I don't think American Football is as popular as you think in Germany! It might be though if the governing body put all its efforts into setting the game up there. I mean are there German teams playing in front of 40'000 fans every week? No but maybe one day there could be. They have been trying to make American football a 'world sport' for 40+ years now, they are obviously not doing something right.
It's not a major sport (and isn't one anywhere other than the US and Canada), but it does have a decent foothold in Germany because of the large US military presence there. You don't have to play in front of 40,000 fans every week to be a relevant sport. American football actually has a league pyramid in Germany with two semipro divisions and further amateur leagues below that. A quick search for sport popularity statistics from Germany finds one survey placing American football as the 5th most popular team sport in terms of number of people interested in the sport, and 2nd most watched team sport on TV. Of course, they all trail far behind association football (which is really the only major team sport), but American football is within the next tier of team sports alongside handball, ice hockey, and basketball.
And, of course, because of pro/rel has had an opportunity to have a top flight team way beyond the four years in the 70's and '80's when Bristol City managed it. In a competitive league structure I don't see why it should be granted a place at the top level essentially in perpetuity. I mean, if teams like Bournmouth, Swansea, Burnley and Middesborough can manage longer tenures at the top level in modern history, that should tell you something.
Actually..... https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2022/11/10/23450675/nfl-germany-buccaneers-seahawks-tom-brady It's the second most popular sport. During the NFL Europe days German teams averaged over 30K fans a game....
Seriously??? German teams were attracting over 30K a game for AMERICAN football.......but hey, nobody outside of the US watches the NFL....
What so your league position should be based on your towns / cities population? I suppose it would do away with the need of having a ball. One downside of course is that London would be crowned league champions every year.
I've been looking into this This is what I've found for NFL Europe: London Monarchs (what idiot thought of that name) First season average attendance: 43,918 Last season average attendance - 6,336 Barcelona First season average attendance: 29,002 Last season average attendance: 9,467 Berlin First season average attendance: 9,458 Last season average attendance: 15,080 I'm not sure where they got 30,000 from however what this shows is that of all the European countries perhaps Germany would be the best option for trying to grow the game this side of the pond?
https://europeanleague.football/elf...d-in-popularity-in-germany-after-first-season Or I know exactly what I'm talking about
Well, your response here actually agrees with my point. You flat out state it ... it isn't "just" buying in. There are other "merits" in the "project" that determine if a franchise is awarded ... Which is exactly what I was saying. Big money dude A and Big money dude B both are willing to pay 300m for an MLS franchise. A is in a 2m metro area with big businesses and is open to bringing in a sports franchise ... B is in a 1m metro with 1/3 the businesses and isn't as friendly to the idea. MLS isn't going to B simply because big money dude has the money .... Ultimately, the end play is about bringing money to the table, sure. So is p/r though ...
Well I live here, I think I know what I'm talking about! Look personally I don't give a flying one whether American Football expands into a global sport outside the US or not, its not for me, what I am suggesting though is that if the governing body of the sport want to grow the game so that it rivals cricket or rugby or hell even football one day then they're going to get a better 'return' by concentrating on Germany where (as somebody/you has already pointed out) the game garners the most interest in Europe. When a German team plays 60 games a year in front of 80'000 fans every game like the german football teams in Dortmund or Munich do then perhaps its time to focus elsewhere, who knows one day there could be an American football world cup as 'big' as the rugby or cricket world cups, that would be something wouldn't it?
Frankfurt, Rhein, and Hamburg all avg over 20k and Frankfurt had over 30 their last season Over the 15 years total the avg for the whole league was just over 19k Oh, you live in Germany?
No but I do live in Europe! In all honesty I've never met anybody from the UK or Europe that follows American Football, no I don't have the numbers so perhaps you are correct, where do you get your numbers from? I've found this:- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Football_League https://www.germanbowl.de/germanbowl/german-bowl-in-english/ Besides aren't we in agreement? Germany is the best bet for American Football as a starting point to becoming a global game, when a team Dortmund gets 80'000+ fans 40 times a year like the football team gets wouldn't it be something? Once Germany is 'on board' then perhaps the Netherlands or somewhere else that doesn't have a rugby tradition? At some point it might be possible to have a world cup, if not as 'big' as the football world cup but perhaps something to rival the cricket or rugby world cups? Wouldn't that be something?
Emphasis added by me. There is a "governing body" for American football, sort of, but the NFL is not even vaguely associated with it. This move to draw more fans in Europe is strictly an NFL venture. They are trying to make more money.
They want to grow the NFL, not grow the game generically as a means of one day seeing an American Football national team World Cup that's a huge global event. I assume the NFL finds the current efforts in England to be worthwhile given it keeps happening.
The only merit that matters is which franchise will make MLS the most money. And yes you buy your place in the league. You pay the league money and they give you a team. I am not sure what other word comes into it. When you buy a house the seller might look at other things like a credit check, and how much of it is cash versus borrowed and so on. But still when the offer is accepted you are BUYING the house. And that's what owners are doing in MLS they are buying their spot. Literally no other word to use. Do tell how is P/R all about money?
That seems kind of strange. It's still definitely a niche sport, but it very definitely has its fans. I mean, yes, you could walk the streets on Super Bowl Sunday, asking people what sports event is taking place that day, and the vast majority would have no idea, but not knowing anyone interested in the sport would be unusual unless you only speak to people over 50. Overall, I think one of the biggest problems the NFL has in selling the game is that its showpiece, the event that might get people curious, is played at a time that's hopeless for people outside the Americas. The dedicated might take the Monday off so they can watch it, but nobody else would.
Not really that bothered if the NFL expands overseas or not but at least my own personal experience is American Football is now being referenced a lot more than it was 20 years ago. When I was at Uni in the UK I watched the Super Bowl at a pub that was having a lockin with about 5 locals who were really stoked to have a real life American to watch with. Besides that night nobody cared. Didn't have a single conversation about it other than the random "hey isn't that just Rugby for P***" style comment if I ever did bring it up. Now we have this from my Liverpool Podcast service https://www.theanfieldwrap.com/2023/02/writing-super-bowl-lvii-afs/
I'm guessing about that no? League games, cup games, European games too. I suppose it depends on how successful you are in the cups, maybe 40 is a stretch, shall we say 30 then? I know Chelsea had 30 home games last season.
Yes I think perhaps it is, I think perhaps its the internet that's helped? I remember there was a bid push from 'over there' to get the game integrated here in the 80's, same with basketball if I recall, there was a bit of interest generated but it died away by the turn of the century. All I'm suggesting is that Germany would be a place 'more likely' to take to the game because they don't have their own contact sport with rugby ball shaped balls! :-D. In the long run its got to be the best option for growth and making money surely?