NBC's EPL anchor Rebecca Lowe on breaking America, Lionel Messi and why soccer WILL become the biggest sport in the United States

Rebecca Lowe can still picture every single face in the crowd. All four of them. The English broadcaster, now the face of NBC’s Premier League coverage in America, was on her gap year. She had hopped across the pond to study in Pennsylvania.

It was May 1999 and the Champions League final between Manchester United and Bayern Munich was around the corner. ‘How am I going to watch this?’ Lowe, now 42, thought.

There were no televisions in the dorms of her boarding school. Not much buzz either. ‘No one seems to care,’ she realized. Thankfully, though, she wasn’t entirely alone.

‘I found two guys, who played on the soccer team, who wanted to wanted to watch it,’ Lowe recalls. ‘And the German teacher, who was also one of the soccer coaches, was interested too.’

So they hatched a plan. ‘We all went over to the German teacher’s house and watched the game there. There was literally four of us in the room and 600 people out there, at the school, with no clue that the Champions League final was going on.’

All rather unthinkable now. ‘It is a very different world and it gives me great hope,’ says London-born Lowe, who worked at the BBC, Setanta Sports and ESPN before moving Stateside. ‘Because that was nearly 25 years ago. And in 25 years’ time we’re going to make another massive jump.’

She has been here for the last 10, fronting NBC’s broadcasts, doing her bit to turn more American heads towards soccer. The change in that time has been remarkable – the fact that nearly half of the Premier League are here this summer is proof of that. The next decade could bring an even greater shift in the landscape.

‘I would not be surprised to see an actual Premier League game in America in the next 10 years,’ Lowe says. ‘It is going to happen… I know when (ex-Premier League chief) Richard Scudamore brought it up, he was annihilated for that idea.’ Now, though, the picture looks very different.

‘This is the last area of the world to be tapped into – this is why they’re all coming over,’ Lowe continues. ‘There are 350million people in this country and only about 10m have a team… a lot of the money is coming from America now – whether it be ownership or television.’ And that brings certain expectations.

‘They want to see a Premier League game and it will happen at some point. I have no doubt about it,' she adds. 'It will cause an absolute ruckus in England.’

It would spark bedlam in the States, though. If this summer is anything to by, anyway. Starting Saturday, Lowe will anchor coverage of the first ever Premier League Summer Series. Chelsea, Brighton, Fulham, Brentford, Newcastle and Aston Villa have all come to town. Arsenal and Manchester United are also Stateside, too.

It’s a sign of the times. ‘The only thing that penetrated in 1999 in this country was the women,’ Lowe recalls. The USWNT won a home World Cup that summer as Brandi Chastain’s sports bra went down in history. ‘Men’s football? Absolutely no chance,’ Lowe says.

‘Ten years ago, when I first arrived here, the Premier League had been on television but in sort of drips and drabs.’

And then NBC stepped in. Since August 2013, NBC has presented all 3,800 Premier League matches. Last season was the second-most watched ever in the United States, with an average of 527,000 viewers per match window. Alongside the Premier League, NBC has also hosted fan festivals across the US since 2018. Lowe has been front and center throughout.

‘It is the greatest sport in the world - the only problem with this country was that it just hadn’t realized that yet,’ Lowe says. ‘Now that this country has been exposed to top-level football, people are like: “Oh! That’s why they call it the beautiful game.’

The clearest indication of how deep Premier League soccer has seeped into the US? The shirts spotted at airports or shopping malls. A decade ago, Lowe might see Manchester United or Liverpool or Chelsea colours. And even that was rare.

‘Now, on a daily basis, I see the whole spectrum: Huddersfield, Southampton, (Crystal) Palace,’ Lowe explains.

‘So the Premier League has flooded America and America has lapped it up… all you needed to do was knock on the door a little bit and show America what it was missing.’ And yet? So much room for growth remains.

‘There are not many things left in this world – let alone in America – that can grow.’ But in this vast, rich market, football is still playing catch up.

‘My husband is a consultant for American owners here in the States, who are setting up football clubs. I can’t tell you the amount of calls he gets,’ Lowe says.

‘In England, they say you’re never more than 20 minutes away from a football club. It’s going to end up being the same over here. Why? Because rich humans realize that football is really what people want.’

There will come a time when soccer dwarfs those sports that are woven into American identity. Lowe is certain of that. Perhaps not in her lifetime but it will come.

‘There’s no way the rest of the world is wrong,’ she insists. ‘So America just needs to change.’

It is. On Friday night in Fort Lauderdale, soccer in this country will take another giant leap forward when Lionel Messi makes his debut for Inter Miami.

‘You can’t compare him to when Pele came over and all the other big names – it’s a different world now,’ Lowe says. ‘This country is ready for him, more than it has ever been before. I just wish it was five years ago.’

Inter Miami co-owner Jorge Mas believes Messi can turn Major League Soccer into one of the world’s top three leagues. That should be within reach. ‘It has everything – facilities, stadiums, fans, weather – you could ever want to build the greatest soccer league in the world,' Lowe says. To unlock that vast potential however, superstars need to arrive in their prime. And turkeys must vote for Christmas.

‘They have to introduce promotion and relegation,’ she says. ‘There is not enough jeopardy.’

There are, however, aspects of US soccer – well, US sports – that the Premier League could learn from. The most obvious? More face time with players and managers.

‘I was actually part of Setanta’s coverage of the Blue Square Premier – now the National League – 15 years ago and I had to interview the managers during the game,’ Lowe recalls. ‘I’d have to go and tap them on the shoulder... and say: “Sorry, can I just have a quick word?”’

Convincing Jurgen Klopp and Co to chat mid-game seems a pipe dream. But Lowe insists: ‘Slowly but surely it will get better because the pressure from the likes of the American audience will demand that.’

For now, though, Lowe can look forward to a special summer of soccer on these shores. And look back at a wild journey over the past 10 years.

‘We didn’t really know how we were going to be received back in 2013,’ she recalls. ‘I can’t believe I’ve managed to be part of a vehicle that has changed something in America.’