Club World Cup in Philly serves as a reminder that soccer is more than the English Premier League

For the second time in a week, Flamengo fans arrived en masse to Lincoln Financial Field for the Club World Cup. Once again, they didn't disappoint.

Flamengo fans take to the streets, cheering and chanting, as they head toward the gates at Lincoln Financial Field for the Club World Cup on Friday.Read moreTyger Williams / Staff Photographer

by Kerith Gabriel

Published June 21, 2025, 8:12 a.m. ET

The folks at Comcast’s NBC Universal might not like to hear this. If Philadelphia’s portion of the FIFA Club World Cup is any indication, it looks like American soccer fans might be going through a bit of English Premier League fatigue.

With games every weekend — and even midweek — available at the click of a few buttons on various streaming platforms, the EPL, its teams, and stars have been instrumental in introducing a generation of American sports fans to the European game.

But if FIFA or the EPL hoped that would lead to mass appeal at live events for Manchester City and Chelsea, EPL clubs that played here this week in group play in the Club World Cup, it was in for a bit of a surprise. The two lesser-known clubs — at least by broadcast standards — in Brazil’s CR Flamengo and Morocco’s Wydad AC filled more seats than two of the top teams in England’s first division.

“I did think there would be more of us, but [a] noon start on the first summer weekend is a tough sell, I guess,” said Downingtown resident and Chelsea fan Mark Prostby.

“This is still a great atmosphere, and we lucked out with some great weather too.”

Prostby, 46, who was here with friends for Friday’s match between Chelsea and Flamengo, said he became a fan in the 1990s when ESPN first aired EPL games on Saturday mornings.

However, it was Flamengo’s contingent of red-clad supporters that brought the excitement, filled Sections 128 to 131 of Lincoln Financial Field, and were visible throughout the crowd of 54,019.

In addition to filling TV screens across America each week, English teams arguably get a boost from exclusively coming here each summer. Along with summer tournaments like the Club World Cup, several teams host summer friendlies here, some even packaged with an NBC ribbon, like the Premier League Summer Series, which returns starting July 26.

A daylong series of friendlies will feature Manchester United, Everton, AFC Bournemouth, and West Ham in a round-robin format at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. As of Saturday afternoon, cheapest ticket was $77.35 and in the upper deck.

While the EPL has its hooks deep into soccer Americana, the Club World Cup clearly conveyed that soccer fandom isn’t limited to the same 20 teams in England or big-name clubs in Spain, France, or Italy.

This past week, soccer truly was a melting pot. Fans from Tunisia, Morocco, and Brazil — twice — flooded not just the seats, but the streets as they marched into the Linc singing, drumming, and dancing.

“It’s amazing to see [Flamengo] here,” said Nilmar Santos, who originally is from Rio de Janeiro but now lives in America and traveled from Staten Island for the club’s final game in Philly. “It’s so hard to see this team every weekend. I have to buy a special [streaming] package to watch their games, but I try not to miss them.

“My family and I love this club, and I grew up watching their matches and have been to Brazil’s home stadium, the Maracanã. This is one of the most popular clubs in South America, so I hope it’s only a matter of time before it gets big here.”

Right now, if a fan wants to watch the Brasileirão, Brazil’s top club division, a subscription to beIN Sports via FuboTV is the primary service. CBS’s Paramount+ had the rights until it dropped them in 2023, and Amazon’s Prime Video this year secured the rights to air one match per week.

Meanwhile, NBC holds primary rights to the English Premier League, with games subcontracted for cable broadcast across its subsidiaries. To entice more viewers to its streaming service, Peacock, NBC still hosts the bulk of its EPL matches on the platform.

Televisions weren’t needed Friday, as the heavy Flamengo presence at the Linc was treated to a surprising 3-1 win over Chelsea.

Flamengo was one of the first teams to qualify for the knockout rounds.

“South American clubs are very competitive,” Flamengo manager and former Chelsea midfielder Filipe Luis said postgame. “We saw that during the Copa Libertadores. It’s so difficult to win. And sometimes the teams that aren’t always seen as the best are the most competitive.”

That underdog mentality suits not just Flamengo, but its boisterous fan base, which for the second time in a week proved that while the big clubs have the money to be on TV screens all across the country, the lesser-known teams are bringing the real passion.

“It’s a lifestyle for us, honestly,” said Joao Pinto, a member of FlaPhilly, the Philadelphia chapter of Flamengo’s fan club, which spans multiple cities across the United States. “We did the balloons; we did the smoke. For many of us, we’ve been waiting months for this match.

“At the end of the day, the fan bases for these European clubs here just aren’t as strong. My friends know I’m a Flamengo fan, and they always say the Prem is better. But that’s just because no one here watches Brazilian soccer. If they did, they’d see just how good the game is. In this tournament, these teams are showing out and proving that they’re not going to get pushed around. You love to see it.”