Football Follows Others' Lead in Pursuit of Global Riches

The Premier League's plan to take a round of fixtures around the world may signify that the trickle of cross-border sporting events is about to become a flood.

The profile generated by the NFL's one-off fixture at Wembley between the Miami Dolphins and New York Giants has alerted governing bodies and money men to the potential of new markets. The NFL is committed to returning to Britain for each of the next three years.

The cash cow that is the India cricket team have played one-day internationals against Pakistan in London and Sharjah, and the Brazilian national football team have similarly played several friendlies away from home to satisfy commercial demands, such as their friendly against Argentina in London in 2006.

In rugby union, negotiations are under way for New Zealand to push the All Blacks brand in Asia and the US, with Australia likely to provide the opposition in a match in Hong Kong next October and Ireland identified as the most attractive partners for a fixture in New Jersey.

The motives are transparent. Even in rugby league, when Russell Crowe's South Sydney Rabbitohs played Leeds Rhinos in an exhibition match in Florida late last month, the club made more money from on-line merchandise sales in the two days after Crowe's appearance on the NFL's Monday Night Football than they had in the previous six months.

It may be that British rugby league has provided an unlikely blueprint, with its "On the Road" experiment in 1998 in which a round of six fixtures were taken to Gates head, Northampton and Swansea - to no great effect - followed by the more successful introduction of the Millennium Magic weekend last May, with a whole round played in Cardiff.

The Premier League, though, says that fixtures taken elsewhere will be bolted on to the existing 38-round season, which means that the extra money will be generated by making extra demands on the players.