"NFL Europe almost voted into Extinction" http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=pasquarelli_len&id=1618267 After twelve years, no profits, declining attendance- in general, declining returns.
"But, hey, no one else plays football but us." The fact that they call it "football" in europe, when they should be calling it "american football" dooms them right at the start.
NFL2, as in what? A springtime stateside outdoor football league or something else? I'm not sure a spring football league could work. Sure, the NFL is riding high right now, but I doubt it wants the troubles that starting an entirely new league would involve, even with the NFL brand attached.
They want to globalize the sport. Guys, wake up. 1 - It takes a long time to play a game. 2 - The rules are ridiculously complicated. 3 - Most importantly the game is ridiculously expensive. Not exactly a formula that will forment lots of youth participation and grass roots development. Look at it this way. They've had over 100 years to make the game spread around the world. Soccer, hockey, basketball, rugby, cricket, baseball all have been able to gain strong footholds in a decent part of the world. American football hasn't.
A low cost league can work in cities that don't have an NFL presence. If NFL Europe want's to improve, change to CFL rules.
Wrong. NFL Europe is just the next incarnation of the World League of American Football. All of the US teams, most if not all based in non-NFL cities, failed. While there are population centers without NFL teams, all of the 2nd tier pop. centers have bigtime college football, except maybe San Antonio (I don't know what the closest Big 12 team is to them, or how far away.)
What happened was, when they were explaining the finer points of the game, and got to the point where the quarterback places his hands to receive the ball from the center... everybody ran away, except a few interior decorators. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.) They didn't even stay to hear about the shotgun alternative! Heathens. Whaddaya gonna do? American football is like Ausie Rules, Gaelic, and other hybrids: best appreciated by the local palette. It's an aquired taste. That millions of Americans have acquired the taste doesn't mean that billions worldwide will. Strange as it may seem, most people do not eat Wheaties for breakfast.
"A few other owners noted the security risks involved in sending American players to Europe, but there were no reported incidents in 2002, and NFL officials feel the threat is not a particularly strong one." Security risks? At this point I doubt NFL Europe players are at any more risk than players in America. True oficials felt that there wasn't much concenr, but I'm surprised this came up.
NFL2 = developmental league This will be what late blooming NFL players will do instead of Arena football and bagging groceries. It will also be cheaper than sending people to Europe.
The league failed because of the unwillingness to put money into the league. The NA-based teams, expect Raleigh-Durham, drew quite good crowds. The second incarnation was started by Rupert Murdoch. The NFL didn't take it over until a couple of years down the road. There is room for professional football in those cities. They wouldn't be playing at the same time as the college boys.
so there will be NFL Europe for one at least one more year. Anyone think they will renew the vote next year to keep it alive at 24 in favor, 8 oppose? Though my guess doesn't mean jack, if the trend continues, there won't be a NFL Europe in 2005. Oh, I also predict that WUSA will be back in business in 2004 if the US win the Women WC. Some investors are now reviewing their decisions. It looks like that announcing the news 5 days before the start of the WC instead of after is a GREAT GREAT GREAT decision after-all. Now back to NFL europe.
The best thing about NFL Europe is right here. Just looked at NFL Europe attendance courtesy of our friend Kenn. I'm actually surprised they drew that well. Does anybody know if anybody in Europe actually gives a rats a$$ about this league? Will BigNLFEurope.com have a server crash over the news that the league will be around for one more year? Based on that article, it seems to me that the NFL doesn't really know what it wants NFLE to be -- is the chief aim profit, or player development, or to evangalize the game? Or is it player development so long as the cost is reasonable? I don't really understand why the NFL thinks it needs a developmental league. It has college football, the CFL, and the Arena League to draw players from. It also seems to be that if NFLE is a financial drain after having 12 years to solidify itself, profitability just ain't going to happen soon. It also seems there are cheaper ways to evangalize the game. In short, I just don't understand NFL Europe.
NFL Eurpoe I think the top draws in that league are all in Germany and are heavily attended by US armed forces personel.
