American reacts to why American Football Failed in Europe

[@linkouf8171]

Why would Europeans be interested in American football when we have Rugby ?

[@mecha-sheep7674]

Well... Rugby is only played somewhat in the UK, France, Italy and Georgia. It's not a significant sport in Germany, Spain, Poland, the Balkans, Scandinavia... The sports who are played everywhere in Europe are Basketball and Handball.

[@Alftupper334]

​@@mecha-sheep7674 Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Tonga , Argentina.

[@mecha-sheep7674]

@@Alftupper334 I was talking about Europe of course.

[@deadzio]

​​@@mecha-sheep7674it's played in Poland, so is american football. Stop spreading false informations

[@mat5379]

@@mecha-sheep7674 Ireland are great at rugby too

[@martynnotman3467]

American football is all stop/start, seemingly inexiplicable changes of personel every 5 minutes, rules that make even less sense than cricket and lots of shouting and noise. And its frankly a bit boring to watch on tv.

[@grahvis]

Indeed, the game has no flow.

[@lamebubblesflysohigh]

Exactly. It is very boring to watch. The game is interrupted every few minutes.

[@crank1985]

@@lamebubblesflysohigh Perfect for TV stations, so much time for ads.

[@martin1042]

​@@crank1985only if at least some people are watching it. 😂

[@thebigjul]

Indeed like most American sports it is boring and made for the sponsors to get enough visibility. Furthermore on NFL, no player there could play rugby, and that’s a real sport.

[@lewilewis3944]

Fun fact; of the 5 hours of coverage this past super bowl, 18 minutes were of actual game play. It's just a platform for selling shit. This Saturday night in the UK we have the return of Premier League Football on the BBC's Match Of The Day. Highlights of every game and zero commercials. That's the difference.

[@GiblixStudio]

agreed. I'm there to see the match not advertisements. its intrusive and horrendous so I turn it off. this is why a lot of american stuff doesn't catch on in the rest of the world. also the sport itself is f'ing annoying to watch with the constant stop and go. you get 1 play and then 5 mins of nothing. it is boring to watch. I tried to give american football a chance early 2000 when it came to Europe with the Amsterdam Admirals. but after 1 season I already had enough. There is "football" and "american footbal"l. that is how we call it as well.

[@ondrac.i.z.4338]

WHAT? 5 hours for 18 minutes play??? I knew this comparation was off the roof but this? dayum

[@SovermanandVioboy]

How can there be 18min gameplay, if a game is 60min long (gametime)?

[@austinseven4720]

​@@SovermanandVioboy They ran a survey some years back that found that the average ball in play time for American Football was 11 minutes. If you compare that to Rugby Union where the ball spends the majority of the game in motion, it makes sense that the NFL is such a hard sell in Europe.

[@stephenlee5929]

@@SovermanandVioboy Agreed, I don't think it's as bad as stated, but other than the First Kick, we rarely see the kick off and return. We regularly get shots of the crowd, or some celebrity in the crowd. Rubbish opinion pieces by former players. 60 mins play is debateable given the time use by teams running down the clock. If you consider the amount of time the ball is actually in play it maybe close to 18 mins, note I think the ball is actually in play in a 6 hour cricket day for about 20 mins also. We are also used to, most games are played until the end, rather than standing for 29 seconds then throwing the ball away or similar.

[@philbaker4155]

Its simple ...... ITS BORING ....THEY SPEND SO MUCH TIME HANGING ABOUT DOING NOTHING .....

[@brevalbert]

Football (soccer) is 10x boring than American Football. [I'm european]. The point is, almost anybody knows how it is played, nor what is the goal.

[@philbaker4155]

@@brevalbert you dont know the purpose of football 😂😂😂😂 it's easy to score a goal the thing with a net on it lol American Football the idea to run two yards swap teams sit down cry cause the didnt get a touch down while the tv stations sell rubish via adverts

[@Alftupper334]

@@brevalbert You need a lesson in English Grammar soft lad.

[@WilliamSmith-mx6ze]

That's the point - it's so the TV channels can show adverts during the breaks in play.

[@conallmclaughlin4545]

More people watch the tour de France than the super bowl.. That's how exciting it is to us

[@octavianpopescu4776]

Tour de France has absolutely beautiful and relaxing vistas, American football only had people having a meeting while walking on a field for 5 minutes.

[@Arltratlo]

i like to watch the Tour, but i am also ride motorbike in France.... i never rode a motorbike in the USA, i dont have a death wish!

[@DengMam]

@@octavianpopescu4776so they watch it for the vistas. Why dod they even film the bikers tbh. They should get rid of these costs and only film the vistas…

[@thomaskaempfe]

No one watches the Tour de Dope in France, which is practically a congress of the pharmaceutical industry on wheels and not a sporting event !

[@octavianpopescu4776]

@@DengMam It's a bit of both.

[@missgranger5362]

Remember, Europe loves its local clubs with local history. A lot of football clubs were in industrial towns, it was the sport of the coal miners for example in France, UK, Germany, Belgium... Same story with rugby, local tradition for example in Basque country. American football can't compete with tradition.

[@trentsteel6286]

I agree when it comes to the NFL but you find real hard core generational fans in the college and high school leagues. That culture is as great as here in Europe. They get together throwing big bbq parties having parades for their home grown talent and all that good stuff.

[@baronmeduse]

@@trentsteel6286 There's just a lot of people in the U.S. who support teams hundreds of miles away in different states! Also teams just up and leave to other states and even change their names. There's no link to places and people.

[@trentsteel6286]

@@baronmeduse You are absolutely correct. The franchise system is just catering to billionaires. Then you have clubs like Green bay thats more like European clubs. My point is that you can find loyal fans and loyal clubs but thats usually outside the top leagues.

[@baronmeduse]

@@trentsteel6286 Yes the smaller, local clubs will be more fixed to a fan base. Less money swilling around to turn people's heads,so they can just concentrate on what they're supposed to be doing.

[@missgranger5362]

​@@trentsteel6286 Of course, I didn't mean that there are no local fans in the US, but simply that it will be difficult to create the same passion for a foreign sport in Europe without the tradition and love of local fans. I think they tried to spark the same passion for American football in Europe by starting too big and it's not working.

[@markaitcheson3212]

Reason, it's boring Americans think scoring equals excitement which is incorrect, American sports has zero passion it's all about money, the sports have no history ive heard American fans say they go to games not caring who wins just to see a good game that makes no sense, the fact the superbowl is more famous for the halftime show than the game says it all really,and we have rugby where they don't hide behind helmets and pads.

[@ministry_of_code]

They're not hiding behind helmets and pads though Mark. The rules of their game allow them to make the kind of tackles that would see you sent off in rugby. Their game allows them to make tackles that even with the provision of helmets and pads still results in career ending injuries.

[@robynmurray7421]

​@@ministry_of_codeAnd permanent brain injuries. Nothing to boast about.

[@ministry_of_code]

@@robynmurray7421 You're right and that would definitely qualify as a career ending injury. I've never heard of them boasting about them though. Do you have any examples?

[@markaitcheson3212]

@@ministry_of_code Fair point, I wonder how they would fare at rugby with zero protection?

[@baronmeduse]

Also there's a strange thing where people from thousands of miles away support teams that aren't local. I don't whether it's basketball or Am football (or both) but the losing teams of the entire season seem to get special help and benefits. The entire system of sports in the US is weird.

[@ataksnajpera]

American football is like that video game where there is more cut scenes than actual gameplay.

[@Belaziraf]

But Eyeshield 21 was great ! 😂😂 That was my only time interested in American Football. That said, as a non fan of watching sports, my best time watching football was the first airing of Captain Tsubasa. My point is you can't really expect everyone to like the same sport, the same activity all over the world. You can't expect people to be hyped as much as you are, or fans / hardcore fans from watching as opposed to playing. That's the gap of pro players who are there to pose as role models or stars and amateur players who just enjoy the sport.

[@octavianpopescu4776]

Excellent comparison.

[@Jack_Rakan]

Not a good comparison because cutscenes in games are actually related to the gameplay. I'd say "that video game where you spend more time in loading screens than in gameplay".

[@heinsinho]

@@Jack_Rakan a.k.a. Starfield? 😅

[@yadakakadu]

But those can be good. Hand egg can't.

[@jakubosiejewski9859]

One reason why American sports fail in Europe is that you guys have a thing for winning and measurable results, you want your games to have a lot of points, analyze what happened,. In the real football people can watch 90 minutes of a game that ends with 0-0 and still say it was a great game

[@stolly27]

Bro who watches a game 0-0 as a good game?

[@Pepe-rf1zg]

@@stolly27 The rest of the world.

