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Report: CONCACAF pondering new Pan-American international tournament

Arnd Wiegmann / Reuters

CONCACAF, the governing body of soccer in North and Central America, is considering the inception of a new tournament that would see international teams from the Americas compete every four years, sources told Bloomberg's Tariq Panja.

The competition would encroach on the biennial schedule of the Gold Cup - distancing the CONCACAF-only tournament to every four years - to allow a Pan-American showpiece that could collect more than $1 billion in sponsorship, ticket sales, and television revenue.

The scheduling change would put it in line with the European Championship, Copa America, and World Cup schedule, and sources suggest that the added names from South America - such as behemoths Brazil and Argentina - could see it raise more than half of the $2 billion in sales at France's Euro 2016, according to Patrick Nally, a sport sponsorship pioneer at FIFA.

"As a tournament it would be very strong commercially," Nally told Panja. "The U.S. is a very commercially viable market with more broadcast and media opportunities, as soccer is gathering more and more momentum there."

The 2016 Copa America Centenario, which allowed entry to host United States, Mexico, and other CONCACAF representatives in celebration of its 100th anniversary, is believed to have generated $400 million - around four times what the Gold Cup kitty collected in 2015.

The Gold Cup's television rights for the 2017 and 2019 editions are marketed by Lagardere Sports, meaning the first opportunity for this potential Pan-Am contest would be in 2020.

21st Century Fox Inc.'s sports division has apparently expressed an interest in the television rights for the tournament, but was unavailable to comment. CONMEBOL president Alejandro Dominguez also didn't respond to media requests.

CONMEBOL, which governs the South American region, is slated to host the Copa America just for its own representatives in Brazil in 2019, and then in Ecuador in 2023.

The greatest hurdle for the Pan-Am tournament would appear to be encouraging clubs across the continents to release players for international duty in the midst of a competitive season.

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