Each day, I scour the Internet looking for fascinating stories regarding the Premier League and share most of them on my Twitter account and my shared items on Google Reader. But I often come across some mouthwatering stories that I save to share with you on EPL Talk instead. Trouble is I often run out of time and I’m not able to post them. So, while some of these are older articles, they’re still very timely and are definitely, I feel, of interest to you. Enjoy.

  • Arsenal Launch United States Website (Arsenal.com). Why, oh why Arsenal? I find it condescending that the club creates a separate site for US visitors. I’d rather the club continue to have visitors from the US, and around the world, visit the Arsenal.com homepage rather than trying to segment their visitors and play down to them. Take a look at the Arsenal USA site and tell me it doesn’t look like it’s designed for young children. Plus, it has zero reasons why someone from the US would visit that page.
  • ESPN Acquires Premier League TV Rights Across Asia (euFootball.biz). While Fox carves up most of the Premier League TV rights for North, Central and South America, ESPN takes a big chunk of the Asia market. Now that the international TV rights for the Premier League are close to being sewn up, the next big step for the EPL will be securing the broadband rights packages for the UK and around the world.
  • Exclusive Interview With Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal FC Blog). Andy had the privilege of sitting down for a few minutes to interview Cesc Fabregas, possibly the greatest midfielder that side of the Atlantic. Fabregas is quizzed on several subjects. I particularly like the answer about what we don’t already know about it, which was very enlightening.
  • Pirates Of The Premier League (BBC Five Live). I haven’t had a chance to listen to the episode yet, but I’m sure it’s quite intriguing. Click the ‘Listen Again’ link to hear the segment about how pirated streams are causing the Premier League headaches.
  • Did Rio Pay Bribes? (Transparency In Sport). When Rio was unveiled as the host city for the 2016 Olympics, some of my colleagues were puzzled as to why Chicago got knocked out in the first round. That’s not to say that I believe Chicago should have won the bid, but I did mention how corruption was rife in the Olympics and it may have been quite possible that secret brown envelopes helped tip the vote in Rio’s favor. Read the interesting article from investigative reporter Andrew Jennings to uncover what the FIFA link is to the 2016 Olympics.
  • Commissioner Don Garber To Discuss MLS Playoffs and League Future (Fox Soccer Channel). It’s not EPL-related, but Monday’s Fox Football Fone-In will have a very interesting interview with MLS Commissioner Don Garber. The show starts at 7pm ET.
  • Adidas World Cup Match Ball Collection 1970-2006 (Football Shirt Culture). The complete set of World Cup match balls from Adidas are now available. Which is your favorite? Mine: 1982.
  • The Official Arsenal App (Arsenal.com). Now available for the iPhone and iPod Touch.
  • Ooh! Aah! South Africa (Prospect Magazine). Famed author David Goldblatt takes on the doom-mongers—particularly Brian Glanville—who claim the tournament will be a disaster. Not only are they wrong, says Goldblatt, but they fundamentally fail to grasp the point of making South Africa the host in the first place.