MEDIA COVERAGE Super Bowl grows popular all over

Fourteen TV and radio stations from 10 countries will air the game on-site.
HOUSTON (AP) -- The Chinese hadn't arrived yet, but dozens of other foreign journalists had already gathered for a party at the massive Galleria shopping mall, where a band called "Plastic Farm Animals" and several young ice skaters provided entertainment.
"They are butchering some of our beloved Liverpool folk songs," said Nick Szczepanik of The Times of London as a band labored through a Beatles' number.
The Super Bowl, perhaps the most American of all sporting events, is a worldwide curiosity, chronicled by some 400 members of the international media gathered here this week. In the wee hours of Monday in Europe, and after daybreak in Asia, television sets will be tuned in for a live broadcast of the game.
"Not many people know what is going on on the field," said Akira Kuboshima, editor of Japan's American Football Magazine. "But still they can be excited to watch the battle between the teams."
And even a familiar face or two.
Played in Europe
Eight players in uniform on Sunday once played in Europe.
Carolina Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme had two stints there. The first time he was a backup to Kurt Warner. The second time he helped Frankfort win the World Bowl.
"I think we are just the most underdeveloped position in the game," Delhomme said. "That's why NFL Europe is important. You go over and play. You get game experience."
The NFL makes a concerted international marketing effort, with the American Bowl played every season in Japan and NFL Europe exposing the game to thousands on the continent.
Sunday's game will be beamed to a potential audience estimated by the NFL at 1 billion in 229 countries and territories. It will be broadcast in 21 languages, including Arabic, Cantonese, Icelandic, Russian, Serbian and Thai.
Crew from China
Fourteen television and radio stations from 10 countries will broadcast the game on-site including, for the first time, a crew from China. Philadelphia Eagles tight end Chad Lewis, who speaks fluent Mandarin, will be the color analyst.
"The event is one of the greatest sporting occasions in the world," Zhigang Shi, producer of China's CCTV broadcast, said in a statement released by the NFL, "and we are looking forward to capturing the drama for our viewers."
Not that the NFL is taking the world by storm.
"In Germany, the most popular sports are soccer, soccer, soccer and then soccer," said Gunter Zapf, who will broadcast the Super Bowl for Germany's Premiere television.
Many international sports fans find American football to be tedious, with all the stoppages in play interspersed by a few seconds of action.
"It's getting popular more and more, but not like baseball or sumo or soccer," said Hiroshi Ikezawa, associate editor of The Japan Times, attending his 11th Super Bowl. "Only a few people play it and a few watch it. They say it's too complicated, with too many rules."
Still, two Japanese television stations have 50 people apiece at the Super Bowl. Their live telecasts will begin at 8 a.m., Monday, Japanese time.