Professional sport is far richer than it has ever been, and yet all sports seem united by a desire to generate even more cash. The motivation is the same, whether it is in FIFAs wish to expand the World Cup beyond 32 teams, India playing West Indies in a T20I series in Florida, or in the NFL playing three games in October in London.While cricket attempts to take hold in America, so Americas game attempts to grow in England. This year is the tenth consecutive one in which regular season games in American football have been held in London. What began as an idiosyncratic novelty has gradually become an accepted part of the British sporting calendar. The number of games per season in London has risen from one to three and will rise further, to four in 2018. Even as the number of matches has swelled, it has not been able to keep pace with demand.Of the 15 NFL matches that have been played at Wembley Stadium to date, only one has not been a sell-out. Sky Sports now televises more than 100 live games a year, and the average audience has doubled in the past decade. Meanwhile the BBCs highlights show, which launched last year, now receives a total audience of one million. The BBC also shows four live games every year - the three in London and the Super Bowl, the NFLs annual championship game.Games in London are a deliberate loss leader, Alistair Kirkwood, head of NFL Europe, explained earlier this year. The matches make a loss for the NFL because of the costs of paying for the clubs to relocate for a week, and compensating the home club for losing revenue. But the NFL sees this as a short-term investment and envisages matches in Britain ultimately helping to make all 32 clubs richer through more lucrative sponsorship, merchandise sales and commercial rights.Perhaps the most important part of the NFLs approach to growing the game in England is that it is about more than just monetising Americans who have settled across the pond. It is about developing new fans too.For the last two years, the NFL has organised a fans day in Regents Street, central London, using everything from inflatable tackling dummies, cheerleaders and American food and drink to show off the sport to new fans. About half a million people showed up. Most stumbled across the event rather than sought it out, yet in many ways that is the point. It was designed to increase awareness of the NFL among those who knew and cared little for it.Here there are many lessons for cricket. The raft of high-profile cricket events in the USA in the last year - the Warne-Tendulkar Legends series, the staging of Caribbean Premier League games and the West Indies-India internationals - seem to have been designed squarely to make cash out of the expat market. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with that. But there is a problem when a bunch of 1990s stars slugging it out in a baseball stadium is seen as a substitute for a meaningful development strategy.Getting the NFL shown on free-to-air TV - through the BBC highlights show, which is designed for the non-hardcore fan - is central to the sports approach to Britain. Yet so far there have been no attempts to get cricket on free-to-air TV in the States. Indeed, the India-West Indies T20Is were not shown on any TV channel in the USA at all.Nor has there been a substantive attempt - Courtney Walsh bowling to the mayor of Indianapolis doesnt really count - to make cricket accessible, relevant or even known beyond those who already follow the game. Sadly, this is in keeping with the history of the sport in the USA.A lot of focus does tend to go on to the commercial side of things, an ICC source said of those in charge of US cricket two years ago. And when marquee matches have been held in Malaysia, Singapore and even the United Arab Emirates, organisers there too have rarely used them to win new converts to cricket.The most successful sport yet at entering a new market has been basketball in China. It has done so through an enlightened, long-term approach, focusing both on the grassroots and professional game, and the fortuitous emergence of the superstar Yao Ming. The NFLs approach to Britain and elsewhere is being governed by this template.Yet such sophistication has long been absent in crickets approach to growth, which has been impatient and top-down, seldom recognising the importance of engaging children without a national affinity to the sport or the sheer time such expansionism requires before it yields financial rewards.Cricket in the US hasnt developed the same kind of commercial or managerial sophistication as the NBA in China or the NFL in the UK, says Simon Chadwick, a professor of sports enterprise at the University of Salford in England. Cricket needs pitches, players and points of engagement, not just Warne and Tendulkar. The sport needs to give people in the US reasons to watch and reasons to play.The historic failure of those running US cricket is borne out by the terrible participation rates for junior cricketers. There were only 1230 junior cricketers playing in the US in 2014, according to the ICC census. In contrast, there are now 6000 junior players in American football in Britain, plus another 5000 players at universities. This is not just vindication for a decade of matches in London, but also the work that American football has done in establishing itself at grassroots level.Osi Umenyiora, a former NFL star who was born in England, is paid by the NFL to help identify athletes in their late teens and early 20s who could take their skills to American football. While the ICC has taken some important steps to reform American cricket over the last two years - like suspending USACA, whose leadership stymied US cricket for many years, and creating an ICC Americas team to compete in the Caribbean domestic 50-over tournament - transforming grassroots cricket and ending the exclusivity surrounding the sport will take many years.The most important lesson that cricket can learn from this NFL story is that other sports are coming into crickets traditional territories - from the NFL in Britain, to European club football in India - while making a concerted effort to grow in the most lucrative untapped sports market of