Soccer is all the rage outside of the United States; a weekly soccer office pool that's been around for years is most popular in England. The English Premier League has worldwide recognition, and with gambling being mainstream in England, it's a natural fit. Much like in the United States, in England there are bets placed on single match-ups (fixtures), match-up groupings (office pools), and championship match-ups (tournament cups).
The regular season for the English Premier League is 38 weeks long beginning in August and ending in May each season. Each of the teams within the premier league plays each other twice, both at home and away. Premier league office pool is a weekly prediction pool in which a player makes an educated guess to the outcome of each match up; pick the winner or a draw (no winner). Every week there are six to 10 fixtures.
During the months of June and July, leagues throughout Europe play single elimination tournaments to declare an overall champion. In England there are both the Carling Cup and the FA Cup (Football Association Challenge Cup). The Carling Cup is really the league cup and sponsored by Carling, though in the past it's been sponsored by Coca Cola soft drinks and the Littlewoods retail and gambling outfit. Carling Cup is run by the league and only allows limited entries; 20 from the Premier League and 72 other teams are selected. The FA Cup was established in 1871 and is much more wide open when it comes to participants. This tournament allows over 700 teams to compete for entry into the FA Cup. As well as being presented with the cup, the winning team also qualifies by right for the first round of the UEFA Cup, unless they have already qualified for Europe in which case the position goes to the runners-up or to the highest placed Premier League side without European qualification.
The DFB-Pokal begins with a round of 64 teams. The 36 teams of the Bundesliga and 2nd Bundesliga are automatically qualified for the tournament. The tournament was established in 1935 and is a single elimination format.
The Coppa Italia (Italy Cup) is an annual cup competition that started in 1922. The format allows for 42 teams in competition which would play in the top 2 levels of Italian football associations Serie A and Serie B.
The Copa del Rey is an annual cup competition for Spanish football teams established in 1902. The naming of this tournament has a storied past which includes: King John Charles I's Cup, King Alfonso XIII's Cu,p and the Republic President's Cup. The tournament is single elimination and teams from upper and lower divisions will get to play against each other but the number of clubs allowed to participate is restricted.
The popularity of European Football is year round between the weekly fixtures and the summer tournaments. Office pools that accompany these match ups are a welcome companion and in some cases a necessary promotional tool.
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