Reports suggest that the Premier League will 'find it hard to overlook' a major rule change after its success at the World Cup, despite any plans to introduce likely to be met with strong opposition from fans.
Indeed, there were sweeping changes at this summer's tournament, including an expansion in the number of teams that could qualify, adjustments to the yellow-card threshold, and the introduction of new technology such as Snicko, incorporated into the ball to help VAR make crucial decisions and determine who touched the ball last.
The least popular changes, however, have been those that have brought a stronger sense of Americanism to the beautiful game. A half-time show at this year's final will feel worlds away from football's working-class traditions, and another change in a similar vein could be heading to England sooner than many might expect.
Hugely Unpopular World Cup Rule Could Hit Premier League
World Cup TrophyREUTERS/Henry Romero
FIFA's decision to mandate three-minute pauses midway through each half of each game has been subject to heavy backlash from those inside the stadium, with jeering commonplace as a result. The breaks disrupt the momentum of matches and have been criticised by both coaches and players as well.
But while hydration breaks are detested by many, they are proving a goldmine for TV broadcasters, and could soon become the norm. An extra four minutes and 20 seconds of advertising space per game has been sold this summer. Across the entire tournament, that's an added seven hours, 30 minutes and 40 seconds of ads served to viewers worldwide.
In the United States alone, an average 30-second World Cup slot on Fox Sports costs between $200,000 and $300,000, according to ESPN. That price rises to around $750,000 during the closing stages of the competition. With potential for eight extra 30-second ad slots per game, hydration breaks alone are likely to generate more than $250m.
That figure alone is more than half of the $485m Fox paid for the English-language rights to the tournament, and would undoubtedly be a mouth-watering prospect that broadcasters in the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, and Bundesliga would find hard to shy away from too much longer.
Premier League title shown with Arsenal ribbons of red and white
"The legacy of this summer's World Cup is not likely to be political interference or referee conspiracies that benefit Lionel Messi. It's going to be hydration breaks," sports business reporter Ben Strauss wrote Monday, as per the same report.
He also suggests that, after speaking to a dozen media and soccer executives, the breaks are 'likely to become a key topic in media rights negotiations going forward.'
"It would be hard to move backwards once hydration breaks have been shown to work because of the dollars associated with it," David Levy, the former president of Turner who now runs a sports marketing agency," told ESPN.
And while it might not be introduced to European football right away, the MLS and NWSL will almost certainly implement the breaks soon enough, given the advertisement culture of other US sports, which are rooted in franchise models.