The early morning weekend games also have created their own soccer culture through the businesses that cater to these fans. In Washington, D.C., the country’s top local EPL market last season, according to NBC Sports, each of the major teams have supporters’ clubs who wake up in time to turn up at bars for 7:30 a.m. kickoffs, where they tuck into full English breakfasts, drink Guinness and join fans across the world in belting out the chants picked up by TV cameras inside the stadiums.
Of course, when it comes to deciding which club to follow, the survey’s findings make two things plain: Success is the biggest driver, and clubs that have only recently reached the pinnacle are gobbling up market share.
According to the Morning Consult poll, English football’s two winningest clubs (including top-flight championships that precede the Premier League’s establishment in 1992), Manchester United and No. 2 Liverpool, top the list of largest U.S. followings at 32 percent and 14 percent, respectively. They are followed by Manchester City (9 percent), which won only two league titles up until its 2011-12 championship season, but have gone on to win three more titles since then.
Chelsea and Arsenal, at 6 percent each, were tied for fourth, and offer neat contrasts. While the former had won just one title before the 2004-05 season, it now holds six league championships in its trophy case. Arsenal, meanwhile, remains mired in a title drought that dates back to the 2003-04 season, when its “Invincibles” team went undefeated.
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