Top English clubs may skip Premier League's US Summer Series

The Premier League is working to bring the Summer Series friendly competition back in 2025, but it faces major hurdles. In the summer of 2023, the competition debuted with six Premier League teams each playing three friendlies in the United States. However, for the summer of 2025, no Premier League teams have committed to the Summer Series. As a result, there is concern within the league that top teams would be unwilling to commit to the competition.

The issues facing the Premier League Summer Series come from three areas. To start, some major teams are simply unavailable. Chelsea and Manchester City will play in the 2025 Club World Cup. That new-look tournament from FIFA, which is also in the United States, happens around one month before friendlies like the Summer Series. Given their participation in that tournament, players will need rest. Additionally, teams would unlikely want to spend their entire summers in one location, even if it is rife with potential like the United States.

The other top Premier League clubs outside of the Club World Cup may not want to compete. For example, Manchester United and Liverpool believe they can field better financial offers away from the Premier League. This was the case in 2023 during the debut of the Premier League Summer Series. Manchester United and Arsenal played friendlies in the United States, but it was part of the Soccer Champions Tour. That preseason competition also included Barcelona, Real Madrid, Juventus and AC Milan.

That contributes to the matter of interest. In 2023, the Summer Series featured Chelsea, Newcastle, Aston Villa and Brighton. Each of those four teams is either popular in the United States or they had on-field success in recent seasons. A Premier League Summer Series without top clubs will struggle.

Premier League ready to take action to help 2025 Summer Series

It may be concerning for the Premier League that it does not have any confirmed competitors for the Summer Series. Still, the league is calm. It is working to court some of these top clubs like Manchester United or Liverpool, so they take part in the miniature tournament. That includes a sliding scale of revenue for teams competing.

Manchester United or Liverpool may figure they can draw larger audiences than a club like Brighton or Brentford, two sides that played in the 2023 Summer Series. Therefore, the two Premier League giants would be able to earn around $10 million from the Premier League for competing. By comparison, clubs with smaller American fan bases would earn less money.

As expected, this decision would not earn a favorable reception from many Premier League sides. However, given the size of clubs like Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester United or Tottenham, clubs lower down in the Premier League table may not have an option if they want to have a profitable summer earning money from the Premier League.

In addition to the lack of teams, the Premier League has also failed to name any of the locations for the 2025 Summer Series. The 2023 edition played nine games across five cities on the east coast. This summer, the Club World Cup is predominantly on the east coast. The 2025 Gold Cup is on the west side of the United States. All the while, Major League Soccer will also be in action in the summer of 2025.

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