[@ataksnajpera]

@@stolly27 me

[@stolly27]

​@@Pepe-rf1zg0-0 is a great game? Lmfao don't get me wrong I played soccer when I was young but I don't take it seriously. Still 0-0 is the most boring thing that can happen to you watching sports.

[@colinstock325]

@@stolly27only in America.

[@seanthiar]

The problem in general is that sport in the USA is not sport - it is an advertisement show with sport breaks that have advertisement. No matter which sport event in USA TV you watch it is only 10% sport and 90% adverts. And the NFL is more extreme - for 15min American football you get hours of adverts and other stuff. And if you think about the final - the most interesting part for most people is the halftime show and not who wins or plays. In contrast you have 45min game without any break in real football, 15 min halftime analysis of the first half and then 45 more minutes of the game. And a sport news show will go an hour only about sport with only a few seconds long ads.

[@gerardflynn7382]

Even Gaelic Football here in Ireland is played non stop for 35 x 2 minutes.

[@cygnusx-3217]

In fuuutebol, the game is mostly players running back and forth with not much happening for stretches exceeding 10 minutes. In comparison, in the NFL, each team runs approximately 65 offensive plays per game. And plays are run every 40 seconds of game time. You'd likely have to attend 10 fuuutebol games to see the number of offensive plays run in 1 NFL game.

[@julienbourdic8933]

@@cygnusx-3217 Your time would be better invested watching a fuuutebol game once, which is not a MLS game, rather than copy/pasting the same comment over and over ;)

[@deadzio]

​@@cygnusx-3217 maybe watch the game of rugby. Also football in america is 5 minutes game 20minuted advertisement.

[@shmick6079]

@@cygnusx-3217if you’re after mileage, Australian football players run between 10km and 15km per game at the elite level (AFL). It’s also higher scoring, has minimal breaks, non-stop action, and a rich history.

[@DooM75x]

We even don't make fun of it. We don't care. That's all.

[@gagada124]

Went to an "American football game" when I last visited the States. It was the most boring afternoon of my life. Three hours in the stadium for about 15 minutes of running "rugby". Terrible!

[@hansemannluchter643]

Well, at least you had 3 hours to eat hotdogs and drink Bud Light, no??

[@craighughes4906]

ditto but the laugh was they introduced the team not as "superbowl winners" but world champions ! how the hell are you world champions. You can go take a dump have a beer even have a three course meal ! comeback & you ain't missed out its like watching paint dry.

[@pututu8861]

@@craighughes4906 they do that in the NBA too it's so silly

[@caistigh2062]

​@@craighughes4906They say it because they /technically/ are world champions 😂 Nobody else gives a fuck enough to have real teams (though if this video is accurate maybe that'll change) As such, the top American team is, by definition, the best team in the WORLD 🤷‍♂️ Honestly looking forward to like, 20-40 years from now if the sport proliferates and the States find they can't beat teams from Europe/Asia wherever else 😂 It'll sting so much more BECAUSE of these claims.

[@yannicklucas1836]

@@craighughes4906 They call it Football but barelly kick the ball with their feet, they call their tries touchdown even if they don't have to actually touch the ball down, they call world champion the winner of their national league and they call it a sport while it's basically a 4h commercial interrupt by some dudes running and throwing a ball on a field...

[@zak3744]

Because it's not a sport. Like everything America calls "sports", they're actually entertainment not sports, and they are entirely designed around this principle. It's all about selling entertainment (and advertising and hot dogs) to the masses. American football and baseball and whatnot are really not that much different from WWF wrestling in terms of being an honest sporting contest and participatory pastime rather than a marketing opportunity. If I lived in a little American town, could my town win a Superb Owl? No. Because we couldn't play in one. You have to be a rich millionaire to purchase a franchise to play in it. If I live in a little Engish town, could my town win the FA Cup? Yes. If we form a football team (it could be just me and my mates!) and we win all our games, we could win it, even though we are nobodies from nowhere. Are we _likely_ to win? Of course not! It would be the worldwide shock of the century! But the reason why we would fail to win is based around sporting competition, not whether we are corporate investors in an entertainment business. (That's not to say that in European football, for instance, there aren't people who _de facto_ act like corporate investors in an entertainment business. There's loads of them! But the basic structure of the sport is still based around participation and competitive sporting principles, with the other stuff tacked on top. It's not gone: "Yeah, let's just make it official that we're essentially just an entertainment industry." like American football, for instance.)

[@SuperHawk0413]

"If I live in a little Engish town, could my town win the FA Cup? Yes". - In the last 20 years only big clubs with lots of money have won the FA cup, or the Champions League. Also here in Europe, it's mostly about who has the most money. Companies or rich investors own football clubs, even those in League 2, 4th tier, in England. Where I'm from in Europe ice hockey is a huge thing.

[@lanzsibelius]

And still there are a lot of teams in England who have never even come close to winning the Premier League or the FA Cup, (and in other european leagues it's even worse). Meanwhile in the NFL there are only 2 teams who have never reached the championship game, and any team can jump from very bad to very good or viceversa form one year to the next one, just saying...

[@SuperHawk0413]

@@lanzsibelius yes, exactly. in almost all European leagues, if not all, there only 5-7 teams, out of 10-20 teams (depending on the actual country) who have a good chance of finishing in the top 3 in that league. Teams who get relegated often have difficulty being promoted again. The top 40% in a league likely will never get relegated. Look at Oldham Athletic, where are they now? They used to play in the PL. Where were they in 2016? In League 1 (3rd highest league), now they are in the National League (5th highest).

[@AussieFossil]

"Manchester City face 115 charges brought by the Premier League for alleged breaches of financial regulations." This was a headline here this morning. Abu Dhabi royal Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan is the majority owner of Manchester City. The current Premier League champions are part of the multi-club ownership structure, City Football Group (CFG). Manchester United plc (NYSE: MANU), and Trawlers Limited, an entity wholly-owned by Sir Jim Ratcliffe, are pleased to confirm that Sir Jim Ratcliffe has completed his acquisition of 25% of the club's Class B shares and 25% of the club's Class A shares, following the satisfaction of all conditions, including approvals . FIFA and the FA, not forgetting the IOC, are beacons around the world for billionaires to make even more money.

[@SuperHawk0413]

@@AussieFossil to be fair, this does not always work. football clubs aren't always good ways to make money, especially if you're an average club, for instance in the Premier League or the Championship, the second tier in England. Especially if your club gets relegated.

[@Shytot-1]

When you need cheerleaders to give the fans something to see every 5 seconds when the game stops, tells you all you need to know about American football.

we watch real football playing with feets

[@UranHexx]

feet

[@aleksandergolembka8659]

cringe

[@winstonpeanutbutter]

Cringe bro, American football is alright it just ain't popular over here. I don't get this weird tribal mentality.

[@IamnotfromUSA]

@@aleksandergolembka8659 I know you like your runball.

[@UranHexx]

@@winstonpeanutbutter There is nothing more tribal than supporting a team regardless of the sport, its literally tribalism.

[@jenniferharrison8915]

Sorry, we don't watch or respect it in Australia either - big pads all over, big helmets, minimal running, rest breaks, ridiculous noise .. 😏

[@gerardflynn7382]

You forgot the non stop commercials.

[@jenniferharrison8915]

@@gerardflynn7382 Oh yes! 😫

[@khaelamensha3624]

French here, if a guy stops you and you did not end with a broken nose, you are playing a kindergarten game😂 There are two football for me, what they called soccer even if I prefer rugby of corse and Australian football with its crazy field rules and teams 😂 Wish you the best!

[@jenniferharrison8915]

@@khaelamensha3624 I cannot imagine any of the lasting a 90 minute football game in Australia intact! Salute from Sydney, Australia! 🙋

[@stevqtalent]

and why would you when you have rugby AND aussie rules

[@general_LL30NN]

"Munich crowd sings take me home" is honestly not that big as you think it is, the song is still today probably the most popular country song outside the USA

[@winterlinde5395]

And they practice every year at October Fest. But it still was a great experience 😊

[@soewenue]

And everyone learning guitar has to Play it during his lessons😂

[@winterlinde5395]

@@soewenue so true😊

[@vendomeave]

How many US military bases are left in Germany? How many of those fans were from US bases?

[@AussieFossil]

Maybe they were singing "Take Me Home" hoping that the NFL would take themselves back home, to the USA?

[@an-an]

Quite simply - American football is extremely boring and almost nothing happens on the field. The players hardly need any tactical skills or decisions and most players just stand around the whole time. In comparison, “real” football is an intense sports game where every player is extremely challenged.

