NFL - Europe

[Jason Menard]

What kind of following does the NFL's European League have in Europe? Is anyone watching this stuff? I caught a couple of games recently on the NFL Network, and it looked like they had decent sized crowds (30,000 or so). Naturally I don't expect it to be anywhere near the more entrenched and popular sports like soccer (football :roll: ) , but I'm curious as to what following it does have over there. Have any of the Europeans here watched any of these games, or know people who do? What do you think of the whole thing? Does it have a future or is it a waste?
[ May 26, 2004: Message edited by: Jason Menard ]

[Don Kiddick]

Never seen it, don't know anyone who's into it. Care factor 0 basically.
In England, out of the "American" sports, I think basketball and ice hockey are much more popular.
D.

[Jeroen Wenting]

The people you see in the stadiums are about all the following it has.
Media coverage is non-existent, until I ran into a promotional campaign for them a few years ago (cheerleaders handing out brochures on intersections) I didn't even know they existed...

[Mark Fletcher]

NFL-E is doomed unless NFL invest heavily in promoting the game in Europe.

Essentially NFL-E has to be placed against the most popular sport in Europe, Soccer, and it simply cant compete.

For example, in the UK the two most popular sports are Rugby and Soccer. If NFL-E season kicks off in Autumn then...

*Squish*
No one watches it because
a) The domestic Soccer Season has just started.
b) The Champions League and UEFA Cup have just started
and
c) No one in the US watches it because regular NFL and College football are already running.

So the alternative is to place the NFL-E season in Spring when at least it doesnt compete with the regular NFL. But...

*Squish*
a) Its already competing with Six Nations Rugby
b) The domestic Soccer Season is in full swing
c) We're approaching the most exciting parts of the Champions League and UEFA Cup.

So.... why not place NFL-E after the Soccer season, and the Champions League/UEFA Cup have finished? Every two years...

*SQUISH*

a) Its either Euro 2xxx or its the World Cup.

Now I dont think any Anti-Americanism can be construed from this, its just that Soccer is the traditional sport, its heavily followed and its heavily promoted. The NFL really have to promote NFL-E in Europe for it have a strong indigenous backing. Other than that, then it serves as a convenient football fix for Americans outside of the regular NFL Season.

Mark
[ May 26, 2004: Message edited by: Mark Fletcher ]

[Marc Peabody]

NFL-E is doomed unless NFL invest heavily in promoting the game in Europe.

I agree with most of your points, but I think it will have more success in Europe than to bring the league to the US. I think it's a minor-league for the US NFL teams. So I don't think the league is meant to support itself financially, it's an opportunity for the US NFL teams to let the guys that barely missed the cut keep warm for the year and get a shot at making the team the following year.

[Kishore Dandu]

Its well known that people from US care less about Soccer compared to NFL.

People from Europe are other way around(care much less about NFL compared to Soccer)

But with exposure to both the sports(by watching on TV while in India and US), without any bias I will take NFL compared to Soccer anyday.

[Mark Fletcher]

Another sad fact of the NFL-E is that the media coverage for the sport is minimal, at least in the UK. None of the terrestrial channels show the games, and I doubt any of the satellite channels available in the UK show them either.

Media coverage of the NFL is more, but not enough. You get a live game broadcast on Channel 5 late on a Monday night and Channel 5 showed the Superbowl live last year. But thats about it. Coverage in the press is minimal, I think more column inches were written on Janet Jackson exposing her boob than the actual Superbowl game itself.

Its a sad state of affairs. I remember back in the early 90's, Channel 4 were showing the NFL games and they were showing highlights at a sensible time. There was a big push from the NFL as well, by bringing over players like the Refridgerator and getting them spots on kids TV on Saturday morning. As a kid I remember the London Monarchs. It was all very exciting watching the sport take off in the UK. But then the NFL had to sell the TV rights to Rupert Murdochs Sky and Football disappeared from Terrestrial TV. I think after that support for the game withered, support that would have backed the NFL-E as well.

If the NFL push the next season heavily, maybe some advertising on Channel 5, or even encourage Channel 5 or another terrestrial channel in the UK to pick up NFL-E, support for the NFL/NFL-E will increase.

