Everton's trip to the US last month was marked a welcome return to normality post pandemic. The Toffees have for some time had a foothold in the US market, and with visits to Washington DC, Minneapolis and Baltimore during a near two-week stay across the Atlantic, that bond with their American audience was aided further.
For the American football-loving public the Toffees have a special place, a club that has seen more US imports pass through their ranks than most. Players like Tim Howard, Brian McBride, Joe-Max Moore and Landon Donovan have all represented the club having been beacons of success and progress for the US game in years past, while players such as Preki, Tim Cahill and Mo Johnston have all played in both the blue of Everton and been major contributors to Major League Soccer.
Everton have been coined in some quarters as 'America's team', although that is a moniker that Leeds United would now try to lay claim to with their own US influence of head coach Jesse Marsch and stars like Brenden Aaronson and Tyler Adams.
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But while the huge popularity of Liverpool and Manchester United endures stateside, with the two clubs claiming the biggest number of fans in the US and being the ones that broadcasters see as driving forces in the continuing growth of media revenues for the Premier League in the US market, Everton's special place among the American 'soccer' fans firmament means that there are considerable growth opportunities that exist.
America and football have connected in recent years. It hasn't just arrived, it has been a product of the USA '94 World Cup, the launch of the MLS in 1996 and the subsequent growth of the league, as well as the growing interest in the global game, with the Premier League the second most watched in the country, behind the Mexican Liga MX, a league that has a huge following due to the US's large Hispanic population.
With the World Cup returning to the US in 2026, with the higher profile of their players and coaches globally, with more and more cracking the European market, the interest has grown to a point where TV rights for the Premier League for the next cycle stand at £2bn, something that would have seemed unthinkable a decade ago.
Clubs see America as a market yet to reach maturity, one where bountiful opportunity lies through a variety of different avenues, and Everton are among the group wanting to grow their supporter base in a sports mad country that has higher disposable income, has a population of 330m and who are now seeing 'soccer' sit alongside the traditional US sports such as basketball, American football, baseball and ice hockey.
Speaking exclusively to the ECHO, Everton's chief commercial officer Richard Kenyon said: "We have a team working across the club dedicated to international growth and we’ve made strong progress in this area in the last couple of years.
"This team is integrated into the commercial team, but very focused on growing our fanbase and revenues internationally in the longer term, it’s not a short-term initiative for the club rather something we’re very committed to for the long term.
"Our international progress to date includes two consecutive years pre-season in the US and the establishment of a profitable soccer camp and club affiliate programme in and beyond the US, programmes which are seeing thousands and thousands of young players experience and engage with the club. This, coupled with growth of supporters’ clubs in the US means we’re growing the club from the ground up as well as benefiting from the tremendous profile the TV coverage gives us in America.
"We also secured a lucrative mid-season trip to Australia (during the Premier League's break for the World Cup in Qatar), which is one of our secondary target regions. It is, again, a trip which will drive great engagement, make good money for us and, most importantly, be good from a footballing perspective."
The growth of revenues internationally is vital for football clubs, and for a club like Everton, who have endured a tough time financially over the last 18 months and have had to rebuild to get themselves heading to their new home at Bramley Moore Dock from 2024, it carries even greater significance.
Everton, who have 35 recognised supporters clubs across the US, last year linked up with Miami-based Pulse Sports and Entertainment to expand its presence in North America. With nine pre-season trips to the US since 2004 and soccer schools delivered across 15 states last summer there is a growing connection.
The club's relationship with the likes of American firm Fanatics aiding their ability to market Everton merchandise to a global audience, allied with the opening up of new markets with the advent of Web 3.0 and the ability to reach more fans on a more personal level, the chance to tap into the swell of popularity the game is having across the Atlantic has never been greater.
"When I was growing up, to watch a soccer game over here in the US you would have to launch a satellite from your back yard, it just didn't exist," Kevin LaForce, managing director soon to be AC Milan owners RedBird Capital Partners, told the ECHO earlier this year.
"The advent of MLS in the US and its growth over the last decade plus means you have now found soccer on linear television. I do think the entrance of the Premier League based on the first deal that they did with NBC was a big event for European soccer in the United States. I know from personal experience with my family, of being able to get up on Sunday mornings and see the EPL play live, with some of the best soccer in the world.
"I have experience with the NFL (where LaForce was an executive and key to the NFL securing a $100bn 10-year TV deal) when we played pre-season games in Europe. People didn't want to see pre-season games, they wanted to see the best players in the world playing their best, and certainly the EPL is that. With that and the support of NBC, which has the greatest reach, enabled people to start engaging with the sport and learn more about it and the players, teams and history. There were plenty of people who were already there but this just widened the net and that is the power of free-to-air TV in the US as you are in 130 million homes."
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