[@lanzsibelius]

I've played both types of football since I was young and definitively american football has more, much more tactical skills and decision making than the "real" football. I mean in the "real" football teams typically only have one coach, while in american football there is one for offense, one for defense and one general who coordinates them. If you don't trust me just take a look at an NFL playbook and how detailed they are.

[@Immortal12z]

@@lanzsibelius well that can be but in football there is also veryyyyy vast tactics. It is not necessary that it would be tactical if you need multiple coaches

[@stevefoulston]

Just maybe this is the reason American NFL games are scheduled to be played in one hour but usually go on for much longer - the average NFL game takes 3 hours and 12 minutes from start to finish while the average college football game takes 3 hours and 24 minutes to be completed According to recent studies, the ball is in play on the field for just between 15 and 20 minutes in an average football game. There are 55 players on an NFL team's roster, with 53 on the active roster. On game day, however, just 48 players dress. Before the game, each team's 11 starting players on the field are announced. The 48-man team is a welcome change for the NFL, as only 46 players could suit up on game day for quite a while. Then again you'll watch NASCAR races going around in a oval track for hours this is just plane silly. Peace out.

[@HubiKoshi]

Are you telling me that out of those 3+ hours the actual game takes up only around 20 minutes? How can Americans call European Football boring by comparison O_o ?

[@JulezVernez]

How the hell can people enjoy that? I mean there are plenty sports and they watch this NFL :D

[@Ramtamtama]

@@HubiKoshi they call football boring because it's lower scoring. Some of the most exciting games I've seen have had 2 goals or fewer scored. If scoring is too regular then each goal (or point) is less special.

[@JustMe-sh8nd]

whay abull, there is always exact 60min playtime.. how tf do you come with 20min, go see a docter

[@waynec3563]

@@JustMe-sh8nd Because the ball is in play a few seconds at a time, with ~45s between plays.

[@aleynamorca1365]

I can't imagine the NFL taking over football in Spain or Italy. In Turkey we see American football as a bunch of guys running around with something that looks like a ball.

[@GiblixStudio]

NFL is rugby for wimps

[@octavianpopescu4776]

It's kind of sad, because the sport has potential, if only they had more play and fewer breaks.

[@LagartoPT]

@@octavianpopescu4776 Like rugby ?

[@baronmeduse]

The thing is in most places kids can't spend money on expensive equipment and (actual) football only needs a ball. This is why it is so universally popular. The more equipment you need the less it becomes a sport of the people.

[@octavianpopescu4776]

@@LagartoPT Yes, like rugby.

[@mickaelmx]

Another factor I didn't read in the comments is this franchise thing, moving a team from a city to another... completely unacceptable in European countries or Mexico where the history and tradition of a club are everything!

[@lanzsibelius]

Nope, it is actually a thing here in Mexico. In soccer football teams who fall from first division or get promoted have changed cities or even selled the whole team multiple times before. It happens

[@mickaelmx]

@@lanzsibelius Not with historic clubs such as Atlas, Unam, Tigres, Chivas, America, etc. it would never happen there. You are talking about franchises in Sinaloa and Chiapas, baseball states where very few care about football anyway. Not comparable with the franchise system of MLS, NFL or NBA.

[@bookllama8158]

Germans don’t play a lot of rugby and cricket, that’s the UK. Other popular team sports in Germany are handball, basketball, and volleyball.

[@la-go-xy]

Some ice hockey, field hockey, too Edit: + water polo, canoe polo...

[@brandonneumann5294]

What about golf and tennis

[@la-go-xy]

@@brandonneumann5294 is done, but no team sport - and golf does not have much action either ;)

[@brandonneumann5294]

@@la-go-xy what do you mean no team sport?

[@michaelpearl-r8w]

In the 1980s European football was just as big as it is now, it just wasn't as rich. There hadn't yet been the influx of billionaire investors thinking they could make even more money than they already had, Inthe1980s football was still a game of the working classes and your average fan could afford to attend all the games they wanted unlike now.

[@Adi031978]

Fully agree. The guy in the video equated popularity with money. Also the maker of the video did not know about the still rumning american football leagues in Europe. So there is a base fan level but it is still a minority sport. Also I do not believe that american football is the second most watched sport in Germany.

[@WilliamSmith-mx6ze]

Not sure I agree. Hooliganism was a big thing in British football in the 1980s and a lot of people stayed away. Plenty of First Division grounds were, not half-empty, but say 25% empty. Attendances in all divisions were below what they had been in the 1950s and below what they are today (although the building of new stadiums since the 1990s might have something to do with that). Football looked, I suppose, naff to many.

[@dfuher968]

I seriously hope, American football is NOT on the program in LA 2028. Baseball being played in Tokyo in 2021 was beyond ridiculous, with just 4 countries even being able to enter a team. Im fine with the organizers being able to pick 3 (or is it 4?) sports of their choice for their specific Olympics, but there should be a minimum requirement for the sport having a professional league in, like, 20 countries at least. Surely with nearly 200 countries on the planet that should be feasible. The Olympics are marketed as bringing the whole world together. Well, there are plenty of sports being played in a majority of countries on Earth or even most countries, that are not represented at the Olympics, so bringing in sports that are only played in a handful of countries, such as baseball or American football, is counter to the supposed idea of the Olympics, and it feels very excluding. Like just a way for the hosts to ensure a medal for themselves.

[@Pumpherstonsmith]

I`ll drink to that.

[@Arltratlo]

you can make a competition, who is the dumbest Trump voter alive!

[@Ramtamtama]

I don't think they'd use full games, probably a shortened version, like how Rugby Sevens is the rugby code used at the Olympics and T20 is going to be the form of cricket used in 2028.

[@HellDuke-]

Isn't it confirmed already that flag football will be part of the next olympics?

[@gabrielesolletico6542]

@@Arltratlo Sounds interesting!

[@gerardryan3692]

Its a 60 minute game that takes 3 hours to play and has 10 minutes of anything actually happening. Thats why.

[@kennethburridge862]

Though I agree and like everything said here, there is one big flaw. Comparing NFL to Premier Leauge , that is like comparing a continent to a small country. The thruth is that the NFL revenue is around 8 billion dollars and soccer (football) in Europe has an revenue of app 27 billion dollars .

[@paul1979uk2000]

Yeah I thought that was a strange comparison, if they are going to compare the entire sport across the US, it makes sense to compare it across the EU, unless they want to compare on a state by state level like they did with European leagues

[@Fonetiker]

@@paul1979uk2000 You know that EU is not the same as Europa? E.g. England is not in the EU, and neither is 16 other European countries.

[@MrTonyHeath]

Football (proper football) is not just the Premier League.

[@TerryD15]

We prefer real games between two teams, such as football, Rugby, cricket etc. Not a spectacle where the teams change completely for attack and defence (sorry 'offense' and 'defense') wearing full armour, just to fill in between adverts and entertainment specials. And don't get me started about the kicker who comes on two or three times for two minutes, just to take one kick, then has to go off to rest and recover from the effort. You call it 'football' when almost no one ever kicks the ball, it's just 'carry, run, throw, and catch ball', which is what the game should be called.In the UK children play a very similar game to Baseball, we call it rounders' which was taken over to the USA by immigrants.

[@shmick6079]

Yes, I’ve never understood the point of having two completely different teams playing for the same team. If you can’t run both ways, surely you’re not good enough for the elite level?

[@lanzsibelius]

@@shmick6079 Players used to play both ways in the beginning of the NFL, but then when they split roles players became more specialized in only one position. I think the idea is similar to the goalkeeper only playing goalkeeper and not joining the attack, you would assume a player who only plays defense is better defending than one who plays offense and defense

[@TerenceDixon-l6b]

@@shmick6079 💀👍👍👍

[@TerenceDixon-l6b]

@@lanzsibelius In real football, not 'run, throw, catchball', there are players who can cover two roles, the same applies to Rugby football which the American game is based on (except that they got rid of the 'foot' bit). There is no need to change a whole team. The only really specialised role is, as you rightly point out, the goalkeeper, however outfield players who are physically capable of the role will often practice the skills in training just in case there is the remote need for a substitute if the normal substitute goalies are injured or sent off. In the latter case, the substitute cannot come on to the field unless another player is legally substituted. If players are not versatile, they are not fit to play at an elite level.

[@Thorium_Th]

9:36 Little research shows that Statista (2023) ranks American football as 21st amongst the most favorite sports in Germany. There is no way it's the second most watched sports on TV even when you account the high number of Americans living here. I don't even know which German channel shows American football games except Pro7 showing the Super Bowl every year. Ski jumping, handball, Formula 1, biathlon, boxing... are way higher up the list.

[@ritabecker5625]

I totally agree, Never the second most watched sport.

