Romelu Lukaku and Rio Ferdinand have already offered their opinions on an all-star Premier League match. And, the duo are in agreement as Todd Boehly's fresh proposal picks up momentum.
This week, the Chelsea owner suggested that the Premier League should host an 'all-star' event just like how the MLB, NBA and MLS do in the United States. Speaking at the SALT conference in New York on Tuesday, Boehly proposed a 'North vs South' match which would help raise money for the English football pyramid.
He also suggested that the current automatic three-team relegation system should be scrapped in exchange for a four-team mini-tournament instead. The American billionaire asked: "Ultimately, I hope that the Premier League takes a little bit of a lesson from American sports and really starts to figure out, ‘Why wouldn’t we do a tournament with the bottom four teams?'
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"Why isn’t there an all-star game?’ People are talking about more money for the pyramid. With the all-star game in LA this year, we made $200 million from a Monday and a Tuesday. You could have a North versus South all-star game for the Premier League and fund whatever the pyramid needed very easily."
Then, when asked whether his proposal was being actively discussed, Boehly said: "Listen, I think everyone likes the idea of more revenue for the league."
However, while the Chelsea chief faced considerable backlash from large sections of the Premier League fanbase, Lukaku and Ferdinand are seeming behind the controversial idea.
In a tweet by Lukaku four years ago, as quoted by the Evening Standard, the on-loan Blues striker suggested a north versus south all-star event, just like Bohely has done. As pictured below, his tweet read: "Here’s an idea for you guys... the NBA has all-star game! Don’t you guys think we should organise one in the @premierleague.. The north vs the south! And the fans vote... what do you guys think? @premierleague @FA"
Ferdinand, meanwhile, discussed the possibility of an all-star game on BT Sport after having suggested the concept in a tweet from 2011. The former Manchester United defender's tweet read: "Baseball All-Star game tonight, tv coverage is quality. We need a PL All-Star game too...the powers that be let's talk + develop this."
Then, in the BT Sport studio years later, Ferdinand said, as quoted by The Mirror: "If you listen to [Boehly's address] in its entirety, one of the big things that was missed in the whole point of what he was saying was how to get money down the pyramid of football.
"The mere fact that he mentioned [the pyramid], it's obviously in his mindset. Whether his ideas are outlandish or whether we believe they're right or wrong, the fact that he mentioned that, it's obviously something he'd definitely consider."
Ferdinand added: "Speaking about that type of thing publicly, and knowing how the English people and media receive suggestions like this from people who are coming [in] new to the game he probably would have been better off going to the powers that be and having a round table discussion.
"I like the idea of an all-star game but I think there's so many things to consider - it might not even be a north versus south game, you might even say it's the Premier League all-star team versus a Champions League all-star team.
"The idea is not a perfect idea so I understand the negativity that might surround it but I think it's a conversation definitely worth exploring if you can filter money back down the pyramid. If you can find a way of getting £50-100m back down the pyramid to the clubs that genuinely need it through having one game, I'd get rid of a game somewhere in the calendar if you can do that."
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