Peterborough United owner Darragh MacAnthony expresses intention to buy club in America

Peterborough United owner Darragh MacAnthony has expressed his intention to buy a club in the United States of America.

MacAnthony, who lives out in Florida when not in the country on club business, said in an appearance on TalkSPORT that he would be looking to purchase a club in the United Soccer League (USL) in the next two years.

The USL is America’s second tier, sitting below the MLS, but there is no pyramid system and promotion/relegation between the tiers is not possible.

MacAnthony has said that he would be looking to spend between £8-10 million on a club in the expectation that the value will as much as triple in the next five years.

MacAnthony said: “I’m going to buy a USL club potentially in the next two years because I think with the World Cup on the horizon and the Olympics on the horizon out there, it's already becoming a top-four sport.

"Parents are spending fortunes sending their eight, nine and ten-year-olds to weekend camps of football, money is going into it.

“They still have it wrong in MLS where they don’t have a pyramid.

“If somebody in the MLS convinces those owners to open up the pyramid like we have in England, that would be the second-most watched football around the world.

“I believe valuations are taking off in the next ten years with the Apple deal with the Messi effect and Cristiano Ronaldo will probably go out there when he’s finished in Saudi Arabia.

“Football will be on the map in America in a big way and I believe if I get a USL club right now for £8-10million, even though it's not in MLS, that could be worth double or triple in the next five years.

“Not only that, it will open up the floodgates to get some American talent into the UK and vice-versa.”

MacAnthony also gave his support to the suggestion of playing matches abroad.

US-owned Birmingham City and Wrexham asked for permission for their League One match this season to be played in America but were denied permission by EFL bosses.

He added: “It’s a no brainer and growing our brand is very important. We get caught up in saying ‘oh you can’t have Peterborough play Cambridge in America instead of the local derby in Peterborough, but if it helps us build our brand, unfortunately we’re going to have to bite down ant take it.

“The whole EFL needs to build out brand, it needs to be bigger and better.”