Chelsea are taking a practical approach to Europe’s peculiar curiosity with the United States. Christian Pulisic is the most visible part of their strategy to win over the American market.
Before Chelsea kick off their match against the New England Revolution, the club released an exclusive interview with Christian Pulisic. The 101-second video is the American’s first public discussion solely about Chelsea since joining in January.
The club released the video at an interesting time. With the Blues set to play in Boston on Wednesday, the video release was undoubtedly for public relations purposes. This brings to light an intriguing topic taking European football by storm: America.
While some ignorant European fans brush off their club’s American support on social media, the clubs themselves have cultivated a peculiar interest in the United States. La Liga has taken steps to play league matches in the continental US and, just days ago, Juventus broke a 116-year tradition with the black-and-white striped kits in order to visually please – or at least not confuse – American fans. While it may seem Chelsea are falling behind its European counterparts in other aspects, there is no denying the west London side is at the forefront of the American revolution.
With football (or soccer, whatever you want to call it) growing by the day in America, it’s an arms race for European clubs to win over a gold-mine of uninfluenced fans. While clubs like Juventus sit and twiddle their thumbs trying to up jersey sales, Chelsea is beyond that. Partly because the clubs colors – blue and white with the occasional hint of red – naturally appeal to the patriotic crowd. But, mostly because of the business the Blues have done.
Even though clubs like Everton and Tottenham employed American legends Tim Howard and Clint Dempsey, respectively, their attempts at winning fans overseas were rather lazy and met with the proper response.
In the eyes of fans in the US, you get what you give. So when Chelsea made the surprise signing of American defender Matt Miazga, few outside of a fanatic American bunch of Chelsea fans made anything of it. Miazga is undoubtedly talented, but his chances of getting into the XI of a team like Chelsea are rather low.
Unlike its English counterparts, Chelsea have continued to show interest in appealing to fans across the Atlantic.
Just recently, the club began sending care packages with jerseys, scarves and other novelties to some of its fans in America for Thanksgiving. “Fansgiving,” as the Blues called it, was mocked by European fans, but garnered positive attention in America. This was Chelsea’s way of connecting with fans since the team hadn’t played in the United States in nearly three seasons. The club did what growing businesses do and went a step further.
It’s no secret Chelsea gets a ton of negative publicity due to a few bad apples. Often times, when Chelsea fans make headlines, it’s for being discriminatory in chants or some other nonsense the footballing world should have no tolerance for. In response, the club has been at the forefront of attempts to stomp out anti-Semitism and other forms of discrimination in football.
This brought the Blues to work together with the New England Revolution to create the “Final Whistle on Hate” exhibition match. This not only gives the clubs a chance to raise money for charity and play for a good cause, but it also gives Chelsea fans in America a the opportunity to watch their club play in their country. A win-win situation from every point of view, except for the players, given their desire for rest and rehabilitation before the Europa League final.
Even then, Chelsea went a step further. The Blues captured the signature of the Pennsylvanian boy-wonder Christian Pulisic in January for a permanent transfer. While Pulisic has remained at Borussia Dortmund on loan, the sought after Pennsylvania native was a massive step in the right direction for Chelsea’s pursuit to conquer American hearts.
Unlike Chelsea’s previous American signings, Pulisic will play an important role at the club. The 20-year-old’s role on the pitch will be crucial, but his duties off it will be just as vital. He will become the face of Chelsea in the USA. All of the Blues’ hard work to gain support overseas will reach their first milestone simply by Pulisic putting on the 2019/20 kit and doing what he’s done his whole life. Sure, Howard and Dempsey were legends in the States, but Pulisic is the biggest name to ever wear the red, white and blue.
This comes together to put Chelsea miles ahead of any other European club in winning over the United States.
The impressive part of it all? The Blues are doing it by being practical. Chelsea isn’t ruining the tradition of its iconic kits or upsetting season ticket holders by moving competitive matches overseas. Instead, the club is marketing itself in practical ways, rewarding loyal supporters and investing in one of the world’s most prominent young talents, who just so happens to be American.
What the end game with America is has yet to be seen. Whether it’s simply gaining revenue and expanding their global presence is uncertain. Nobody knows just what is in store and, frankly, America doesn’t either. It is uncharted waters for everybody involved.
As European football takes the United States by storm, there is no doubt that Chelsea FC will be at the forefront.