autumn.
It began when live events promotion company TEG reached out to Chance Miller, at the time the deputy athletics director at USC.
TEG, for what it’s worth, has a track record of hosting money-spinning sporting events in the U.S. — organising the hot-ticket cricket fixture between India and Pakistan in New Jersey is the biggest example. It also has its teeth into Wrexham, organising their west coast tour this summer, which Richard Sutcliffe discusses here.
A charm offensive from Miller followed, which included giving the United and Liverpool commercial teams a taste of the unique atmosphere at the stadium, before impressing the clubs with the relevant plans and logistics.
Er, can I still get tickets?
Tickets sold, we are told, quicker than when Beyonce played there in 2018.
It’s had buyers from all 50 states, with 40 per cent of them from outside South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia.
On Ticketmaster this week, the cheapest resale ticket appeared to be $89 (£70), but the vast majority were in substantial three figures and some were reselling for more than $1,000.
It reflects the global draw of United and Liverpool. It should be a great spectacle.
News round-up
Sonmania: An evolution
(Han Myung-Gu/Getty Images)
Spurs’ South Korean popularity remains
Last month, fans gathered at South Korea’s Incheon Airport arrivals gate for over an hour. The horseshoe shape formed was five people deep at points, with flags, banners and cameras at the ready.
Tottenham Hotspur were in town and among them, their hero — Son Heung-min.
He is adored in his home country and emerged from the plane to much fanfare. Pandemonium, even.
“The only one thing I can compare it to was when Maradona arrived in Argentina,” Ossie Ardiles told The Athletic’s Seb Stafford-Bloor.
There is clamour for Son, sure, but not to the level of, say, David Beckham. It’s less grabby and urgent, more respectful and sincere.
Of course, Spurs travelled to South Korea to capitalise commercially on this affection and the experts reckon the ‘Son effect’ will still be felt long-term.
But these things come in cycles and football clubs tend to lurch from one short-term opportunity to another. So while we will probably still see Spurs shirts worn in South Korea in 20 years’ time, by then the club may well be dipping their toes into the next lucrative location.
Second-chance camp
How does it work?
The Professional Footballers’ Association gets a lot of stick in some circles, but you have to tip your cap to this initiative.
This summer, they have put on a 10-week pre-season training campfor 30 out-of-contract players.
The aim: to ensure they are fit and ready, so if clubs sign them they can hit the ground running.
“Make the most of this opportunity — you can’t replicate this anywhere else,” said striker Omar Bogle, who attended the camp.
Elias Burke went behind the scenes.
And what are the results?
Some of the players have been documenting their time on TikTok and I have to say, I’ve been hugely impressed.
Bogle, for example, has since been signed by League Two side Crewe Alexandra.
In addition to fitness, there has been a huge camaraderie among the group.
Usually, unattached players would train by themselves with a physical trainer or in a small group.
But as one player said, at this camp: “It feels like I’m at a team already — the only thing missing is the badge.”
Lovely to see.
Welcome to Quiz Town
Visiting the U.S. is increasingly important to UK teams, as we have seen this summer, and plenty of U.S. players have featured in England’s top division since 1992. So, this week’s quiz question is:
Can you name the seven American players to play more than 100 times in the Premier League with at least one goal AND at least one assist to their name?
The answer will be in Monday’s newsletter and here later today.
Catch an Olympic match
Men’s quarter-finals (both kick-offs today, ET/BST)
Morocco vs U.S. (9am/2pm) USA Network/Peacock, Eurosport
France vs Argentina (3pm/8pm) Peacock, BBC iPlayer
Women’s quarter-finals (both kick-offs Saturday, ET/BST)
USWNT vs Japan (9am/2pm) Peacock, Eurosport
Canada vs Germany (1pm/6pm) Peacock, Eurosport
(Top photo: Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images)
