Arsenal planning tour of United States in summer of 2024

Arsenal is preparing to return to the United States for a slate of friendlies in the summer of 2024. Last season, the Gunners were part of the Soccer Champions Tour. A handful of European elites traveled across the Atlantic to play in friendlies. Arsenal had fixtures against Manchester United and Barcelona. Additionally, Arsenal played against the MLS All-Star Team in Washington, D.C., that summer.

Opponents, venues and dates for Arsenal’s supposed tour of the United States are not clear. In the past, Arsenal has played friendlies in the United States in late July or early August. That means the Gunners use the games as final preparation before the Premier League starts in August. In terms of location, the Kroenke-owned SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles would likely host a game. That is where the Gunners defeated Barcelona last summer.

This tour of the USA does mean Arsenal is adding to a loaded schedule of games in the United States. This summer, the Copa America returns to the United States from June 20 to July 14. That run time would indicate the preseason tour of the United States will start slightly later than last season. The beginning of the 2024/25 Premier League is on Aug. 17. That affords the end of July and the beginning of August as the only slots for Arsenal’s trip Stateside.

July 2024

Arsenal vs Manchester United – July 27, time TBD – Inglewood, CA: Tickets

Arsenal vs Liverpool – July 31, 7 PM – Philadelphia, PA: Tickets

Arsenal has made a knack for traveling to the United States for its preseason tour. As stated, the Gunners played in the United States in 2023. They did the same in 2022, and they scheduled games in the summer of 2021 before players in the squad picked up COVID-19, thus canceling the tour. Before the pandemic, Arsenal played in the United States in 2019, 2016 and 2014.

Arsenal summer tour comes to the United States again

Evidently, Arsenal is making an effort to spread its brand in the United States. Arsenal CEO Vinai Venkatesham, who is stepping down in the summer of 2024, spoke to Bloomberg about the importance of branding and exposure in the United States.

“The US has become our number one international market and we see that anecdotally,” Venkatesham said. “Every time we come to the US, we come every couple of years, we can see the game is growing and we can see Arsenal’s popularity is growing. And we also see it in the numbers.”

Venkatesham is alluding to Arsenal’s viewership numbers in the United States. The Gunners feature heavily in the five most-watched games in the United States. That includes the recent Arsenal game at Liverpool, when 1.96 million people watched on US TV and streaming.

Other clubs coming to the USA

Arsenal is not the only club that is planning to follow the Copa America in the United States. Liverpool has made it clear that it wants to play its preseason fixtures in the United States. The Reds were not part of the group that played in North America last year. Instead, Liverpool traveled to Asia to play games. Regardless, Liverpool is ready to play games in the United States for the first time in five years this summer.

Like Arsenal, there are no opponents, dates or venues lined up in Liverpool’s future.

PHOTOS: IMAGO.