Can American Football Take Off in Britain?

I was looking around the Internet to day, wondering what could I write to interest my fellow ARGians. Based in America, it turns out there are a lot of people on these forums who love American football. But I am from Britain. I know nothing about the game. I have never watched a single football match in my life nor have I ever wanted to. So what is it about football that has been so popular in the states for nearly 100 years? Surely somewhere in the last century Britain would have seen the sport in all its glory and taken it over believing every one would play it as often as soccer.

Well we did. We brought it over and started our own league. It’s known as BAFL (British American Football league). Admittedly not very well known, but it’s there. There are nine teams in the premier league in all. That’s less then half that are in the premier soccer league.

I watch about five to ten soccer matches at Villa Park (yep I’m a Villan) a year. I ask my dad and he takes me. Today I told him about the upcoming NFL match being held at Wembley, where the New York Giants are playing the Miami Dolphins and asked him if he’d ever take me to an NFL match. His reply was “Why? It’s an American sport. Why are they playing in London?” So before I can answer “Can American football take off in Britain”, I must answer my dads question. Why are they playing in London? Who’s going to watch that?

Well the National Football League has proudly stated that there will be a turn up of 88,000 spectators tomorrow. That’s about half the population of Oxford turning up to watch the match. However, from what I hear it will be mostly Americans in the stands.

English people stick to soccer where the crowds are completely different. The home and away fans are split, for fear of violence. There is cheering, swearing and singing every time a player kicks the ball. Coins are thrown at referees whenever the whistle goes and everyone’s out to cause a racket to encourage their team to improve. American football just doesn’t have the same atmosphere. I was looking at the “crowd rules” today and one stuck out like a supermodel in a crowd of dwarfs:

“(3) Noise-Making Devices: Klaxons, megaphones, bullhorns, whistles and other noisemakers of any kind are not permitted in stadium.”

WTF??? If you don’t mind my language. no noise making devices? at all? To a full English soccer lover it seems crazy. The atmosphere at football matches compared to what soccer hooligans are used to seems kind of…well…dull. There is rarely a fight, the crowd is kept under close control and the game stops every five minutes for video replays and team huddles. No, in England we like our games under two hours with only a fifteen minute break. We like it fast flowing, one touch and the only time we can stop is if a player broke another players leg. This is real sport. We combine a trip to Old Trafford with a trip down the pub and to the bookies.

So to answer my dad’s question: Who’s going to watch it? Americans and maybe a few English people expecting a riot.

And a last simple answer to the question: Can American Football take off in Britain? No. Not in a million years.