I think (but don't quote me on it) that ESPN America's programming is pretty much the same across Europe. The Scandinavians, Russians and Czechs love the NHL because all their big stars play there, so I reckon they're a big market to aim at.
The Italians, Balkan Countries, Lithuanians and Greeks love their basketball, so that's a good market - even at college level.
The only people who like American Football more than the Brits are the Germans. Don't ask me why, I haven't a clue.
For what it's worth, baseball's got a Spanish following, presumably mainly from ex-pat Latino US Americans, Caribbean Hispanics, and Central and South Americans.
I heard a rumour (and it's probably no more than that), that viewer numbers for college football programs in the UK are much higher than they anticipated though. The guy who told me is a freelance sound guy who works on panel programmes. He wouldn't bother lying to me about what he'd heard because he doesn't give a sh*t about sport unless Chelsea are involved. Who knows whether he got it from a remotely credible source. :|
I think (but don't quote me on it) that ESPN America's programming is pretty much the same across Europe. The Scandinavians, Russians and Czechs love the NHL because all their big stars play there, so I reckon they're a big market to aim at.The Itali