The Copa America Centenario in the U.S. was billed as a one-time event to celebrate 100 years of CONMEBOL. It looks like bosses from the South American confederation and CONCACAF want it to continue.
According to a Bloomberg report, the executives are pushing for a permanent tournament of the Americas, which could begin as early as 2020.
As a result of these talks, CONCACAF is also considering hosting the Gold Cup every four years to accommodate the new tournament.
The report also states that last summer’s Copa America generated around $400 million, even though the tournament was in danger of being canceled due to allegations of corruption leading up to the competition. Executives feel that with more time to sell to sponsors and spark a bidding war for commerical rights, they will earn even more money.
The Copa America Centenario generated four times more than what the Gold Cup produces, which is surely a major reason why executives are discussing a regular tournament.
Euro 2016 garnered around $2 billion and Patrick Nally, the man who is referred to as the “founding father” of modern sports marketing, says a combined tournament of the Americas would generate half of what the Euros earned.
“As a tournament it would be very strong commercially,” said Nally. “The U.S. is a very commercially viable market with more broadcast and media opportunities as soccer is gathering more and more momentum there.”
Fox is reportedly interested in purcashing the English-language television rights for the new tournament, as would Univision, who owned the Spanish-language broadcast.