Soccer gaining in popularity

from today's Business Week enews (8/27):

August 21, 2008, 2:21PM EST text size: TT

English Soccer's Global Reach Scores Big
The lucrative Premiership's international stars make for marketing opportunities the world over, and the EPL is even gaining fast on the NFL
by Mark Scott

"Every weekend from now until next May, teams from the English Premier League (EPL) will battle it out in arguably the world's most competitive soccer championship. Across Britain, fans will flood into local pubs to down a few pints while hoping to catch a moment of brilliance from their favorite superstars, such as Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United or Didier Drogba of Chelsea FC.

What's surprising, though, is that this scene—minus, perhaps, the authentic British pub—is replicated week in and week out all over the world, from Texas to Thailand. The global appeal of England's "Premiership," coupled with lucrative global broadcasting agreements, has made the EPL an economic juggernaut. Already outstripping other European soccer leagues in revenues and viewership, the Premiership is now gaining on America's National Football League (NFL) and National Basketball Association (NBA) by capitalizing on soccer's place as the world's favorite sport." ...

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