Gloucester chief executive suggests Cherry and White would welcome away game in New York
ESPN Staff
July 5, 2015
Jonny May dives over for Gloucester's final try against Exeter
Jonny May dives over for Gloucester's final try against Exeter© Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images

Gloucester officials have revealed they may be enticed in to travelling to the United States in a bid to advance the marketability of English rugby.

It was reported in May that advanced negotiations had been held in order to take top-flight Aviva Premiership matches across the Atlantic Ocean to New York.

London Irish are aiming to tap into lucrative commercial markets by proposing to stage one match per season stateside as part of a three-year deal, with St. Patrick's Day being targeted as a possible date for holding the first game.

It is understood that both the RFU and USA Rugby would be keen to okay any prospective deal and Gloucester chief executive Stephen Vaughan, speaking to theĀ Gloucester Citizen, welcomed the possibility of the Cherry and Whites playing as an away team in a different country.

"There have been conversations within PRL for a number of years over how we can capitalise on what is a huge market out there," he said.

"It's no great surprise that London Irish are open to doing that. It's a big step, you are taking a game away from your core supporter base."

Irish are scheduled to host Gloucester on March 17, three days before St. Patrick's day, which is vociferously celebrated in the north-eastern region of the United States.

"It's a great opportunity and I wouldn't blame them - it would be a prestigious game, they have the least to lose and a dormant audience," Vaughan added.

"We wouldn't look to take a home game there, we took one 20 minutes down the road and it was pandemonium, but in terms of an away game then we would be open to it."

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