The Premier League Takes Over Nashville

The Music City lived up to its name as PL Mornings Live headed to Nashville and had a rockin’ weekend with an amazing crowd of Premier League fans.

Broadway was packed with more than just bachelorette parties on Saturday and Sunday, as the crowd of 15,624 was the highest attendance for any Fan Fest in PL in USA history.

The boisterous crowd celebrated their fandom in full force all weekend, packing the grounds to cheer for their favorite clubs and to root against their rivals, too. Fans traveled far and wide to join thousands of other diehard supporters before sunrise in a showcase of what makes the stateside Premier League fan experience so unique.

*The For Soccer team poses for a photo after another successful Fan Fest event.*

The For Soccer team worked in collaboration with the Premier League and NBC leading up to the event, as well as on the ground in Nashville to create unique fan experiences, work with local sports teams and organizations to celebrate the city’s culture, and tell the stories of some of the Premier League’s most passionate fans.

Weekend Warmup

While our work started long before Friday night, there was no better way to kick off a weekend of festivities in the Music City than with, what else, a concert.

Presented by Whiskey Jam, the Premier League held a Weekend Warm Up event Friday night. A variety of different musical artists from around the world came to perform for fans who came to town the night before the main event. It was a great show that set the tone for an electric Fan Fest weekend.

Custom Guitars

With eyes on marrying the Premier League and Nashville’s culture, For Soccer worked with local artists to design custom guitars. The designs included a celebration of American soccer legends who played in the Premier League, a PL Mornings guitar highlighting the dedication of fans in Nashville, and more.

Valor Prep

For Soccer and the Premier League celebrated soccer’s rise in popularity in Tennessee by connecting with Valor Prep – a local high school that won the Boys State Championship last season despite only starting their program five years ago.

PL legend Daniel Sturridge and other Premier League coaches visited the school and put on a live training session for kids of all ages to help them develop their game and get a taste of the full Premier League experience. Sturridge connected with the coach and the players from the championship team to learn about their story and the growth of the game in Nashville.

Juggling with the Predators

In case you didn’t know, soccer is a key part of the warm up for many NHL players, as they regularly participate in juggling circles ahead of matches to stay loose.

Wanting to get in on the action, Sturridge and West Ham legends Jack Collison and Matt Jarvis visited the Nashville Predators to join their juggling circles, try their hand at hockey, and go out on the ice during the second intermission of the Predators game. Sturridge also did a jersey swap with Predators player Filip Forsberg, a diehard Liverpool fan who was thrilled to meet the Liverpool legend.

Football Meets Football with the Titans

It was time for Sturridge and fellow Premier League legends Joleon Lescott and Ledley King to swap shin guards for shoulder pads when they met up with the Tennessee Titan’s Chig Okonkwo for a lesson in American football.

The three legends took turns trying out the JUGS machine to catch passes and kickoffs. They even got to try out their best touchdown celebrations. Safe to say, they had…mixed success working the machines, but left with a great sports crossover experience.

Alan Shearer Tours Nashville

The Premier League’s all-time leading goalscorer Alan Shearer had never been to Nashville, so who better to give him a tour than one of Nashville SC’s own? Taylor Washington met up with Shearer to take him to some of the most iconic spots in the city.

It started with the food the city is best known for, Nashville Hot Chicken. A stop at Prince’s Hot Chicken was on the way, and Shearer loved his sandwich. Next, the pair headed to Ryman Auditorium – an iconic Nashville music venue that has been a staple in the city for over 100 years.

With their mouths still cooling off from the chicken, Shearer and Washington headed to Robert’s Western World to get a pint and experience the Honky Tonk Highway on Broadway. It was an action-packed tour that left Shearer loving Music City!

The Away End

Wanting to connect with all sorts of Premier League fans at the event, For Soccer created a popup studio titled The Away End that paired famous and everyday fans with host Tamara Dhia to discuss how they became a fan, share their favorite moments rooting for their club, and answer fun trivia questions about their club and the league. The set design brought together the best of the Premier League and Nashville, and was an excellent way to dig deeper on what makes American fans so special.

Premier League Fans Go Crazy

The energy was palpable all weekend long in Nashville. Seven of the 10 weekend matches happened on Saturday and fans of all clubs were out in full force. But none were louder than Arsenal fans when they took care of business against Brighton and temporality took the lead atop the Premier League table.

On Sunday, there was a sea of red as Manchester United faced Liverpool. Liverpool were the favorites, but when Kobbie Mainoo scored an incredible goal to put the Red Devils in the lead, their fans in Nashville erupted. The game ended in a 2-2 draw, but fans of both sides showed out for this one.

Soccer Moses Becomes PL Sign Guy

Not forgetting the fans at home who couldn’t make it to Nashville, For Soccer included PL Sign Guy in the event content plan for the second consecutive Fan Fest. To connect with these fans, our PL Sign Guy takes submitted sign ideas and stands in the crowd so home viewers can see their messages on the broadcast and feel a part of the action.

This season, the Nashville SC diehard supporter Soccer Moses took on the role for the Premier League, turning in his iconic “Let My People Goal” sign for the many creative messages that our audience at home submitted.

Photo Gallery

Want to see more of the fun and excitement from the Premier League’s Nashville Fan Fest? Head to @plinusa on Instagram or Twitter for content and check out the photo gallery below.