By: Nina He

People dressed in blue filled the streets of Philadelphia on July 22th. However, the people weren’t supporting the 76ers; they were supporting Chelsea FC, an English football club. They were in Philadelphia for the U.S. Premier League Summer Series, and they were facing Brighton and Hove Albion (a.k.a. Brighton), a professional football club.

In the Premier League Summer Series, there are nine games played across five venues across the East Coast of the U.S. There are six teams: Aston Villa, Brentford, Brighton & Hove Albion, Chelsea, Fulham, and Newcastle United. The five places are New York City, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Atlanta, and Orlando.

Before any of that happens, however, there is a fanfest before the summer series, which includes activities like playing the Nike Skills Arena. Lots of basketball and football players are there to sign autographs with fans. The purpose of the fanfest is to gain more fans and show them how good the games are, so they’ll go.

In the U.S., soccer’s popularity is increasing more and more. The Washington Post did a poll on how many people like sports in percentages, and these were the results:

● Hockey, 4%

● Soccer, 8%

● Baseball, 9%

● Basketball, 11%

● Football, 37%

Perhaps to you, that isn’t much, but soccer has already surpassed hockey, golf, and motor racing in the past years.

Even though there are many other sports with a popularity higher than soccer, for sure soccer is on the rise for popularity.