Aston Villa have yet to announce where they will be heading this summer for their pre-season tour. A number of Premier League clubs have revealed their plans for pre-season already, with several heading across the Atlantic to play in the United States as North America hits the one-year mark until it hosts the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Bournemouth, Everton, Manchester United and West Ham United will take part in the Premier League Summer Series, playing games in New Jersey, Chicago and Atlanta, while Chelsea and Manchester City will be contesting the lucrative Club World Cup ahead of the new season. Other clubs have decided to look toward Asia for their preparations to strengthen their following in the region and ensure commercial partnerships are activated. Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur are among the clubs to be heading in that direction, with some clubs feeling that there may be an element of fan fatigue in the US with so much football on offer, not to mention the challenge in finding venues to play at with so many teams out there. Villa may yet land on a US trip, and for a club that is in the global spotlight like never before thanks to the increased exposure that their continued run in the Champions League brings, and with the unique potential they have to engage with the US audience given their high-profile supporters such as Prince William and and Tom Hanks, they could be well positioned to steal a march on their rivals who are all jostling for the same eyeballs. A CLV Group report published last summer into the potential market for European clubs to tap into in the US revealed 44 per cent of US-based soccer fans were undecided about which European football club to support, a percentage equating to some 36 million new fans waiting to be engaged. In financial terms, that equates to billions of dollars in the longer term, or a $321m slice of the market per season, for Premier League and top European clubs. The research also found that the average UK Premier League fan is around 42 years old, in contrast with the US, where 50 per cent of football fans are under 45. “Villa have done some really, really good things on and off the pitch,” said Neil Joyce, CEO of CLV Group, a company that connects sports teams with global fan opportunities. “I think firstly, looking at the monarchy angle, whether they can truly tap into it and do something content-wise with Prince William, that would be like the low-hanging fruit, but the challenges around actually getting the commitment for that would be significant. “But the Royal Family has a major pull in the US, and with the club getting more exposure through the Champions League, and with him attending the odd game, they have a really unique selling point with US fans. “The same, too, with Tom Hanks. If you have celebrity fans then you should be looking at maximising the opportunities that exist around them, helping you connect with new audiences and fans.” Joyce also believes that the summer concert taking place at Villa Park, where one of the world’s most prominent musicians right now, Kendrick Lamar, who will be performing alongside SZA, has the potential for Villa to tap into some unseen benefits. “Holding the concert with Kendrick Lamar, they should be looking at seeding his US followers and getting Aston Villa in front of them because he's got huge global reach," Joyce added. “Coming on the back of the Super Bowl performance as well, there's a big headwind behind him. “They've got some emerging opportunities to increase their fan bases and engagement and things like and using it through media and entertainment propositions, not just tapping into the support of famous fans.”