Football's Leaving Home.

The Premier League's proposal to play a round of fixtures from January 2011 onwards at overseas venues has met with the anticipated angry reaction from fans in the UK .

The proposal is currently being put to Premier League clubs for consultation, but they would do well to heed the potential negative impact on their fan base and degradation of their brands.

In a survey of fans undertaken by 20/20 Research during a 5-day period following the announcement, 8 out of 10 of those expressing an opinion were opposed to the idea, with 54% rating it a "very bad" idea.

The research suggests that if the clubs do bow to the proposals, the short-term boost to Premier League revenues will very quickly be outweighed by both a tainting of the brand and the very real possibility of a "fans' mutiny".

The risk to Premier League clubs would be if the negative reactions of fans were to be translated into an impact on their attendance levels, or on their level of commitment to the clubs. Whilst this may be of less concern to those clubs with waiting lists for season tickets, it could result in a catastrophic reduction in income for the majority of clubs outside the "Big 4".

20/20 Research will be probing the issue further in a specific survey next month among Premier League Fans. For more information about this research, please contact Bob Peters on 01226 767120.