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Andy Towle, editor of popular gay blog Towleroad, echoed this sentiment: “There is more of a relaxed attitude toward sex in Europe. Males have much less of a problem being objectified by either sex, and there also seems to be more nudity on television and in print media, which facilitates a higher comfort level. The athletes may realize that their images are homoerotic, but any issue with that is often trumped by their own narcissism.”

Similarly, Frank, the editor of boy-crazy website omgblog, suggested: “I doubt they see it as homoerotic at all. We Americans are just fetishizing cultural difference. Most would say that gay men are responsible for the sudden naked footballer craze, and I think they are, but not in the way you might expect. Homos are definitely styling the best of these shoots, but the end product is being enjoyed by plenty of women along with the frequently acknowledged gay following. I've got the stats to prove it.”

Since the success of Dieux du Stade, imitations have popped up all over the globe. You can now get Australian rugby team calendars, Italian rugby/firemen calendars (yes, these men are both rugby players and firemen) and Scottish rugby calendars, to name just a few. And the trend of stripping down sports heroes and placing them in compromising positions (including gay ones) has spilled over into other forms of entertainment as well.

The smash British soap Footballers' Wives regularly featured its players out of their kits and even had a few gay story lines to boot, as did popular Israeli soap Ha'alufa, which also featured a gay soccer player story line. And Icelandic gay sports comedy Eleven Men Out, which dealt with a gay soccer player, garnered awards equivalent to the Oscar (the film opens stateside this spring).

Here in the States, we're not exactly seeing our sports heroes stripped, oiled and thrown into piles just yet — although there are some indicators that we may be well on the way to seeing our athletes promoted in a far more fetishistic light.

One interesting development was the “20 Best-Looking Male Athletes” photo feature that recently ran on the Sports Illustrated website. Not quite Dieux du Stade, granted, but certainly a step past the swimsuit issue. Considering that the majority of press coverage and even advertising featuring sportsmen here in the States still focuses on athletic ability and not looks (when it comes to the men, at least), the singling out of male athletes purely due to their attractiveness is a significant shift in emphasis.

Consider that one of the biggest male athletic endorsements in the 1980s was Larry Byrd, a man not exactly known for his looks.

The “Best-Looking Athletes” feature poses the question: Exactly who was that slide show designed for? Certainly not straight men, which suggests that even a legit sports magazine like SI must be taking into consideration that some of its readers are women and gay men. (This is unlike many men's fitness magazines that already cater to a more voyeuristic audience.)

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