them all: China.There comes a point when the growth of sports is a zero-sum game. Someone choosing to watch the NFL in Britain or the Premier League in India is doing so instead of watching cricket at that time. Other sports increased popularity could thereby undermine the commercial value of cricket.This is why crickets approach, in the US and beyond, must be about long-term development more than short-term profits. Expanding the sports global footprint is ultimately an insurance policy, a way of reducing a financial over-dependence on India and guarding against a drop in interest in crickets traditional powerhouses. Melvin Gordon Jersey .com) - Following a late-game loss to the reigning NBA champs, the Toronto Raptors will look to sustain their recent high-level play as they travel to Indiana to take on the Pacers. Keenan Allen Jersey .C. -- Todd Fiddler scored a hat trick, including the overtime goal, as the Prince George Cougars survived an 8-7 win against the Kamloops Blazers in Western Hockey League play Sunday. http://www.chargersauthenticofficialonline.com/authentic-korey-toomer-jersey.html . 8 Iowa State on Saturday, sending the Cyclones to their third consecutive loss. The Longhorns (14-4, 3-2) got their biggest win of the season with their third in the row in the Big 12. LaDainian Tomlinson Jersey . Those lessons were more than enough to overwhelm the Utah Jazz. Lou Williams scored 25 points and the Hawks continued their offensive upswing as they rolled to an easy 118-85 victory over the Jazz on Friday night, winning their third straight and for the fourth time in five games. Hunter Henry Jersey . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. Rob Nelson of ESPN Stats & Information revisits the worst bad beats from the weekends gambling action.Closing lines are courtesy of Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook, and pick percentages are via Wunderdog Sports.SaturdayLouisiana Tech Bulldogs at Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Closing line: Western Kentucky -12These teams continue to light up the scoreboard when they meet. Back in October, Louisiana Tech held off Western Kentucky, winning 55-52. The rematch featured 102 combined points and a bad beat for bettors who took the Bulldogs.Things were looking good for those who took the underdog, as Louisiana Tech took a 41-38 lead on a Kam McKnight one-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter. Unfortunately for the 42 percent who bet the Bulldogs, they wouldnt find the end zone again. With a minute to go in the fourth, Louisiana Tech trailed 51-44 and needed to stop Western Kentucky on a third-and-four from the Bulldogs 13-yard line. They couldnt get the stop, as Anthony Waless 13-yard touchdown run covered the spread for the Hilltoppers.Final score: Western Kentucky 58, Louisiana Tech 44 (Western Kentucky covers)New Mexico State Aggies at South Alabama Jaguars Closing line: Over/under 59Of the 14 FBS games played on Saturday, five were Sun Belt matchups. The 48 percent of bettors who took the under in this game ended up not too thrilled about their lack of betting options.The game was tied at 14 entering the fourth quarter, with the total 31 points short of the closing over/under. The teams would combine for five touchdowns in the final 15 minutes, capped off by a 35-yard touchdown catch by New Mexico States Johnathan Boone with 25 seconds left. That score not only cost those on the under, but gave the Aggies a backdoor cover (closed as 11.5-point underdogs).Final score: South Alabama 35, New Mexico State 28 (Game goes over)Clemson Tigers vs Virginia Tech Hokies Closing line: Clemson -11The 59 percent of bettors who took Clemson had to feel good about their chances near the end of the third quarter.The Tigers led 35-14 and their offense seemingly couldnt be stopped. But Virginia Tech wouldnt go down easily, scoring touchdowns on each of its next three posssessions.dddddddddddd After the Hokies cut the Clemson lead down to 42-35, the Tigers got the ball back with 5:43 left and a chance to cover the spread. But Deshaun Watson and company went backwards, and ended up punting on fourth-and-17. There would be no more scores, as those on Clemson are still wondering how Virginia Tech scored 21 of the last 28 points.Final score: Clemson 42, Virginia Tech 35 (Virginia Tech covers)San Diego Toreros at North Dakota State Bison Closing line: Over/under 47With a small slate of FBS games this past weekend, some looked to the FCS playoffs for some college football betting. Those who took the under in this game are wishing they had avoided the action.The five-time defending FCS champions led from start to finish and ended up covering the 25.5-point spread. But it was the last score by North Dakota State that cost bettors on the under. Leading 38-7 (with the total two points under the closing O/U), the Bison had the ball and were just trying to run out the clock. But with less than 30 seconds left, North Dakota States Bruce Anderson broke free for a 61-yard touchdown that pushed the total over.Final score: North Dakota State 45, San Diego 7 (Game goes over)SundayWashington Redskins at Arizona Cardinals Closing line: Cardinals -2.5, Over/under 48.5Entering this game, the Redskins had covered in nine of their last 11 games when listed as an underdog. On the other hand, the total had gone under in 10 straight Arizona home games.Both trends looked to be right again, as bettors on the Redskins and/or the under were in good shape. The Cardinals were a couple of first downs away from being able to run out the clock, as they faced a second-and-10 at the Washington 42-yard line with 2:03 left. Knowing the clock would stop at the two-minute warning, Carson Palmer heaved a passed into double coverage that was somehow caught by J.J. Nelson for a touchdown. Just like that, the Cardinals -2.5 and the over 48.5 were winning bets.Final score: Cardinals 31, Redskins 23 (Cardinals cover and game goes over) Wholesale HoodiesNFL Shirts OutletJerseys NFL WholesaleCheap NFL Jerseys Free ShippingWholesale Jerseys CheapCheap NFL Jerseys ChinaWholesale JerseysWholesale NFL JerseysCheap NFL Jerseys ChinaCheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '