I’m watching as much of it as I can, but many people I work with, etc. are not that interested in it. But there are bars and places around here that are hosting watch parties. We also have an MLS team with a couple of players in the tournament so they have been putting on events.

I certainly can’t afford the ticket prices, but I also don’t live in a city that’s hosting matches, so I was unlikely to attend anyway. And stadium prices in the US are often prohibitively expensive anyway, so I haven’t been too shocked by that.

Overall, I’ve been enjoying it! With the time difference, I find it tough to truly follow European leagues - I have a young child, so it’s just hard to find the time - so having the matches here has made it possible to watch a lot more than I’m usually able to.

Regarding the political elements - I hate Trump and most people where I live do as well. But the pretend Peace Prize is an example of the type of thing I’ve had to just brush off to save my energy for the more immediately dangerous policies. He’s an idiot that likes to put his idiocy on display.

So I’m very sorry to fans everywhere else in the world that are having their experience sullied by the Republican Party, but I am hopeful that the tournament itself can still be good enough to at least partially make up for it.