Givem, there's a reason ESPN is actually spending money on the sport in the U.S. now, and beyond that spending more on it every year. The ratings for Euro 2012 were stronger than they were for the '08 tournament, and you can bet your bottom dollar they will be even more significant in 2016. You might want to adjust your expectations a bit.

Agreed. I'm already making plans for the WC in Brazil in '14. Should be a nonstop 336 hour party.

UrsaMajor;841906491 said:

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Agreed. I'm already making plans for the WC in Brazil in '14. Should be a nonstop 336 hour party.

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I've already told my wife that I now have a reason to visit France, in 2016.

Wife and I arrived in Budapest on Bastille Day 1998, two days after the French won the World Cup. Our Hotel (Victoria) was on the Danube right next to the Institute for France in Hungary, and their block party was so crowded that the taxi couldn't come within two blocks of the hotel. We had to walk, through a thick crowd, with our luggage. I wasn't happy, having been on a train from Prague via Vienna all day. We dumped our bags in the room and went off to find a restaurant. About two blocks up the river, right across from the Parliament Building, we found a moored ship with a restaurant on the back deck. We went on board, ordered, and ate a fine cheap paprika chicken dinner with a bottle of some local red wine. As we were finishing up, a barge steamed past us and dropped anchor a couple hundred yards downriver, near the Institute. It proceeded to give us the most awesomest fireworks show we'd ever seen. Turned out to be one of the more magical nights of my life, and I have the French (and soccer) to thank for it.