[@alinadornieden8411]

So wrong, pro7 max and now RTL shows games every week and I and like a million German people wwtchit every week, for years now

[@animalian01]

The problem with NFL is it's all the stopping and starting and the obsession with money over the quality of play,endless focuss on statistics,the rest of the world go to the game of whatever sport because they love the game.

[@arndbaggen3011]

That is all very similar to Walmart trying to enter the German Market . It ended in total failure. Europeans are totally different to people from the USA in nearly everything . For Example , German football clubs are owned by the members . The richest person would by law never be able to own more than 49% of the club . Germans watching ice hockey, Handball , Basketball . And btw , if a American Football match on television, would be as often interrupted by commercials like in the USA , most people would change the channel .

[@hansemannluchter643]

In Denmark, it is ILLEGAL to interrupt a TeeVee programme for commercials!

[@octavianpopescu4776]

I just realised that a lot of what Americans do and rubs us, Europeans, the wrong way. They treat sport like a product to be packaged and sold to consumers through aggressive sales pitches and gimmicks like bringing an elephant. It's all so... corporate-ey. And notice how in Germany, an audience was built through nothing more than regular people seeing other regular people play and thinking to themselves: that looks like fun. NFL execs don't understand that sports like football/soccer got so big over here precisely because it was grassroots, not astroturfed. Regular people, students and workers, making their own teams and just playing. They didn't have cheerleaders and other tacky tactics, it was just them playing the game and building a community around that.

[@pionieresvizzero2224]

In Germany, however, American football is quite popular. I remember when I went to Lake Garda and the Germans used to play American football with inflatable goals.

[@hansemannluchter643]

@@pionieresvizzero2224 Lake Garda is in Italy. And Germany has been a US puppet-state since May, 1945..

[@Balthazare69]

I think the biggest problem with American football is that time keeps stopping. At the end, instead of 4x15 min = 60 min of game time, we get over two hours, and what's worse, the active game is maybe 30% of those two hours, and probably less. While in football you have two halves of 45 min each, plus a couple of extra minutes and that's it, and a much more active game, without interruption.

[@mehallica666]

Some games take 4 hrs, with only 15 mins of actual ball in play.

[@khaelamensha3624]

Well if you want to sell beers and hotdogs you need to paused the game 🤣

[@Isleofskye]

In the 5 hour Superbowl Programme there was 18 minutes of actual play:)

[@khaelamensha3624]

@@Isleofskye i' the Olympic final of rugby 7 players it laster 25 min for what 14, 16 minutes of play

[@yannicklucas1836]

@@mehallica666 And they need 3 different squad (defense, offense and special unit) for those 15 min of ball in play 🤣🤣🤣

[@katl3892]

Americans also used to produce a lot of movies about sport (football/baseball). Where the main character is some kind of loser at the begining and for some reasons he and his team start to believe in themselves. Then they finally win. The funniest thing is I never understood the rules of the game so I wasn't actually able to know if they won. I just looked at they reactions and I couldn't tell if it was something big or just a luck.

[@annafrolova7891]

100% true!!! I've always loved the plot of sports dramas, but I never understood what they were actually doing on the field. I tried to learn some rules of baseball or American football from Wikipedia while watching, but gave up after a couple of paragraphs, screaming, "This doesn't make sense!"😂😂😂

[@davidribeiro1064]

American football rules at least are easy. It's the prolonged stop and start nature that is super annoying.

[@octavianpopescu4776]

It's almost like false advertising, because I saw films like Any Given Sunday and then I tried watching American football and... nope... the film makes it look interesting, but instead I got minutes of ads and people walking on the field talking. Real-life American football was less sports drama and more like... a work meeting. Stop talking and just play the damn game!

[@gabrielesolletico6542]

Lol! How about that movie where A DOG become a basketball star?

[@vytah]

​@@davidribeiro1064I have tried figuring out even the most basic rules of American football multiple times, and failed. In comparison, baseball is pretty easy to get the basic gist (hit the ball and run before they bring the ball back to you)

[@fv7151]

American football Is literally American, American culture. In Europe we don't watch NFL because we have our sports like Rugby or Football and we play our sports

[@cynic7049]

Football/Soccer and Icehockey here in Sweden. But American Football isn't even among the handful of sports fighting for the third spot here (European Handball is among those fighting for third, but Rugby is not).

[@GiblixStudio]

also our sports are actually played world wide. so when you claim to be world champions....you actually played against teams from across the world. instead of playing locally and calling yourself best. then when you go international get crushed :D

[@fv7151]

​@@GiblixStudiotopic is "why NFL fails in Europe"... Your comment is about something else ...

[@Arltratlo]

even as a German, i played Rugby in school.... .... and football! i been forced to watch a few American football games because of work.... the only thing i saw interesting been the Cheerleader girls! i didnt paid any attention to the games!

[@JustMe-sh8nd]

well i am dutch but dont watch our football, they are just 22 crying todlers kicking a ball, and ohmy oh my if they are hit by a butterfly they crumble down rolling and screaming as if they where beaten uo by 4 man

[@warrenturner397]

I went to a game in LA and was asleep in 10 mins. Woke up after half an hour to find I'd only missed 5 mins of game time. The NFL stats show that an average game has about 12 minutes of actual game time out over around 2 HOURS! Considering that the offence and deeeefence split game time a player actually plays about 5 minutes in a whole entire games. These guys would last 5 minutes in a Rugby Union or Rugby League team. How the hell anybody could watch that crap is way beyond me. And Yanks have got the hide to say that a 5 day Test Cricket match is boring!

[@jonallen-dt2ui]

Cricket is also boring tbf

[@lanzsibelius]

How the hell anybody could watch that? That's easy, watch only the highlights on youtube or the condensed games which are 40 minutes long without the comercials. At least that's what I do. That way I enjoy more the games

[@Immortal12z]

@@jonallen-dt2ui at least in 5 day test match we have 7 hour actual game and 1 hour lunch and tea break , unless nfl, so choose wisely

[@Fractureise]

Id say the main reason American football failed is probably due to rugby as its similar to American football but none of those silly pads and helmets

[@olivierdk2]

70 000 is the maximum capacity of the starium, yet you can see quite a lot of empty spaces. As you said it's the novelty than attracted most of the people .

[@davidfradgley751]

Yup, 70k "sell out" just like Man City "Sell out" the Etihad 😂

[@andyallan2909]

What you've got to try and take on board is that real football is a mixture of individual sport, team sport and chess. Its tactics and strategy involving individual and team skill, and also each match is a constantly moving spectacle. Players have to be athletes, have footballing skills and 'game intelligence' being able to absorb (while on the move) the positions of other players, possible short and long passes and strategy (defensive and attacking). The constantly 'moving spectacle' is the important part. This is why people who understand the game can thoroughly enjoy a game, even if it ends 0-0. It appears, looking in from the outside, that Americans can only enjoy sport where there is constant scoring, so that they can react excitedly and make a noise.

[@lanzsibelius]

I've played both types of football since I was young and definitively american football has more, much more chess type tactics and strategy than the real football. I mean in the real football teams typically only have one coach, while in american football there is one for offense, one for defense and one general who coordinates them. A high amount of 'game intelligence' is essential for being a successful american football player. If you don't trust me just take a look at an NFL playbook and how detailed they are.

[@chronic2023]

​@@lanzsibeliusMaybe so but that doesn't make it any more appealing.

[@mlomarechal6877]

@@lanzsibelius alors pourquoi on s'ennuie ?

[@rbweston]

I used to play Rugby (union, not league), and having watched one game of American "football", my only take was, "Why so much Sissy padding?" Aren't they real men who can play through a little hit or two. Also why all the stopping and starting? Can't they just play through without constantly havning to take rests.

[@khaelamensha3624]

Same thinking here. Let s not talk about the cocktail of... chemical helps used in this entertainment (it is not a sport as I define it)

[@d3al3rplays68]

Point impact of American Football is higher due to difference in play (forward passing mainly). I have played both on amateur level so not talking out of my ass.

[@Fonetiker]

As much as I agree that NFL is ads with flashes of a gang standing on a field, your outdated macho-BS is just embarrassing to say the least. Brain injuries are not manly.

[@TheBrasidas]

It is being played in Europe. In Hungary where I live there is even a championship since 2005 with 22 teams. But not many people cares about it. I guess it's mostly the friends and family of the players.

[@hesamm9]

Your modified rugby 🏈 is just entertainment... While most sports in Europe (not just Football ⚽️, but also Basketball 🏀, Rugby 🏉 itself & sometimes volleyball 🏐) is taken serious like religion

[@annafrolova7891]

And hockey! 🏒 (at least in Sweden, Finland and Russia)

[@gregorygant4242]

Rugby , cricket are generally popular in Anglo-Saxon countries and India ,Pakistan not in Germany dude.

