During the attempted launch of the European Super League (ESL) in 2021 three American Premier League club owners – Manchester United’s Joel Glazer, Liverpool’s John W Henry and Arsenal’s Stan Kroenke – formed part of the ill-fated organisation’s leadership group.
Having sparked a crisis and been widely condemned by fans and other clubs, the breakaway collapsed within days.
But the proposal that the founding clubs would have been guaranteed entry to the ESL without needing to qualify each year was a clear move in the direction of American pro sports, which operate in closed, franchise-based systems without promotion or relegation.
That sense of a culture clash with the traditions of the English football pyramid was only reinforced in 2022 when Chelsea’s American co-owner Todd Boehly expressed his hope that the Premier League took “a little bit of a lesson from American sports” in a bid to boost broadcast revenue.
His controversial proposals included a ‘north versus south All-Star match’ and relegation play-offs.
That prompted former Manchester United and England defender Gary Neville to say that US investment into English football was “a clear and present danger to the pyramid and fabric of the game. They just don’t get it.”
Niall Couper, chief executive of football campaign group Fair Game, told BBC Sport: “The growing number of American owners in the Premier League is concerning. Many arrive with a franchise mentality – focused on profit, closed leagues and commercialisation at the expense of community and tradition.
“The tipping point could well come when two thirds of Premier League clubs are owned by Americans – a milestone that we are moving rapidly towards. The last hope for fans and the wider football pyramid is the incoming independent football regulator.”