UEFA President Admits USA Could Host Champions League Final In Future

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has admitted that the Champions League final could one day be hosted in the United States.

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has admitted that some Champions League games could one day be hosted in the United States.

The UEFA Champions League final is one of the most-watched events in world sport. Its average global audience is almost four times bigger than that of the Super Bowl.

To date, every UCL final has been held on European soil. This year's showpiece will be in Istanbul, with the following two finals taking place in London and Munich.

But Ceferin would be open to exporting the biggest game in club soccer, with the USA a prime candidate due to the growing popularity of the sport in the States and the country's commercial power.

Last season's UEFA Champions League final was held in Paris, France :: IMAGO/sportphoto24/Giuseppe Maffia

Another option could be for some club's to host one of their designated home games in America during the group stage.

UCL soccer is unlikely to come to the USA in the next couple of seasons.

But speaking this week on the Men in Blazers podcast, Ceferin confirmed that preliminary talks about taking the tournament on tour had already begun.

On the subject of a Champions League final taking place in America, he said: "It is possible. We started to discuss about that, but then one year it is the World Cup, 2024 is Euro, this year is Istanbul, '24 in London, '25 in Munich.

"And after that let's see. It's possible, it's possible. Football is extremely popular in United States these days. Americans are willing to pay this amount (gestures high with hand) for the best and nothing for the less. So they will follow European football as basketball lovers in Europe follow NBA."

Ceferin added: "It's a very important, promising market for the future. The thing is that we are selling rights very well. Sponsorship is so-so for now from the US, but here (in US) commercialization is completely different than in Europe.

"They [Americans] are much more talented for that than us [Europeans]. Fans will still think in a way, 'these b****rds in Switzerland, it's all about money', and I repeat thousand times, we redistribute 97% of the money. Of course our revenues are huge. I would love them to be much, much bigger than now. What shocked me actually is that our Euro (2020) finals, Europe national team finals, was watched by more people in United States than NBA Finals. What shocked me is that 30 matches of the Euros, every match viewership was a Super Bowl viewership. So I think we are doing well."

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin pictured at FIFA's 72nd congress in Doha last year :: IMAGO/Schuler