[@molybdomancer195]

Rugby is very popular in countries like Argentina and France, not just the ones you listed. Cricket is less popular but it’s played in Ireland (dare to call them Anglo-Saxon) and for a strange reason was played in Afghanistan. Refugees in Pakistan picked it up and then went home. Not sure it is played under the Taliban.

[@grahvis]

The cricket club in the town where I was born was founded in 1737. They had the idea of going to France to introduce the French to cricket but on their way, they met the British ambassador on his way back who explained the French were busy having a revolution. It would have been interesting to think, had it not been for that, the French might have become a cricketing nation.

[@geoffmelvin6012]

Yes, they are Empire sports

[@Joseph13163]

@@molybdomancer195 Irish people do get called anglosaxons or west brits for playing cricket by other irish people ,not so much nowadays but at one time playing cricket was considered treason.

[@rogerk6180]

Those are commonwealth sports lol.

[@FacelessJanus]

Please explain 1 thing to me, as so far nobody has been able to do so. Why the f is this called football by Americans ?? First of a ball is round, not oval shaped. See any sport, whether is is snooker, volleyball, baseball, basketball, golf, etc etc etc, the size and colour might change depending on the sport, but it is pretty much very round or global shaped. Secondly, besides the kick-off, the "ball" is mainly moved around the field by throwing it, so there is not much use of feet in regard to the ball itself. Yes people run, but they do not use their feet to kick the ball, at least not much. Now look at what Americans call soccer, but is proper football. The ball is round or global shaped, and touching it with your hands is strictly forbidden. To move the ball around, needs to be done by feet. Seems to me, that it is more logical to call this football as the game is based on a ball moved around with feet. Anyone, who can properly and clearly explain why Americans call this sport football pleas do, because I do not get it. Yes, I understand it is a sport, but the NAME seems wrong, as it does not describe the sport imho.

[@FacelessJanus]

@twoeyedjack6836 no it does not explain American football being called football. I was and am aware where soccer came from. Yet soccer is football, just another name. American football is still not played with a ball, nor with feet. Thus the name is not explained.

[@stephenlee5929]

@@FacelessJanus Why do you believe a ball needs to be spherical? Rugby (various) is not played with a sphere, but it is still a ball. Pretty sure the same is true of Ozzy Rules.

[@hansemannluchter643]

​@twoeyedjack6836Strange then that we Danes didn't name "Handball", a game we invented, "Football", because here you also run about on your feet, chasing a ball..

[@jamonit7169]

I'll try, I guess it might be a shock to you that RFU stands for Rugby Football Union, a name they adopted at the onset because it was indeed a mixture of two sports. AFAIK American football is an offshoot of rugby and almost as old as the RFU so they took the name from them. If you watched an NFL game you'd see each individual kick could and often does have a big bearing on the outcome, true in football to some extent. cheers

[@d3al3rplays68]

That is simple. Americans claim everything as theirs..

[@Pepe-rf1zg]

Easy, AF is boring. When you stop a game just to show a commercial... More time spend on commercials ten actual play... AF is clearly just a by-product of large company's trying to sell stuff...

[@brandonneumann5294]

AF stands for Australian football

[@lorenzodepaoli]

American football has a few problems to face in Europe: 1) Clock: American football it's full of interruptions that stop the clock, and europeans are used to Soccer* where the clock never stops ticking, even when there are interruptions. Continous time stoppage makes A. football sound frustratingly slow-paced. 2) Commercials: we are used to commercials being a small part of a televised game, not the great part of it. 3) Score: the way points are scored in A. football is confusing to Europeans, who are used to only one way of scoring. We actually think 2-1 or 1-0 are more exciting than 40-18, as it gives us the impression that the game is closer, more competitive. 4) The NFL. American Leagues are closed: the franchises are always the same. We like to dream about our local, small team compete with giants, and in Soccer we can actually dream it, with the promotion/relegation system. Relegation battles are as exciting as watching as the title race. The NFL lacks that; the only exciting thing are the playoff. 5) History. Creating a club or franchise takes time. It's not just selecting a color and an animal and calling it a day: you need to actually make people care about your brand, your role, your achievements. Starting from scratch is hard and doesn't earn you immediate financial returns. *I'm Italian, I don't mind the word soccer since we call it Calcio.

[@lellab.8179]

I agree with you, especially on the 4th point: where's the excitement if there is no promotion or relegation? Not so much about the scoring system (I don't think it matters that much). About your "*" : I'm Italian too and I always laugh when people are debating between "soccer" and "football" 😂

[@annaesposito541]

​@@lellab.8179That s wrong.I am italian too,but consider that the Word calcio Is used in our country only and the most spoken language Is english so why the americans shoulde appropriate of the Word of their sport Is so much younger and played mostly in US only?

[@geoffmelvin6012]

Because it is a shit game. End of story.

[@nikthev]

Amen!!!😂😂😂

[@stolly27]

Shit game? Bro have some respect I bet you can't say that to an NFL player face. I played soccer when I was young but football is not a shit game.

[@geoffmelvin6012]

@@stolly27 OK, it is a very shit game......

[@sharonmartin4036]

That's just plain nasty! You don't have to play it or watch it if you don't want to, but you don't need to be nasty about it.

[@lanzsibelius]

Fun fact: It's not if you know the rules

[@paul1979uk2000]

I tried to watch it once in the UK, it was on late at night, after about 15 mins, I fell asleep lol. The sport is too dull, too commercialised with too many adverts, too much stop and start during the game and too many distractions from the actual sport with cheerleaders and all that. In pales in comparisons with real football, especially on big events like the Euros or the World Cup. The only American sport that I feel could appeal to Europeans is basketball, but all the others, I don't see them standing a chance. Another problem for the NFL is that it would be competing directly with rugby in Europe and much of the world, which sports wise, are not too different from each other, but rugby is more fast pace, without the padding and far less commercialised with far fewer breaks and the sport is already well established in Europe and other parts of the world, Rugby feels like a faster pace version of American football and that for many is more appealing.

[@philiprice7875]

dull it takes 3 refs and 4 players 3 coaches from each team plus 2 camera crews for the toss up

[@thomasfranz6467]

Well, I'm from Germany and had no idea there was an American Football League here, so at least it can't be that big yet.

[@ritabecker5625]

Me too (German). It´s not present. I know no one who whatches American football. If it is not "soccer" it is Tennis, Olympic games, car races, bycicle races. Cricket is not a german thing - I know it as english and indian sport, rugby also.

[@d3al3rplays68]

Germany has 1 of the biggest leagues in Europe so... It is just you only notice if it has your interest.

[@Helleuw123]

lookign when they said that he shwoed there 6 teams in it and 5 from germany, looking at the other that is in it is i guess the only dutch teamXD

[@d3al3rplays68]

@@Helleuw123 That was the NFL League, Domestic Germany is pretty big to Europe compared. (Dutch team was Amsterdam Admirals).

[@futurefox128]

Don't forget that due to different time-zones the Super Bowl is in the midst of the night on a MONDAY for Europeans, that's the biggest reason as to why almost nobody watches it.

[@CamcorderSteve]

The biggest reason that American football has never caught on in Europe is that very few people understand how the rules of the game work. On the rare occasion that I 'watch' it, it just baffles me what is actually going on. The ref.blows the whistle and practically every player on the pitch darts in every direction conceivable, why, what is going on and where is the ball? To say that I am confused is an understatement. Where am I supposed to be looking? Just too confusing for a simple Brit who like to watch football, where the ball is visible the whole time, and the players run into spaces which make some kind of sense.

