Serie A wants to be 1st European league to play game in US

With nine of its 20 teams under American ownership, Serie A hopes to be the first major European soccer league to play a game in the United States, Italian league president Ezio Simonelli said, Report informs via ESPN.

The possibility of hosting games abroad has become more likely after New York-based company Relevent, a company run by Miami Dolphins' billionaire owner Stephen Ross, settled in their antitrust lawsuit with FIFA over the ability for leagues to host games in foreign territories.

FIFA subsequently said they would reconsider their statute barring such matches, though they have yet to issue any new policies on the matter.

Relevent remain in a legal battle with the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) over that ability, but given the federation had previously used FIFA policy to only allow exhibition matches to take place, it seems probable that there will be games from European leagues played in the US in the near future.

"Holding a game abroad also requires authorization by the local league so we need to make an agreement in that regard. But we are considering timeframes that would work for this. We want to be the first league to set up an event like this in the United States," Simonelli said at an event in New York.

Simonelli was elected two months ago.

"This is a market that we count on a lot. We have nine clubs under American ownership and one Canadian, so I also need to thank them since they elected me," Simonelli said. "And we have other prospective buyers lined up."

The American owned clubs are: Atalanta, Fiorentina, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Parma, Roma, Venezia and Hellas Verona. Bologna is owned by a Canadian -- Joey Saputo.

Serie A is also home to several US standouts like Christian Pulisic (Milan), Weston McKennie (Juventus) and Timothy Weah (Juventus).