City's popularity expanding worldwide

[BlueDejong]

Comment: Man City's popularity expanding worldwide

Manchester City News ‏@ManCityMEN 14m14 minutes ago
Man City's popularity soaring in Brazil thanks to imports, @AndyMitten writes <a class="postlink" href="http://bit.ly/1wBT3qg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://bit.ly/1wBT3qg</a> #mcfc

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Elano, Robinho, Jo et al. have ensured that a City shirt is no longer a surreal sight in Brazil anymore.

Gustavo Cardoso, a seven-year-old Brazilian wearing City’s white away top, sits in a cafe in southern Brazil with his parents. Christmas is approaching and the weather is a scorching 34 degrees.

“My favourite player is Dzeko, then Hart and Aguero,” explains the young blue.

Gustavo supports City and Gremio, from the nearby city of Porto Alegre, but watches the Premier League because: “English football has the best players. I watch the games on ESPN.”

He’s happy as he’s just seen City beat Crystal Palace. United’s game at Aston Villa was also broadcast live, as are more games than you’ll find on British television.

Brazil, the greatest exporter of footballers on earth, is now importing England’s greatest export, Premier League football.

It means young boys can prefer a Bosnian, Dzeko to a Brazilian, Neymar. Such is this cultural imperialism, it means Gustavo, who lives in a city with strong German connections called Novo Hamburgo (New Hamburg), supports City in preference to a German giant.

The Blues were barely noticed in Brazil before 2008. ‘Manchester’ was United, but City’s rise to prominence is obvious, even on the streets of provincial towns. It’s hardly scientific, but during a week spent in Porto Alegre four City shirts were counted to one United.

United are far more popular overall, but both Manchester clubs have their merchandise distributed everywhere alongside Barcelona and Real Madrid – plus the top local sides Gremio and Inter, both of whom have been South American and world champions. English football was first televised in Brazil at the beginning of the 1980s.

“I was eight when I watched the United v Brighton FA Cup final – but not the replay,” recalls football journalist Alex Sabino, who works for one of Brazil’s best newspapers in Sao Paulo.

“Globo, a TV channel, broadcast the European finals each year and then a Serie A match live every Sunday so Italian football became popular. European football caught Brazilians’ attention at the end of 80s and the beginning of 90s when another channel, Bandeirantes promoted and broadcast Serie A.”

The Premier League started to be shown on cable in 1994-95, though few in the world’s fifth most populous country of 200m could afford it. So limited was the take up, ESPN stopped showing games in 1997 but returned in 2004-2005 and English football has been a mainstay since.

“The Premier League is by far the most popular European league in Brazil,” explains Sabino. “Barcelona and Real Madrid are the most popular teams, but if ESPN is showing Valencia v Almeria, nobody cares.”

It costs £45 per month for an inclusive television package with the most popular cable provider.

“Manchester United and Chelsea are the most popular English teams in Brazil,” explains Sabino. “They were the teams the young supporters saw winning the most. Glory hunters, eh?”

Gustavo began to like City when they began winning trophies, but not every Brazilian is happy with the Premier League’s infiltration.

“Some are afraid that children start to have a foreign team as their first choice,” said Sabino. “They also say the Brazilian league is the best in the world, but the fact is that it’s easier to watch Manchester United than Flamengo (Brazil’s most popular club) on cable TV in Brazil.”

Despite predictions to the contrary, the World Cup finals were a success in Brazil. England aside, the football was largely impressive and average crowds of 53,591 were the second highest in the tournament’s history.

What has happened since the summer is a different issue, for while a raft of superb new stadiums were constructed, some were in cities which didn’t need them.

In domestic football, average attendances grew to 16,931 in Brazil’s top flight in 2014, South America’s second highest after Argentina (21,155) but less than half that of the Premier League.

A falling currency isn’t going to help big Brazilian clubs do as they did at the start of the decade and bring back stars like Elano, Robinho and Ronaldinho.

Despite the new stadiums and more natural talent than any other country, many Brazilians remain unconvinced by their own league, with games played at a lower intensity than those English matches they find so appealing.

From Rafael to Oscar, there are also more and more Brazilian players in English football.

Juninho was the first Premier League Brazilian in 1995 and 57 have since followed from Anderson to Jo, Gilberto Silva to Kleberson, Elano to Fabio.

Brazil’s loss is the Premier League’s gain. Usually.

 

[eversince 76]

It's not like it is a surprise is it? The EPL have had and still has the best tv-deals world wide, so it's to be expected to have PL-games on telly world-wide. As a foreign Cityfan I remember listening to my radio that could hardly receive the BBC, hoping for City to be mentioned, and actually taping it when the 2nd half of a City-match on a Sat-afternoon was live, so I could listen to it over and over again. Or buying a British newspaper when it went on sale two days after the game was actually played. I raced home on my bike from school for the Pink Final to drop in my box about 5 days after the match and just once a week. Now, I travel the world and I'm not even bothered to try and find a place where they broadcast City.

On a totally different matter I keep wondering more and more with so much tv-revenues coming in all these years, why prices of tickets keep rising, and why the PL seems to be falling behind the Spanish and German League not just footballwise. It's time the PL have a hard look at itself in the mirror. What it will see is a big fat moneydriven monster with no eye for the fan and the actual atmosphere in the stadium. It's stories like this that will keep the mind of the man in the black suite that rules the fortunes of the PL think: why worry, we are still seen as the best league worldwide and we are still gaining more viewers.

 

[sir baconface]

So there you have it. Jo was a pathfinder for cultural imperialism.

 

[Newman Noggs]

And the grammar in that first sentence is grotesque.

 

[gordondaviesmoustache]

And the grammar in that first sentence is grotesque.

Agreed WA. Also, the last word renders it to be tautological.

 

[Champions2012!]

Keep seeing more and more people with City shirts and scarves each passing year

 

[Chippy_boy]

And the grammar in that first sentence is grotesque.

Agreed WA. Also, the last word renders it to be tautological.

With not a little irony, that one isn't brilliant.

 

[Chappie]

And the grammar in that first sentence is grotesque.

Not suprising when you see who has wrote the article.
Andy Mitten,the former mouthpiece of a United fanzine,can the M.E.N.not find anyone better to report on City

 

[prestonibbo_mcfc]

And the grammar in that first sentence is grotesque.

Not suprising when you see who has wrote the article.
Andy Mitten,the former mouthpiece of a United fanzine,can the M.E.N.not find anyone better to report on City

written !!!!!!!!!

 

[Chappie]

And the grammar in that first sentence is grotesque.

Not suprising when you see who has wrote the article.
Andy Mitten,the former mouthpiece of a United fanzine,can the M.E.N.not find anyone better to report on City

written !!!!!!!!!

Oops,you are correct written by Mitten