Move the Community Shield to the United States: Taking English curtain-raiser to America the answer to Premier League's most divisive question
Getty The competition is fading in significance at home, but a move across the pond could give it a lease of new life
Anyone still doubting the popularity of English soccer in the United States merely needs to look at what happened when Manchester United played Liverpool in Columbia earlier this month. The modest college town, roughly the size of Oxford with fewer than 140,000 inhabitants, was overwhelmed with visitors for the friendly between English football's greatest rivals to the point that thousands could not make it into the Williams-Brice Stadium in time for kick-off due to the heavy traffic.
The 77,000-capacity stadium eventually filled up by the start of the second half, meaning more people saw the game than when they had last met in the Premier League at Old Trafford in Aperil. Tickets were priced at around $100 (£78) face-value and started at $152 (£120) on re-sale website Vivid Seats. That's more than double the cost of a Premier League ticket at Old Trafford or Anfield. The game sold out quickly, despite both sides being without the bulk of their international players.