A question for our European friends... Do you find it hard to watch the NFL? I was raised on the stuff, but after I discovered the Budesliga (thank you Toby Charles) I became quite wrapped up with a game that didn't stop for 45 seconds after every 4.5 seconds of action. Now I can watch the NFL or NCAA for about one quarter before I start getting restless. And that's just at the beginning of the season. My theory on why NFL Europe is fixin' to take a dirt bath--it's hard to watch for people accustomed to soccer.
This is kind of tangential, but denver_mugwamp reminds me of something I often consider: I'd love to see some kind of alternative variation of American football that looks more like the football I see in old video footage and read about in historical articles. It includes these key points: 1. leather helmets and less padding 2. no pass interference rules or other kind of "play-it-safe" rules ... once you are past 5 yards, you are open to being hit/blocked even if you don't have the ball, as long as it is not from the back ... simplify the rules so that players affect the game with their play, not the referees with their stupid rules that change every year 3. move the hash marks way back out toward the sidelines or get rid of them altogether so that lateral movement on the field becomes strategic 4. a much smaller roster of players, like maybe only 20 players total, so that there will be much more two-way play ... maybe even get rid of unlimited subs ... i'd like to see more all-around complete players who have a more constant effect on the game, not just in specialized moments 5. a less gaudy gridiron without all the logos, without the huge numbers, without painted endzones, and without the 2-yard thick sidelines ... and maybe widen the field to 60 yards 6. no two-minute warning, no timeouts to consult with the coach ... the clock stops only on incomplete passes, penalties, change of possession, or if the referee is delayed in retrieving and placing the ball 7. players must line up immediately without a huddle unless the clock has stopped 8. referees act like real men, not some p u s s y accountants - Paul
I'd support all of these changes. Gridball is played in such a controlled environment it kills player creatively, and, ultimately, makes for an inferior product. I mean, think about it: A perfect grigball performance is a game that goes exactly according to gameplan. It's so choreographed. The players aren't supposed to think the game and really understand it's nuances -- they just have to do their assigned tasks. Contrast to soccer and other popular sports in Europe, where the fate of the outcome is more in the players' control. I'm not saying griball's easy, or that trained monkeys could play it. Just that creativity lies almost exclusively with the coaches. There's very little spontaneity. I can't imagine that appeals to Europeans. I'm sure that's no the only reason NFLE hasn't taken off, but I have no doubt that it's part of it.
Being from Canada and all, I don't think you have any idea how strong of a hold college football has on, for example, Birmingham. Or, let's talk about Columbus. The Crew scheduled around OSU's spring football game. Think about that.
Again... The Old WLAF and now NFLE don't play during the college football seasons, so a team in Birmingham for example (old Birmingham Fire) isn't going up against college football..
When the NFL was first shown in the UK about 20 years ago, the thing that really stood out was the comparison to football in England. At the time crowds were shrinking (to about 20,000 average in the top division) in run-down stadiums. Along comes a sport played in seeming huge stadiums, full to capacity with cheering fans. We only ever saw highlights, so a lot happened in 30 minutes, rather than 4 hours. Even people who didn't like it, admitted it looked a lot more glamorous than the game over here. The problem is, I think, that the NFL didn't appreciate that people were more attracted to the "spectacle" rather than the sport. However hard they tried, they just couldn't recreate that in Europe. And also, the sort of fans who are attracted by glamour are not the sort of fans who are going to stick around unless their team is winning. Add to that the re-emergence of football in the country, and the building of larger (and full) all-seater stadiums, and suddenly the NFL's product didn't look so great any more. Essentially they tried to launch NFL Europe at a time when interest in the sport was already waning. The press was actually pretty kind to the London Monarchs in their first year - right up until the final to be held at Wembley, when somebody, either a player or an NFL official, publicly declared the World Bowl to be the most important event ever held at Wembley stadium. After that the league's credibilty went down the toilet.
http://www.nfleurope.com/worldbowlX/news/week11/06192002_tunein.html Here's a link about how over 100 countries tuned in to World Bowl 2002. Interesting thing about that one... if you notice the date, you might notice that German sports fans may have had other things on their mind as well... which didn't stop the announcer telling the US audience that more people in Germany are watching this than are watching Germany in the World Cup. So... their ability to generate credibility hasn't improved much. If you scroll to the bottom of the article, you'll see that the broadcast outlets seem substantially fewer than 120, but I think Armed Forces Radio probably makes up the rest.