Soccerati’s own Sangyfarha on why Club America fans mean more to US Soccer than American Chelsea fans:

Tags: Chelsea FC, Club America, football fans, world football challenge

The connection between online gambling and soccer continues to grow in prominence — damn, I really need to learn to bet on soccer — with 188Bet becoming the first two-team kit sponsor in the EPL … their brand soon to be on both Wigan and Bolton. In a two-year deal, gone is JJB Sports and Gone-ish is Reebok.

188Bet-Bolton and 188Bet-Wigan join Mansion-Tottenham and SBOBET-West Ham … making online gambling outfits the torso sponsor of 20 percent of the EPL.

PokerStars, of course, recently entered into Mexico’s Primera Division with FC Chivas, PartyBets has a Coca-Cola team with Leyton Orient, and of course the big boys, Bwin, have Real Madrid, AC Milan, and Bayern Munich. I’m almost sure I’m forgetting a few others …

188Bet, interestingly enough, is an online gambling op that currently draws 80 percent of its customers from the Asian market, and it’s just a coincidence that the new Bolton jersey image above happens to be sized at 188 pixels

Tags: 188Bet, AC Milan, Bayern Munich, Bolton Wanderers, bwin, kits, Real Madrid, Reebok, soccer betting, sponsorship deals, Wigan

I have a running gag about zombies as a modern parable of an incurable pandemic affecting mankind.  Now lo and behold my flakiness becomes a semi-reality of sorts.  The beginning of the end?  Hardly, but eerie that football has fallen victim to my paranoia.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=640432&sec=global&cc=5901

Tags: FMF, soccer stadiums, swine flu

This development kinda gives me the chills (in a good way) …

CD Chivas has signed on PokerStars (dot net) as a major sponsor.

Here’s an example of some of the commercials they’re running in Mexico … this one featuring Omar Arellano:

Official Chivas announcement (en Español)

Tags: CD Chivas, FMF, Off-pitch soccer business, PokerStars