STRAIGHT MEN WATCH ESPN. ESPN SHOWS SOCCER....:

To ESPN, knowledgeable US soccer fan not oxymoron (RACHEL COHEN, 06/08/10, AP)

ESPN is making a huge investment in World Cup coverage, paying $100 million for the rights to the 2010 and 2014 tournaments, based on the conviction that not only do Americans know the beautiful game, they want all they can get.

The 2006 tournament on ESPN and ABC drew the largest audiences for a World Cup outside the United States. But research afterward showed the network could do more to show fans it’s taking the sport seriously.

Now the network is trying to do just that, and to attract even more viewers, despite the time zone challenges of this year’s event in South Africa.

“The simple math of ratings, if you can take that audience and get them to watch for a longer period of time, it has the same effect as growing the number of viewers,” said Jed Drake, executive producer for ESPN’s World Cup coverage.