Learning To Love Glasgow Celtic

Europe's most famous soccer teams are having a busy summer wooing fans in that longtime soccer wasteland, the United States. Scottish champion Glasgow Celtic, English powerhouses Manchester United and Chelsea, and Italian champ AC Milan are among nine teams on tour, playing in such cities as Seattle, Cleveland and Philadelphia, often to packed stadiums.

For the players, it's a chance for a preseason tune-up in the perfect environment — away from their rabid fans. "The facilities are second to none," says Chelsea Football Club CEO Peter Kenyon. But more important, the big clubs now see the U.S. as...