Is Liverpool FC Coming To Boston?

When Fenway Sports Group and principal owner John Henry, owner of the Boston Red Sox, bought English soccer giants Liverpool Football Club, the fans of that team were skeptical. The previous owners had been American and they had dragged the name of the club through the dirt. Thankfully, Henry and FSG have done nothing but good work at Liverpool.

The new-found relationship between the Red Sox and Liverpool (known, appropriately enough, as the Reds) could go a long towards promoting their respective sports in a country that cares little for it.

The issues that soccer has faced in the US are well-documented. For many years now, attempts have been made to raise the profile of soccer on this side of the Atlantic and most of them have proved futile. Over the decades, stars like Pele and Beckham have been dragged over during the twilight years of their careers, but they've only had a small impact on the crowd numbers.

In England, baseball is ignored to an even greater extent. Cricket, of course, is very popular in the old country, leaving little room for another “bat and ball” game.

The hard truth is that it's very difficult to introduce a new sport to a country when it already has its cultural heroes and icons. In America, black and white images of Babe Ruth are a part of the nation's heritage. A new game can't compete with that. The same is true in England, a country with its own sporting heroes from decades, centuries even, gone by.

That said, there's really no reason to give up. A partnership, or family relationship, between two highly regarded organizations like the Red Sox and Liverpool, opens up a whole world of possibilities. Fans of either team might start paying attention to the other just because of the association. Could it even be possible that people would start supporting FSG and all of the teams under the umbrella?

This week, Red Sox CEO Larry Lucchino said that it's very likely that an English Premier League soccer game will be played at Fenway Park in the next year or so.

That's a stretch, and it's probable that he was either misquoted or simply didn't quite grasp what he was saying. I'd wager the former.

There will likely never be a Premier League soccer game at Fenway Park, because Premier League soccer games are played at the home stadium of one of the two teams playing. The same two teams play each other again later in the season, at the other stadium. In other words, Liverpool play, for example, Manchester United twice in a Premier League season – once in Liverpool and once in Manchester.

Were they to play in Boston, where would the reverse tie be played? It's just too complicated.

Zineb Marchoudo, FSG senior manager of public affairs, was quick to clarify. “It would be an exhibition during the off season, an ‘International Friendly'.”

That would make sense. English teams playing pre-season games in the US isn't uncommon. But surely there is an even greater chance to pull in some new fans if playing at the home of a sister club.

It would be perhaps even more interesting to see what would happen were the Red Sox to play an exhibition game at Anfield, Liverpool's stadium. There are bigger logistical issues there – there really isn't a baseball team in England for them to play so they'd have to bring someone with them, or make it really comical and play against a cricket team (perhaps one game of each sport and see who loses the best).

Whatever happens, it's clear that this sort of relationship is good for both sports.