[@Trebor74]

I watched it in the 80s, was on channel 4 and you could call and get a leaflet explaining the rules. But the games just boring

[@jeanpierreviergever1417]

Just like cricket for continental Europeans…

[@mushroomsteve]

Here is the short version of the rules of American football. The team in possession of the ball has 4 plays, called downs, to advance the ball 10 yards or more. Plays usually consist of running the ball, or passing. If the team fails to advance the ball at least 10 yards in 4 downs, then the other team takes possession of the ball at the "yard line" of the last play. This is why typically a team will only use 3 downs to advance the ball 10 yards, and if they fail to get the 10 yards in 3 downs, they kick the ball (called punting) into the other team's territory. This makes the other team take possession of the ball farther back in their own part of the field. If the team successfully advances at least 10 yards in 4 or fewer downs, then they get what is called a "first down", and the 10-yard distance is reset to the new location, and the team gets 4 more downs to advance another 10 yards. There are 3 ways to stop a play: by tackling the player with the ball, by the player with the ball going out of bounds, or by committing a turnover, where possession of the ball switches to the other team. Going out of bounds automatically stops the clock, so this contributes to the frequent play stoppages. A turnover can happen if the player in possession of the ball drops (fumbles) it and the ball is picked up and controlled by a player from the other team, or if the ball is passed and caught (intercepted) by a player from the other team. In a turnover situation, the player who receives the ball can advance it towards the other team's goal line until they are tackled, forced out of bounds, score a touchdown, or another turnover happens. The team that takes possession of the ball after a turnover gets 4 downs to advance 10 yards, and takes possession at the "yard line" where their player was tackled/forced out of bounds. Scoring can happen in 5 ways: A touchdown (6 points), a field goal (3 points), a safety (2 points) a one-point conversion (1 point - only after a touchdown), and a two-point conversion (two points - only after a touchdown). A touchdown happens when a player runs the ball into the other team's end zone, or catches and controls the ball being passed to them. The ball merely has to cross the plane of the "goal line" (if running the ball). The player with the ball does not need to enter the end zone himself. However, if the ball is passed, the pass must be completed (caught and controlled) to count as a touchdown. A field goal happens when a player (usually the kicker) kicks the ball between and above the other team's field goal posts, located at the far end of the end zone. A field goal is often attempted on a fourth down instead of punting if the team in possession is within "field goal range" (usually no more than 45 yards from the field goal). A field goal does not require the team to score a touchdown beforehand, unlike the one and two-point conversions. After a team scores a touchdown, they will have the opportunity to make one additional play at a certain distance from the goal line. They have the choice of attempting a "field goal" for a one-point conversion, or running/passing the ball into the end zone again (like scoring another touchdown) for a two-point conversion. Since a two-point conversion is much harder to complete successfully than a 1-point conversion, the 1-point conversion is usually chosen as a lower-risk option. The exception being if a two-point conversion can tie or win the game with a few seconds remaining on the game clock. A tie game goes into a 5-minute overtime period. The entire 5-minutes is played (i.e., not "sudden death"). Finally, a safety happens if a player with the ball is tackled in their own end zone. This usually happens when the quarterback drops back for a play and a defensive player gets through and sacks (tackles) the quarterback in their own end zone. There are other rules for penalties, stopping play (timeouts, halftime, etc), reviewing referee calls, etc., and they get very complicated. So in many ways, American football is just as much about strategy as it is about athleticism.

[@vaudevillian7]

The NFL has played at least one game a year in London since 2007, they’ve played 3 games a year for several years. The new Tottenham Hotspur stadium was build as a dedicated dual purpose NFL and football stadium with a retracting football pitch that has an NFL field underneath - you should react to that. The London games all sell out every year. Jacksonville Jaguars are basically a London team now as they play every year. American football is actually pretty popular in the UK, but still fairly niche comparatively - and nothing compares to the global popularity of football. Quite a lot of people play American football in the UK. Ninh explains did a video on it. A Wales Rugby star is pretty much now on the starting roster of the Kansas City Chiefs - Louis Rees-Zammit

[@beldin2987]

Shouldn't we rename american "football" here to "Chicken Run" ? I mean you have now problems insulting our football with the name "Sucker" .. while yours in the end is running around with an EGG .. and so "chicken run" fits pretty good i think.

[@strykerm1180]

I'd call it the Hand-Egg game

[@unimerc5116]

handegg😝

[@SovermanandVioboy]

Why is Soccer an insult? It comes from "Association Football". American Football is called Football, bcs the ball is 1 foot long. Imagine being insulted by that - just weird - grow up.

[@jancokjaran4319]

​@@SovermanandVioboy So call it Football. Grow up

[@hansemannluchter643]

​@@SovermanandVioboy "Sucker".. Get it now??

[@stephensuff9915]

There was a major omission in the video. The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium opened in 2019. Has two NFL games a year. Additionally it was also designed with American Football in mind. The football grass pitch is on rails and is moved under the stand for NFL Matches and there is an artificial NFL pitch underneath. Additionally, the East Stand is dedicated to the NFL and facilities such as big changing rooms are located there. The football changing rooms and facilities etc are in the West Stand

[@birger4788]

All the manuals of American football aside, as a spectator comparing American football with real football is like comparing tic-tac-toe with chess. Tic-tac-toe with a lot of brain injuries.

[@LegoLazze]

If you don't know what El Classico is, you should react to it. The biggest games in the sport after the World Cup and Champions League finals, it happens at least twice a year between the clubs Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, famous for the clubs fierce rivalry. Superbowl 2023 had 115 million viewers in the US and another 56 internationally, compared to El Classico in October 2023 who was watched in 185 countries with an estimated number of viewers reaching 650 million. For some perspective

[@hansemannluchter643]

They should call it El Classico del Mundo, that would get the Yanks attention..

[@flawedgenius]

I'd imagine Liverpool vs Man United also has more viewers than the superbowl

[@Jonsson474]

El Classico in all fairness but the Spanish football league is otherwise shit. I rather watch paint dry. There are much more interesting leagues and there are much more interesting games than el Classico.

[@LegoLazze]

@@Jonsson474 Sorry buddy but you are absolutely clueless. The numbers speaks for them selves, the Spanish teams you call shit is doing better against the teams from the other leagues consistently in the European competitions so you are full shit sir. Try something else.

[@SotGravarg]

In case of face destruction, use a covid mask. Also we call it american football, at least in germany. We don't even use german words so no "Amerikanischer Fußball", just american football.

[@The_Man_With_The_Sharin_Gun]

Ah yes the American Handball how we say here btw There is only room for 1 FOOTBALL 😂

[@lisaruhm6681]

@@The_Man_With_The_Sharin_Gun How about a renaming to Handegg?

[@SotGravarg]

@@The_Man_With_The_Sharin_Gun what do you mean

[@hansemannluchter643]

​@@SotGravargwell, it's hardly "a ball" they use, is it??

[@hubertflatken2535]

OK, so from now in you have to say "München" and "Nürnberg"instead of "Munich"and "Nuremberg"😅

[@DenUitvreter]

I think the problem was Americans trying to take over, challenging the sporting landscape instead of trying to carve out it's own place and try to grow from there. In Germany the military started that for them. Don't provoke Europeans into anti-imperialistic feelings, bringing cheerleaders was already a bit questionable, and don't attack soccer football and don't leave your white stripes on their pitches. That gets you disliked, seen as a loud intruder. Basketball is played in schools, parks, drive ways and squares, not just clubs. That has a low treshold and at the Olympics the USA won gold but only just made it to the final. But what is also important for a sport is which kids are going to play it, the most athletic ones or the ones who weren't good enough at soccer football? I'm Dutch, I have never heard about any German playing rugby in whaterver context. Rugby is huge in France and was about as big as football for quite long in the past. So I guess there was a space to fill in Germany.

[@Arltratlo]

German here, played Rugby in school! 3rd best game after Football and Handball! btw: i am from the real north of Germany, we play Handball!

[@marie-anneguibereau7344]

In France we think about American Football to compare it with rugby, not with soccer because it is such a different kind of sport... But mostly we think about American Football only when we watch the half time show of the SuperBowl (on the internet because it's not on French TV), because it's one of the most iconic pop culture/pop music event in the world, and that's it! Of course, we have a few American Football teams and club, even competition in some cities here, but it's not a big deal and it's viewed mostly as a kind of "American Folklore" for an American themed festival for example...

[@RogerRabbit-hd1hh]

It’s actually broadcasted on TV. Late at night…

[@philjameson292]

The US has only one field sport in US football. Europe has proper football, rugby union, rugby league. There is also hurling, shinty and many more so it's a tough market to break into

[@PixTax]

Keep in mind that Germany as a fair few US army bases. There's like four locations of the USAG Bavaria near Munich alone.

[@Arjay404]

My personal reason for not liking American Football is A. It's confusing, there are so many rules and details you have to pay attention to. In Soccer there's really only 3 major rules. 1 Don't touch the ball with your hands/arm 2 Don't knock over/push, pull a opposing player. 3 Offside (and this is the only one that's a bit confusing, even people that have followed the sport for years sometimes don't understand the rule, but in essence it boils down to don't be behind the last defender.). B. It's so damn slow, omg. 7 seconds of play time followed by 2 minutes of waiting and planning for the next 7 seconds of playtime. A lot of American like to say that nothing ever happens in soccer and while I understand that thinking (even if I disagree with it because as any fan knows, something IS happening, it's just that the team with the ball isn't always full force attacking, even though they are trying to move the ball forward.) at least the players are actually playing while doing that nothing.

[@Muppetkeeper]

Why would be watch? It's Rugby for people too scared to get hurt so they wrap themselves up in pads and silly helmets, plus it take 15 hours to play 20 minutes of gameplay.

