Game 39

The international round was proposed at a meeting of the 20 Premier League clubs on 7 February 2008, with a view to being introduced for the 2010–11 season, when a new television broadcasting rights contract would be in place.

Sepp Blatter, president of the sport's global governing body at that time, expressed a negative opinion of the proposal and stated that it could affect England's bid to host the 2018 World Cup, and the football authorities in a number of the areas suggested as venues for the matches were also opposed.

[3] Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore initially said there would not be more than one international round per season, stating "I stress that on my watch, there will be no 40th game.

[6] Foreshadowing the plan were the Premier League Asia Trophy, started in 2003, and the NFL International Series American football game played at Wembley Stadium in London in 2007.

[7] Eddington was chairman of Victorian Major Events Company and a friend of Rupert Murdoch, owner of Sky Sports and other networks with broadcasting rights to the Premier League.

[citation needed] A presentation to the Premier League's audit-and-remuneration committee was made two weeks before the public announcement.

[6] It attempted to secure the support of the FA for the proposal by promising to rearrange club fixtures for better convenience to players called up to the England team.

[6] On 27 February, after several weeks of mostly negative reaction, Scudamore agreed with Jérôme Valcke, general secretary of FIFA, that the meeting would be postponed indefinitely.

[13] An agreement in December 2008 between the Premier League and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) was linked to Game 39 by the media.

[4] Managers of Premier League clubs reported to be opposed to or sceptical of the plans included Steve Bruce,[15] Roy Hodgson,[15] Gareth Southgate,[15] and Rafael Benítez.

[23] The proposal was condemned by Sepp Blatter, president of FIFA, who said it brought the game into disrepute and would adversely affect England's bid for the 2018 World Cup.

[30] Since 2013, Relevent Sports has run the International Champions Cup, a series of summer matches between teams from the Premier League and other top European sides, held in overseas markets including Asia and North America.

[32] The Royal Spanish Football Federation has held its Supercopa abroad since 2018, but prevents La Liga matches taking place outside Spain.

[34] In September 2021, the Premier League told Sky Sports "there are no plans to extend the Premier League season to 39 games and play matches abroad", but there were initial proposals to "make pre-season matches more competitive, whilst also potentially opening up lucrative new international markets".

[35] In 2023 Phil Murphy, the governor of New Jersey and a 2026 World Cup executive, said he "would love to think" Premier League matches would be played in his state but "the clubs have not been wild about" the idea.