New Chelsea chairman Todd Boehly has floated the idea of an American all-star Premier League game between a north and south team. The new co-owner of The Blues, who also owns shares in the Los Angeles Dodgers and Lakers, told a conference in New York that he has already floated the idea with counterparts in the Premier League. Both Major League Baseball and Basketball’s NBA have all-star exhibition games featuring the best players from their respective conferences.
Boehly suggested the money raised could be used to filter more money from the top of the game into the football pyramid.
“People are talking about more money for the pyramid, in the MLB All-Star game this year we made $200 million (171 million pounds) with a Monday and a Tuesday,” said Boehly.
“So we think we can play a north-south all-star game for the Premier League, for whatever the pyramid needs, pretty easily.”
Speaking at the SALT thought leaders conference, Boehly lifted the lid on Chelsea’s dismissal of Thomas Tuchel.
Tuchel, who led Chelsea to the Champions League in 2021, was sacked last week after a 1-0 loss to Dinamo Zagreb.
Graham Potter has been appointed as Tuchel’s successor and Boehly hinted at a break in his relationship with the German.
“When you take over a business, you need to make sure you’re aligned with the people who run the business,” added Boehly.
“Tuchel is clearly extremely talented and someone who has had great success at Chelsea. Our vision for the club was to find a manager who really wanted to work with us, a coach who really wanted to work with us.”
“It wasn’t about Zagreb, it was about the shared vision for what we wanted Chelsea to look like.”
“It was not a decision made because of a single win or a loss. It was a decision that we thought was the right vision for the club.”
Boehly also confirmed Chelsea’s plans to run a multi-club model similar to the City Football Group, which owns Manchester City.
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“We’re going to continuously add resources,” he said.
“We’ve talked about a multi-club model. I’d like to continue building out the footprint.”
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