Football fact of the day

I am grateful to Prospect magazine for spotting the following remarkable fact, first noted by The Guardian:

Every week, ten times as many Chinese people watch Premier League football as do British people.

Comments

[David H]

There are 20x as many of them, and I doubt they have to pay BSky B/Setanta's exorbitant prices. Where is the shock in that?

[Mr Eugenides]

What the Guardian actually said, Daniel, was that this statistic had been reeled off by Gordon Brown during his visit to China last month.

So I'd say that, at the very least, it carries a health warning...

[Manchester United Credit Card]

The Chinese obviously watch matches on telly because they can't attend matches. And as David H rightly said, we have to pay a high premium for Sky Sports and Setanta Sports. Also a lot of live matches in the UK are not watched from home. In fact they are watched from the local pub. I dont think the Prospect Magazine took all that into account.