Chelsea FC's new American owner wants the Premier League to have an All-Star Game like the NBA and MLB

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Chelsea FC's new American owner wants the Premier League to have an All-Star Game like the NBA and MLB
Chelsea owner Todd Boehly.Getty/Adam Davy
  • Chelsea FC chairman Todd Boehly wants the Premier League to have an All-Star Game.
  • The American said the game could help raise money for the whole of English soccer.
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Chelsea FC chairman and co-owner Todd Boehly wants the English Premier League to have an All-Star Game like the NBA and MLB.

Boehly, the leader of the consortium that purchased Chelsea from Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich in May, proposed the idea while speaking at a finance conference in New York on Tuesday.

The American said he had already discussed the idea with other Premier League club owners and that he believes the game could help raise money for the whole of English soccer.

He also suggested the idea of a four-team relegation tournament. Currently, the three teams that finish bottom of the Premier League are relegated automatically.

"Ultimately I hope the Premier League takes a little bit of a lesson from American sports," said Boehly, who is also the co-owner of MLB's LA Dodgers. "And really starts to figure out, why don't we do a tournament with the bottom four sports teams? Why isn't there an All-Star Game?

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"People are talking about more money for the pyramid, in the MLB All-Star Game this year we made $200 million from a Monday and a Tuesday," he said. "So we're thinking we could do a North versus South All-Star Game for the Premier League, for whatever the pyramid needed quite easily."

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp laughed off Boehly's suggestion of a Premier League All-Star Game when asked about it by reporters – joking that the Harlem Globetrotters should make an appearance at the proposed game.

"[Boehly] forgets in American sports these players have four-month breaks so they are quite happy they can do a little bit of sport in these breaks," said the German coach after Liverpool's 2-1 win over Ajax in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday night.

"It's completely different in football."

He added: "I'm surprised by the question so please don't judge my answers too much, but maybe he can explain it to me at one point and find a proper date.

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"I'm not sure people want to see that."

The Premier League declined to comment.

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