[@grassygnoll3345]

Football, you need a ball and players and you can play exactly the same game as on telly. American football, or "Paddy Helmet Run", not so easy. That really is a major point.

[@HonestWatchReviewsHWR]

One of the biggest differences between football and American football, is that the adverts are structured around the game for football... Whereas in American football, the game is structured around the adverts. Also, the fact that are talking about moving a team over to London permanently, is crazy. That would NEVER happen the other way around. Football clubs are at the heart of their Cities here in the UK.

[@AlexanderLehmann-c6z]

Since many years, the German League exist. The top players are former US college players. They get a small salary while most of the european players just play for fun (or for the honor). In our city, an enthusiastic car dealer is financing the American Football team. We also have cheerleader and round about 1500 to 3000 visitors at home games. To give you a comparison: Our 3rd league real football team plays in front of 25000 to 30000 visitors!

[@redscouse7056]

American football sucks, for a game that is 60 minutes long and has so many players, those players couldn't last a 1/2 in rugby union!

[@brandonneumann5294]

What about Australian football?

[@gabrielesantucci6189]

There is no way ...in Europe american football is never interested. Here for us our football (soccer) is almost a religion and we are faithfull to that religion. You can change jobs, women, political opinion etc. but never your football team.

[@richardstuart3882]

Germany = no rugby, no cricket, just proper football and weird sausages 🤣 NFL as it stands will never have a big market in the uk i watched my first full game sunday chiefs v jaguars due to one of our rugby players signing for the chiefs and i was horrified at the amount of adverts during the game even when the action was on the commentators or pundits were reading extra adverts 😱🤬 with proper football and rugby once the game has started you might get 5-10 minutes of adverts at half time thats it and thats between pundits talking about what has happened in the first half, the reason the nfl makes so much money, and ive just checked this, is because last year they charged $882k for 30 second commercials during sunday night football games and ive just looked this up there are between 15 and 25 commercials PER QUARTER in an nfl game thats more than youll get in 90 minutes of (soccer) in 15 minutes thats insane you watch more adverts than sport 😱

[@Fractureise]

I was confused for a bit cause i thought you were talking about exeter chiefs 😅

[@richardstuart3882]

@@Fractureise god no Kansas chiefs most yards given up on kick return by any team saw one guy run through what was supposedly one of the best defensive teams in the NFL last year, it seems they spend more time working on PR than they do on fundamentals like tackling 🤣

[@donkfail1]

If it wasn't for the issue that injuries are still plenty, they could call it "safety rugby" with all the padding and protection. ;) I think one of the biggest problems with selling it to Europe is how slow the game becomes with all the interruptions. Sure, you can argue that some soccer games is a snooze fest whit no action, but at lest the game goes on most of the time.

[@MichaelCoIIins]

Easy fix I would say,.... 1:10 As 14,7 billion people call the sport with the round ball football and about 17 people the egg shaped ball sport (Merican) football, How about we start calling Egg shaped ball game Merican soccer, and the Normal round ball game football. Problem solved 🤷‍♂ Not to mention the fact that football is about 2000 years older then Merican Soccer

[@segaiuolo]

Italians call it "Calcio" 😂

[@ThW5]

The few Frenchies liking Rugby football would not like that.

[@annaesposito541]

You are terribile right!American people are Always closed in their own Bubbles.

[@MrSchmekker]

Hey. European guy here, watched the first season of NfL when Brady won with Tampa. Only reason I watched because skip and Shannon kept talking about it and I had no idea what the subject matter was. I still watch the highlights, I have no patience to watch 3-4 hours of commercials every Sunday 😁

[@Rothiman]

There is a huge misconception that American Football is only played in the US. In reality it is played all over Europe in semi-professional leagues. Austria, Germany, Finland, Sweden, Poland, Spain, Italy, France. Also in Japan and Mexico. While it will never reach Football there is a huge fanbase. Teams mostly consist of about 4 to 6 American players that didn't made it to the NFL but still want to play ball and take a chance to see the world. The rest is European players. Even for the imports there is very little money to earn but they get everything else for free or sponsored. The Japananes and the Austrian under 20 national Team just beat the US at the world u20 championships. Granted that the US team didn't play with the best players possible because nobody wants to risk the chance to go to the NFL it still made some waves. The video missed some information: The original World League in the early 90s had teams from the US, Mexico (I believe) and Europe. It was a logistic nightmare and the time really wasn't ready for Europe. There was very little options to watch the NFL and the sport had a very little fanbase. The second attempt started stronger with only European teams but there was still no money to make. And when London, Edinburgh and later Barcelona stopped operations there were just 5 German teams and Amsterdam left. Teams consisted almost exclusively of american players trying out for NFL spots with a handful of nationals sprinkled in (a lot of kickers). And while the interest was lower than for football it still drew 15 to 20 thousand people. That is on average more than any other sport in Germany (that's not called football). With the advance of the internet and streaming capabilites the sport reached more and more people in the 2010s. On sundays two games could and still can be watched on free tv in a prime time slot (7 p.m. and 10.30 p.m.), the commentators being a mix of journalists and former players or coaches, both in the NFL and in Europe. Which brings in new fans each year. And is a reason why it's the second most watched sport - accessibility. Ice hockey, handball, basketball and volleyball are also big in Germany but you can't see much on free TV. Rugby and cricket are barely played here. Final fun fact: The german player featured at the 12 min mark as an example of an IPP player acutally was drafted from college, his name is Mark Nzeocha. A german player coming through the IPP and making the roster as a Fullback in New England and Las Vegas is Jakob Johnson.

[@chronic2023]

I had to look that up about Sweden. You're right, but never in my 40+ years of living here have I ever heard of it or seen any indication that there are American football clubs in Sweden. I guess it's like a lot of things. There's always the odd thing that is imported to another country by a few enthusiasts but it's not mainstream enough that the general population even knows it exists.

[@TheKIMANO]

A more correct name for the American version of football would be American rugby. There are also plenty of clubs in Europe that play American Rugby, but these are very small sports over here. It does not seem obvious that a game where you rarely kick the ball is called football.

[@pandaayi6394]

Well sure, there are some fans outside of America. But personally I don't give a fuck about American Football. It's the real football that I enjoy :)

[@brandonneumann5294]

What about Aussie rules football?

[@spancherBob]

American football is boring even for Americans. I saw an interview with a former football player who switched to rugby. He said that in several years of playing he had never even touched the ball.

[@gerardflynn7382]

Funny thing is that Americans couldn't understand the rules for Rugby and came up with their own version. Plus adding too much body armour kind of kills the sport.

[@brandonneumann5294]

Yes the rules of rugby were too complicated for Americans. Like do you Europeans even hear yourself? Like it’s honestly sad how much you guys puff yourselves up just to pick at America. I never hear you complaining about Aussie rules football or Gaelic football

[@John-jw8rx]

Americans only watch the Superbowl for the adverts and some music at half time. I don't blame them, it's more entertaining.

[@MrStephenLodge]

There are currently 70 American Football teams playing in the British American Football Association (BAFA) National Leagues (BAFANL). Just not the NFL. There is also a handful of NFL games played in the UK each season.

[@Verdienmodel8]

And still nobody gives a damn

[@B-A-L]

Yeah, it's just a bunch of Madden NFL gamers who think they can play the real thing!

[@MrStephenLodge]

@@Verdienmodel8 LOL say that to the people that buy the 100s of thousands of tickets sold to NFL games every year played in London.

[@Verdienmodel8]

@@MrStephenLodge sorry, can't find them anywhere.

[@MrStephenLodge]

@@Verdienmodel8 I personally dont know anyone that goes to theatres but Im not going to say that no one in the UK does. LOL.

[@Brownie1969]

Only as a cure for insomnia I'd watch American football. But fun and excitement are not the words that come to mind when talking about AF. The sport lacks real soul and is just all about show and commercials. Things we Europeans don't accept and that's why it will never get foot on the ground here in Europe.

[@surfaceten510n]

More like why did America adopt the game of rugby alter the rules and scoring system to make it unwatchable the only thing it has going for it is how unlike football it really is.

[@SteveBagnall-gh1fu]

Many years ago, I was at Police Training in Yorkshire, England, we were based on a former Royal Airforce Station, in North Yorkshire. About 30 miles away was an American base, a listening post called Menwith Hill. Every 13 weeks we would play each other at American Football and Rugby Union. We played RU, second after playing American Football. We took them apart, winning 54 to 14, it was hard to concentrate with stopping every 20 seconds, honestly we never even glistened let alone broke into a sweat. As the goal kicker, I couldn't miss, every kick, directly in front of the sticks, I could have scored wearing a blindfold. At Rugby their kicker had no idea how to hook a ball in from one side or fading it in from the other. To be honest their conversion attempts were pathetic.