Mark

[Axel Janssen]

There was life coverage of nfl-e in a free german sports channel. Doesn't mean much, cause this chanel does cover other exotica like japanese Sumo wrestling tournaments or dart tournaments, too. Don't know if there will be life matches this year.
In every case they attract quite a big fan crowd for the stadium, especially in Frankfort. In TV its very small.
What is missing for the european sports fan are identification points. Overwhelming mayority of players are americans, struggling for real NFL-contract. Only the guy who executes the kick after touch down and very, very few others are actually from Europe.
The teams itself are lacking the blody history of treachery, souls for sale, lost battles and triumphes of mythical soccer teams like Borussia Moenchengladbach, Real Madrid, AC Milano, FC Porto, Celtic Glasgow, FC Liverpool, Bayern M�nchen, Red Star Belgrade, Dynamo Kiev, Dynamo Moscow, Paris St. Germain or AS Monaco...
NFL-E is very artificial for the TV sports fan. For me, American football and soccer teams like Green Bay Packers, Miami Dolphins (?), Boca Juniors, Universidad de Chile or FC Santos do have more emotional content attached than Frankfurt Galaxy.
So I watched only 2 or 3 matches.
[ May 27, 2004: Message edited by: Axel Janssen ]

[Mark Fletcher]

The NFL should do something similar to what FIFA are doing in the States right now, every summer, the top teams in Europe tour the US playing exhibition games. Last year I was at the Manchester Utd vs Glasgow Celtic game in Seattle. These games help to raise the visibility of the sport and help promote the MLS (Major League Soccer).

It would be great if some of the best teams in the NFL played exhibition games in London, Paris, Berlin etc etc. I dont know how feasible this is, or whether the teams in question want to risk getting their star players injured in a friendly right before the regular NFL season.

[Steven Broadbent]

That would be a problem - you see football is a world sport, american football isn't. Football is also easier on the eye and more aesthetic.


But I'd like to see more aussie rules football - it was on in the uk for a while and was great viewing!

[Jason Menard]

Originally posted by Mark Fletcher:
The NFL should do something similar to what FIFA are doing in the States right now, every summer, the top teams in Europe tour the US playing exhibition games. Last year I was at the Manchester Utd vs Glasgow Celtic game in Seattle. These games help to raise the visibility of the sport and help promote the MLS (Major League Soccer).

It would be great if some of the best teams in the NFL played exhibition games in London, Paris, Berlin etc etc. I dont know how feasible this is, or whether the teams in question want to risk getting their star players injured in a friendly right before the regular NFL season.

They used to do that. They now have what they call the American Bowl, which is basically a couple exhibition games they play in a couple different cities in the world. It seems like these are usually held in Tokyo and Mexico City for some reason.

Regarding England at least, it seems there is some interest in having some games played in the new Wembley Stadium. The NFL-Europe's league leading receiver right now happens to be an Englishman, Scott McCready is his name. He's supposedly the first national player to lead in a non-kicking category.

I can't find where I saw it, but I read somewhere where they are looking at the possibility of hosting some regular season games overseas. That might be interesting.

[Jason Menard]

Originally posted by Steven Broadbent:
Football is also easier on the eye and more aesthetic.

Men in shorts?

[Mark Fletcher]

Originally posted by Jason Menard:

Regarding England at least, it seems there is some interest in having some games played in the new Wembley Stadium. The NFL-Europe's league leading receiver right now happens to be an Englishman, Scott McCready is his name. He's supposedly the first national player to lead in a non-kicking category.

Having read the article you refer to, its great to see that ITV have picked up the rights for the playoffs and Superbowl. Hopefully ITV will push the game better than Channel 5 has... ITV as a channel is more popular than Channel 5 and second to BBC 1. Between this and the fact that the NFL might be playing some exhibition games at Wembley things are looking up.

Now if only the NFL-E would restore the London Monarchs... the mind boggles that a metropolis such as London isnt represented in the NFL-E!

[Steven Broadbent]

If that's your thing yes - better than a bunch of big girls dressed in matresses!