Gunners fans have been watching the Euros with a close look at players who have gone all the way to the final (fortunately, some of them with the England team). Some of the players will be having a hard-earned break after the European Championship is over, but it is a short turnaround until Arsenal heads to the US and start the Gunners pre-season tour .

In recent years, we’ve seen this regularly, teams cross the pond for their pre-seasons to play in some of the bigger US venues.

The US: Home of Sports Team Tours

Commercial teams working in pretty much every sport are looking to work their magic on planning a tour to the US. Why? One of the top reasons is that the Americans absolutely love their sport and also boast one of the world’s biggest economies. This means that there are some chances to expand a team’s reach and gain more fans in the country.

Historically, we’ve seen American sports teams really go all-out to bring stars of other sports into their own leagues. Lionel Messi is currently playing in the States, showing the draw that the country has. Soccer has grown an incredible amount in the last 20 years or so as stars of the sport flock to America.

Loads of other sports have also tried to break America, in the same way bands and film stars do! Rugby is a top example of a sport that is a minority sport in the country but has the potential to grow. Australian leagues have taken advantage and the NRL tour to Vegas is an example of trying to boost the reputation in such a sports-fanatical area. Between 2011 and 2018, the number of people playing rugby and interested in the sport in the US tripled, so it is easy to see why leagues are heading to the country.

Major League Cricket is another example of huge stars heading to the country and boosting the profile of what was once a pretty small competition. Cricket has become much more of a mainstream sport in the US and money is being put into the development. We even saw the T20 World Cup take place in the country this year.

Arsenal in America

For the third year in a row, Arteta is taking the squad to the US, and there are some parallels with the previous year. This summer, Arsenal will play at the SoFi Stadium, taking on Manchester United. They played the same fixture last July and managed to sell out the 80,000-capacity MetLife Stadium, which shows the appetite there is for watching EPL teams in the country.

They’ll also play against Bournemouth and Liverpool as they tour around the country.

“It’s great to be visiting the U.S. again this summer. Our matches against Manchester United and Liverpool will be great preparation ahead of the new season,” said Mikel Arteta when discussing the tour.

The full fixtures are:

July 24: Arsenal vs Bournemouth — Dignity Health Sports Park.

July 27: Arsenal vs Manchester United — SoFi Stadium.

July 31: Arsenal vs Liverpool — Lincoln Financial Field.

Over the years, teams haven’t really played against other EPL teams in friendlies, but the commercial appeal of these big fixtures means that the squads take each other on in this kind of scenario now, and we saw the same last off-season.

Arsenal Women will also be headed out to the country in August with fixtures against Washington Spirit (Sunday, August 18) and Chelsea Woman (Sunday, August 25) at the Audi Field Stadium.

Will There Be New Players in the Squad?

Friendlies are about fitness but also trying new things and sometimes embedding new players into the squad. Euro 2024 has meant that transfers are a little slow at the moment, but they’re expected to pick up with a lot of players moving around Europe.

Wolves’ Joao Gomes is one of a list of players who have been linked to the team in recent weeks, but it could be tight, and if a deal does get done this could be one of those that rumbles into the the fold before we see  season actually starting. Getting the Gomes deal done beforehand would be ideal for trying to embed him in the style and get him in shape before the season starts.

Riccardo Calafiori is likely still the top target, but there is a lot of competition for the young defender and it is unlikely that a deal will be done quickly here, either. Largely, the squad will be made up of players already at the club and maybe some youngsters.

Conclusion

Playing in the US isn’t just about commercial benefits (though there are plenty of benefits) and it is a way for players to get up to match fitness. It would be better if some of the American teams were involved, perhaps, as they are in the midst of their season and may be in the swing of things. Games might be at unsociable hours in the UK, but expect a huge amount of American fans to be tuning in to watch their favorite teams.