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Uncle Sam could not have said it any better. We want you. We want you to support your favorite football club no matter where they are from. The Premier League’s recent television introduction to America has spurred a new mass audience for the world’s favorite sport.
The British invasion is happening all over again with even better heads of hair than The Beatles and Rolling Stones combined. Ever since NBC’s recent purchase of Premier League broadcast rights in the States, thousands of gridiron fans have switched sides to proper football - or, maybe more accurately, added a new sport to the mix. This massive marketing campaign great news for pre-existing fans of the sport, and more and more fans are flooding to the game. NBC alone has increased its audience margin by 48% since the addition of the league to its partnering channels. U.S. fans have access to all 380 Premier games, either live on TV or streamed on NBC Sports Live Extra, which is more than anywhere else, including Britain," NBC TV programming chief Jon Miller explained.
With growing audiences, fans are beginning to look for more ways to interact with their newly-found British culture. Pubs across the country are slowly becoming attuned to host certain support groups during match days, and small local rivalries are formed between these groups. Denver, Colorado alone has support groups for all of the top Premier League teams sanctioned by the parent clubs themselves. In addition to hosting matches at pubs across the state, small groups within the supporters travel to England to watch games in their native environment.
Chelsea fans celebrate a win outside of The British Bulldog
The Rocky Mountain Blues have hopped on this growing craze of English football and have settled down at a local Denver pub, The British Bulldog, to obsess over everything Chelsea. They engage in banter amongst other Colorado based support groups like MCFC Denver, Denver Evertonians, and the Denver Gooners. The Champions League final game against Bayern Munich in 2012 made the close quarters pub erupt in celebration after Drogba secured their win:
We have seen the United States Men's National Team grow and become a part of American culture during the 2014 World Cup with the help of The American Outlaws. ("I believe that we will win. I believe that we will win.") A small group of three fans going to a bar to watch our national team take on some of the fiercest competition in the world has created a nationwide group of fans with over 100 chapters. Without a doubt, the growing popularity of the sport has become more engrained in younger generations
Support groups are a great way to engage with other people in you community who share the same passion for the world of football. Their growing popularity is increasing America’s growth in the sport and its presence on the world’s stage.
