*By Conor White*
With 10 days to go before the start of the 2018 World Cup in Russia, soccer is having a moment in the United States, despite the American men's failure to qualify for the tournament for the first time in 32 years.
The appeal of the sport, and the enthusiasm for the World Cup, could bode well for the U.S. team, said the World Cup veteran and U.S. under-20 national team coach Tab Ramos.
"I'm very bullish on the young players we have in this country," Ramos said Monday in an interview with Cheddar. "There's a lot of investment, a lot of Major League Soccer clubs investing in their youth academies, and I think we're starting to see the results of that, and I think our future is bright."
Ramos, who played in the 1990, 1994, and 1998 World Cups for the United States, said the appeal of the sport is universal, and the tournament will capture the attention of new fans with each kick.
"Some of the sports we grew up watching, NFL or Major League Baseball, have sort of rested on their laurels a little bit and have continued with an older audience that now is over 45, over 50, and soccer has gone after a whole new generation of people," Ramos said.
That generation of fans will be watching the tournament in Russia, where Ramos will be working as a World Cup analyst for Telemundo Deportes.
"It's a unique world event in the way that people identify with the sport in each country," he said. "It's sort of the people's sport."
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/soccer-legend-tab-ramos-previews-2018-world-cup).
Naz Aletaha, head of esports partnerships for Riot Games, said that the "priceless" experiences with new global sponsor Mastercard will start with the world championships in October, offering premium content and behind the scenes access to the biggest event for esports lovers.
Mastercard, seeing a market opening in the skyrocketing popularity of esports, signed a deal to become first global sponsor for Riot Games' "League of Legends." Raja Rajamannar, chief marketing and communications officer for Mastercard, said the company will become exclusive payment service provider for the game. The deal represents the largest mainstream sponsorship thus far in the esports world.
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As the online gaming world continues to boom, professional sports organizations are working to marry the online and physical sports world. Hugh Weber, president of the New Jersey Devils, said that there is a way for live esports events to be compelling enough to translate to ticket sales.
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Chris Raybon, senior editor at The Action Network, breaks down the best bets for sports fans heading into Week 2 of the NFL Season.
The company's recent growth on the back of a newly invigorated gaming segment is only the beginning, according to president and CEO Bracken Darrell. He said in an interview on Cheddar that esports could become "the biggest sport in the world," and Logitech will be there as its top hardware provider.
If you had any lingering doubts that eSports had gone mainstream, they would have been erased when the North American League of Legends Summer Split took over the Oracle Arena ー home to the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors. Cheddar was there for the last stop before the World Championships in South Korea next month.
Bettis, known as "The Bus" when he was an unstoppable running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers, voiced support for the NFL player protests but also said he thought the league was "doing the right thing" in a tense situation.
Serena Williams's altercation with a chair umpire during the U.S. Open final was just the latest example of women being treated differently than their male counterparts in the sport. But whether things change by the Australian Open in January, said the Washington Post's Cindy Boren, is hard to say.
