American football is growing in popularity in the UK and there is “great potential for further development of the sport in the coming years” according to NFL UK. Across the UK more and more people are spending their Sundays watching or playing a different kind of football. ‘America’s game’ has come to the UK and has caught on.
In 2007 the NFL held its first regular season game outside of North America when the New York Giants played the Miami Dolphins, at Wembley Stadium, in front of 81,176 people. This began what the NFL called the ‘International Series’, where regular season games are played in countries outside of the United States.
Since 2007 there have been 20 regular season games played in the UK, drawing in an average crowd of 83,000 people. In 2017 there was a record four regular season games played in the UK for the first time and record attendance numbers for an NFL game at both Wembley (84,592) and Twickenham (74,237).
It is clear that the NFL have made it a priority to develop a fan base in the UK. According the NFL UK, more than 90% of the ‘International Series’ attendees are from the UK and an increased marketing focus on London and the South-East means that approximately 60% of game attendees are from the stadium catchment area. This means they could travel to either Wembley or Twickenham without having to stay in London overnight.
One reason the NFL will be particularly pleased about the latter statistic is the ongoing debate around if a team could be moved to London and be successful. For many years it was thought that the obvious candidate to move would be the Jacksonville Jaguars, given their commitment to playing regular season games in London.
The speculation only increased with news that their owner, Shahid Khan, has offered the English Football Association £600 million to buy Wembley Stadium. As it stands however there are no plans to move a team to London and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in April that a team in London was “still a ways off”.
While participation figures are harder to gather, according to NFL UK more than 40,000 people aged 14 and up participated in the sport in England alone in 2017. The British American National Football League is the governing body of the sport in the UK. They list 78 adult contact teams on their website and 83 university contact teams, along with contact under 19, 17, women and college as well as non-contact flag football teams.
When looking at TV viewing figures the growing popularity of the sport is clear. Last season more than 25 million people watched at least part of an NFL broadcast on UK televisions. Furthermore, viewing figures in the UK have seen an increase of more than 30% season on season and overall Sky’s NFL viewing figures have doubled in the past decade.
Someone directly involved in broadcasting the NFL both on TV and radio is Nat Coombs, who believes that the London games and “the ancillary media exposure around them” has made the sport more discoverable in the UK.
Coombs, who hosts a weekly news show on national radio station TalkSportsaid, “I’ve been broadcasting it for 11 years and in that time it has grown significantly.” Coombs also stated that he has seen a “significant” increase in viewer and listener figures over recent years and also credited the wider access to information via the internet, social media and podcasts as a further reason behind the growing popularity of the sport.
Outside the London games, often UK viewers first experience of American Football is the Super Bowl, the NFL’s showpiece event and championship game. Last season's game attracted a combined audience of 4 million people watching on Sky and the BBC, despite not kicking off until 11:30pm on a Sunday. Put into perspective, the FA cup final on BBC one averaged 6.7 million viewers and kicked off at 5:15pm on Saturday May 19th.
David Tossell, Director of Public Affairs for NFL UK said, “it has been very exciting to see the growth of the game over the past years. Our live London games, alongside our great broadcast partnerships with the BBC and Sky, have enabled us to reach many new fans and further establish the NFL as part of the sporting landscape in the UK.”
Clearly, NFL UK believe that American Football is now ‘part of the sporting landscape', but is that really the case?
It’s certainly true that more funding than ever before is going into American football. Sport England funding has risen dramatically since 2009 and there has been a rise in the number of grants they are giving out as well.
This however does not necessarily mean that American Football has moved past the niche sport that some still view it to be. Fans of the sport even disagree as to whether the sport is niche or established.
Dan Tearle, who began following the sport in 1985, said “it's still a niche sport to an extent. The fact that we still have 'beginner's guides' and dumbing down of the rules on broadcasts for 'newbies', says a lot. If it still needs explaining regularly 36 years on, it's still niche.”
However, Callum Wilson believes “it’s definitely an established sport, with the four London games we have per year and all the pre-game festivities held in Regent street.”
Those festivities are now spreading out and taking place throughout the year rather than just before the London games. NFL UK recently announced ‘NFL Kickoff on Piccadilly’, a celebration taking place in London to celebrate the start of the new season. Running from noon to 6pm on a Saturday in one of the most popular areas of London, getting the attention of passers-by to engage with the NFL and possible discover it for the first time is undoubtedly an aim of the organisers.
While the aforementioned targeting of fans in London and the South East has produced positive results for attendees to games, fans have expressed their frustration about the lack of variety in the location for events such as the ‘Kickoff on Piccadilly’.
NFL UK has attempted to widen the variety of locations used for events by holding talks with players in locations around the UK such as Cardiff, Manchester and Glasgow.
The NFL know that if the game is truly going to develop in the UK, young players need to see players they can relate to. This received a major boost 4 years ago when British born running back Jay Ajayi was drafted in the fifth round by the Miami Dolphins.
Ajayi has been a constant presence on both the NFL and NFL UK social media channels, specifically Instagram, with an emphasis being placed on his British nationality. This was amplified last season when he was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles and went on to win Super Bowl 52.
Establishing a connection to current players and encouraging youngsters in the UK to take up the game will be crucial to furthering the popularity of the sport. Ryan Cummings, who was first introduced to the sport by his father aged 11, is an example of someone who watched on TV and decided to have a go.
Cummings said, “I started when I was 15 and now I play quarterback, coach at youth level and have been part of the Leicester Falcons for 8 years. The experience of playing, there really isn't a sport out their like it. It's inclusive to all individuals so no one is ever turned away.”
Steve Cox, another UK fan who was introduced to the sport by watching the Super Bowl, only 4 years ago, highlights an issue with playing American football. “I’ve played myself for two seasons now. Literally the best thing I’ve done. Expensive, yes, but I really enjoy it” Cox said.
The issue Cox raises about cost is an important one. There are a variety of expenses to take into consideration if people wish to play for a team, for example at University. If a first year student at Northumbria University wanted to join the American Football team it would cost them £400.
Another key issue which could impact the long-term growth of the sport in the UK are pre-conceived ideas that people have about the sport. Nat Coombs pointed to the idea that “players are soft because they wear pads. So absurd. You ask any professional rugby player if they think NFL players are tough and they will, to a man, confirm it.”
The NFL and NLF UK are doing a lot to challenge the perceptions people in the UK may have of American Football. If the rise in popularity continues, the calls for a team to be based here will surely get louder. Would a permanent team cement American Football as part of the sporting landscape in the UK? Let us know by commenting and voting in our poll.
Comments