Jun 12 2007
NFL Europe Was Always a Bad Idea
What is it about American football that lacks the international cachet of other football codes? Is it the lack of simplicity? Is it the lack of continuous play? Is it the fact that the U.S. just has more guys that weigh more than 300 pounds than any other country?
Maybe it’s none of the above. Maybe the reason NFL Europa may be shut down after this season is that it’s just not particularly good football.
After all, NFL Europe failed in the markets the NFL wanted to capture — London, Barcelona, Glasgow, etc. This may be in part because it was viewed as minor league football, and not even particularly strong minor league football. In fact, it’s about as compelling as your average rec league. Think about it. What’s the incentive for clubs to cultivate fan bases? So that they can come watch the next Kurt Warner, maybe?
Compare this to the minor leagues in Association football — Football League Championship, Serie B, 2nd Bundesliga, etc. Clubs in these leagues have decades of history and strong local ties, and they’re all competing for a shot at their home countries’ top leagues. This sort of tradition doesn’t exist for the gridiron game in Europe, and all NFL Europe was ever going to be was a proving ground for future NFL players — players who had little shot of becoming NFL stars. Oh, by the way, there’s an ocean between the NFL and Europe, so if a player does make it, local fans can’t see him play locally anymore. What was the incentive for London to back the Monarchs again?
Clearly, this was typical American hubris, thinking that you could just drop a developmental league for an American sport in a foreign land and expect everyone to embrace it wholeheartedly. It just doesn’t work that way, especially for the NFL. Roger Goodell needs to recognize that the demand isn’t just for football; it’s for NFL football. Everything else is inferior.
The only way to win over Europe is to pour money into a model that supports building local clubs and local heroes, and this can’t be done overnight. It requires community-building and small national leagues full of clubs that local fans can get behind. Turn NFL Europa into NFL Deutschland (which it might as well be) and make a real league rather than a stopgap for college players with NFL aspirations, and it might be able to survive. Repeat that model in the U.K., and it might pull some fans there, too.
The ultimate goal is to make these league an alternative to the NFL for some college players. You’d like a 7th-round draft pick to say, “Hrmmm… I could get splinters in my ass sitting on an NFL team’s bench, or I could compete for a starting job in London or Berlin and perhaps make more money. Decisions, decisions…”
Until that day arrives, American football will always be an afterthought on the old continent. They have their own football codes, and they have no time for carpetbaggers.
(Spotted on NFL FanHouse. Photo swiped from those nutters at Kissing Suzy Kolber.)
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This is why I am intrigued by Cubans (and others) UFL idea, small league no directly competing with the NFL, able to pay players competitive salaries. Brings about the decision for the 5th-7th rounder, sit on the bench/try to make practice squad or play and make decent money maybe make a name and parlay that into a free agent deal with the big league.
Maybe Cuban & Co. should look into moving the entire operation to the U.K. It would have more of a shot there than it would here.
The equivalent of the second tier professional football is called college football. My guess is the University of Florida’s football budget is far higher than that of the Amsterdam Admirals.
The quality of play and quality of entertainment production is far, far higher in about 60 US college programs than NFL Europe. The problem isn’t selling second-tier American football to Europe - it’s selling third-tier American football to Europe.
I guess your suggesting to do the same as Aussie Rules internationally. It’s played in a surprisingly large amount of countries, but professionally in only one. Enough to have a decent World Cup. Teams are gradually increasing their local players as opposed to Aussie expats. Some comps have rules about how many Aussies can actually be on the field. It seems to be well run across the globe. The AFL is currently targeting South Africa and are having some success with the juniors programs, Footy Wild.
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1. There are no codes of football, just one it is called football, foot and ball.
2. “Aussie rules is played all over the world”…yes and jfk was shot dead by lindasy llohan before she was even dorn.
All sports try to pretend they are global “oh we are the fastest growing sport on earth”…heard that before.
3. Gridiron is a filler for 15 mins so they can ahve adverst every 15 mins, it is not a sport by any definition of a sport.
4. Yanks only watch gridiron, baseball and basketball because they are rubbish at football. If they were good at it they would ditch their steroid sports in a moment.
5. NFL euorpe went bust because it is slow, stops tto much, has little skill in it and is boring to watch.
Thats all.
The NFL Europe was fun, as long as it lasted, but it would be nice to see some of that money going into development of young European talent.