Liverpool To Play In Charlotte During Summer As Part Of Int'l Champions Cup

Liverpool CCO Billy Hogan revealed that the Premier League club will take on Serie A side AC Milan as part of the 2014 Int'l Champions Cup. At a press conference at Charlotte's Bank of America Stadium, which will host the game on Aug. 2, Hogan said that touring is incredibly important from a business and commercial perspective for Liverpool. He said, "It's something that we do to try and bring the club closer to our fan base. We have more than 21 million fans here in the U.S." The Reds will also take on Greek club Olympiacos and EPL rival Man City during the competition. Instead of organizing its own preseason tour, as is usually the case, Liverpool decided to join the eight-team tournament. "There are so many great teams within [the Int'l Champions Cup]. When you think about AC Milan, Manchester City, Real Madrid and Manchester United, those are great global clubs that are all involved," Hogan said. "Sometimes the hardest thing about actually organizing your own tour is who you are going to play." This summer's preseason tour will be Liverpool's seventh trip to the U.S.

GAME TIME: In addition to Liverpool's fixtures, RSE Ventures subsidiary Relevent Sports, which organizes the Int'l Champions Cup, unveiled the complete schedule for the event on Thursday. The second year of the tournament will feature eight of Europe's top clubs, which will be divided into two groups. Liverpool, AC Milan, Olympiacos and Man City will compete in Group A, while Real Madrid, ManU, AS Roma and Inter Milan will play in Group B. The winners of both groups will face each other in the final at Miami's Sun Life Stadium on Aug. 4. The tournament, which will take place in 12 cities across the U.S, will be broadcast internationally in more than 150 countries. Tickets for the event will go on sale Saturday at 10am EST.