[@robhingston]

We have American football in its Pure form without the kit and helmet, its called Rugby!. American football origins are mostly from Rugby and a little bit of Soccer

[@brandonneumann5294]

What about Australian football

[@Veri183]

Fun fact: The ELF (European League of Football) has recently (2021) been revived with teams from the "good old WLAF days" still going strong. Frankfurt Galaxy, my German hometown club and founding member of the World League of American Football (WLAF) played the very first game of the league in 1991 in Frankfurt. Won the World Bowl 4 times and won the very first ELF championship in 2021, even though they had basically vanished after the NFL Europe had failed, had to temporarily change the name to "Frankfurt Universe" etc. See, Europeans love their traditions and sports clubs which have been around for decades. As a founding member of the first league Frankfurt Galaxy now almost have this sort of legacy with the fans. And so do the other teams from that time that are still around. The games are now much smaller than they used to be - not that big spectacle the NFL tried to create, however, I like this even more, as you see more real supporters of the teams and the sport than people who just go because it's new and fun. The crowd at a football game is also quite different from soccer crowds, which you know can be quite rough and extreme in Europe. Crowds at American Football games are much less agressive. That why I prefer them over going to soccer matches. Munich and Frankfurt both are in the former American occupied area of Germany, so naturally more people got in touch with American culture, not to mention the Americans who came as part of the military and ended up staying here.

[@herosvicentegonzalez7872]

If i had to take a guess, the rules of football are simpler and require a comparatively smaller space to play and is overall less violent, this makes it so it is an ideal sport for kids to casually play, wich evolves into a passion when they reach adulthood

[@ritabecker5625]

Yes, American football is brutal. Not a sport.

[@jonallen-dt2ui]

American Football more violent? they play all padded up and wear a helmet I saw more violence when I played school yard games as a kid.

[@nathanthom8176]

​@@jonallen-dt2ui the padding allows them to be more reckless and violent and on average American Football players are bigger (probably roided up) so when they hit each other it can be more dangerous; they have very poor fundamentals in regards to tackling and most of them would be red carded out of a rugby match quite quickly.

[@lanzsibelius]

There is also flag football which is a simpler, less violent and overall better for kids to play version of american football.

[@powerdriller4124]

I´m Mexican-American and fan only of Soccer, but I understand the rules of American Football and Baseball. Of European sports, I tried to learn the rules of Rugby and Cricket and what I´ve learned I tried to explain to my friends in the bar where we meet weekly. Very surprising details for them is that in Rugby if there is a player injured on the pitch, the game continues, the doctors enter and attend the injured one no matter if the action is over them. And of Cricket, well, I tried to compare it with baseball during my explanations, and my friends just cannot believe it: *1)* The bat is like a long ping-pong racket *2)* The sluggers are dressed like a catcher. *3)* The pitcher throws the ball to the legs of the slugger *4)* The ball always touches the floor and picks up, but given the wide bat an strike is near impossible to happen, the slugger always connect. *5)* The catcher is a set of sticks, main sticks and baby sticks called widgets. *6)* behind it there is a second catcher, a human one, but who looks more like a shortstop. *7)* There is only one base and home, the bases are big circles drawn on the earth. *8)* Sometimes home is first base and viceversa. *9)* The score goes above 500 runs *10)* An "out" is celebrated more than 100 runs *11)* to decide the winner, sometimes having more runs is not enough, for that there is a math formula that not even Einstein could understand. *12)* Homeruns may be worth 6, 12 or 24 runs; depending of how far the ball travelled *13)* Runners run with the bat at hand and even use it to get safe. In a single hit they may score multiple runs, running back and forth from home to 1st to Home, to 1st and, so on. *14)* The max great action is to destroy the catcher-sticks by throwing the ball into them. The catcher sticks gets destroyed, splinters of the main sticks go off along the baby sticks. For the team playing defense that event brings them a joyful orgasm, *15)* I think that if just a baby stick falls down, that is an "out", but I´m not sure because that never happens.

[@101steel4]

⚽

[@lamebubblesflysohigh]

The biggest problem with American football is the cost of entry. Needed gear is prohibitively expensive for parents to buy new set of gear every other year when kids grow out of last one. Ice hockey has same problem thus only affluent countries play it, now compare it with football or rugby - all you need is a flat place and a ball. There are realistically only 2 markets for American football in Europe - Great Britain (although basically just London) and Germany (and even this market might be shrinking due to recent successes of German national team in Ice hockey). European market is saturated with football (everyone), rugby (England, France, Ireland, Italy) and Ice hockey (basically anywhere north of Alps and east of Rhine river). There is possibility to expand to Ukraine later which doesn't have rugby or ice hockey tradition but the cost of entry is too high for the poorest country in Europe (same goes for Balkan countries... maybe later when they get richer). South America is too poor for it and thus the only real untapped market is Asia. There are affluent enough countries there where neither football, rugby or ice hockey has any sort of tradition or widespread adoption. China, South Korea, Japan.. huge populations, enough money.

[@DanDanDoe]

Yeah football is great and easy to get into. You need a ball and something to create one or two goals, which can just be a piece of clothing, a rock or between two trees. Plenty of kids also just practise their shots against a wall. In the Netherlands field hockey is also pretty popular, but it's more a middle class/upper class sport. And of course ice skating is popular, especially with the Winter Olympics.

[@octavianpopescu4776]

I wouldn't say only affluent countries play hockey. Russia is quite good at hockey, but I wouldn't call it affluent. I think climate matters more.

[@MattMcQueen1]

I remember NFL Europe. From memory, there was a team in Amsterdam, one in Scotland (my local team, Scottish Claymores), and more teams in Germany. I went to the Claymores' last season - they were disbanded in favour of another team in Germany (there was a bigger American presence in Germany, I think, and therefore a bigger audience). It was fun while it lasted.

[@Shukuyou]

If we wanted to see something like that, we'd watch rugby.

[@KhotsoMatolo-lh4ou]

American football is designed for people with a short attention span....there is no way a game that long has less than 50% of actual play...I remember when I was young and confused as to why there are ads during the game

[@richardlowery4324]

The only time we are interested in american football is when you have the superbowl half time music extravaganza. 😊

[@YourTamedLion]

Real Football simply has Higher Skill ceiling, which makes it more beautiful to watch at the highest level. More technical and fluid gameplay. Running around with the ball in your hand and just throwing it while others try to tackle for or against you reaches it limits sooner. It is for good reason why the world plays real football and not american football, despite both being Teamgames where you pass around a ball until you score. One is just better than the other.

[@robertbauer6468]

American Football is getting more popular in Europe. But slowly and more by younger people. Its like football (soccer) in the US. The biggest problem is the lack of being fluent. Americans have no problems with commercials but Europeans hate many breaks.

[@pikminologueraisin2139]

maybe if it does get popular in europe we could change some rules and make it interesting

[@AltCutTV]

The elephant issue may have been because of controversy since they are banned for performance purposes in parts of EU. Many circuses stopped keeping them decades ago because of this.

[@unimerc5116]

Cricket and Rugby in Germany? You confuse UK with europa (Ok, rugby is popular in france, too). But in germany under-water-chess is more popular than Cricket or Rugby😀

[@jacquestricatel7055]

Wenn man keine Ahnung hat, einfach mal die Fresse halten!

[@unimerc5116]

@@jacquestricatel7055 Und wenn man beleidigen will, geht man zu ex-Twitter. Da bist du gut aufgehoben...

[@nathanthom8176]

I haven't been able to find numbers of participants in diving chess in Germany but Rugby has over 40,000 registered players in Germany. Sure this is less than half of the number of registered American football players but it isn't the nothing that you seem to be asserting it to be; considering team sizes, and the limited resources required to play Rugby, there may actually be more rugby Teams (I know most will be amateur) than American Football teams.

[@unimerc5116]

@@nathanthom8176 I am glad, you found a sport your like and adore. Really. I just wanted to point out, cricket and rugby is not as popular in germany as in england. americans - even when they learn a lot about europa via youtube - have a tendency to equate thing they learnd of UK-culture with all other europian countries. So, my comment was satirical exaggeration by choosing the most unlikely popular sport i can imagine (no offense to underwater chess player). I wanted to write sky diving chess but i figure out underwater chess really exists. yes, rugby is indeed the 3rd most growing sport in germany, but it is still a niche. I myself watched 2009 a match in NZ between all blacks and wallabies. It was great and i like watching rugby more than american handegg any time. Keep on playing / watching if its your thing. I did not try to insult anybody. i just wanted to write a (in my mind) funny comment...

[@nathanthom8176]

@@unimerc5116 I am not even a fan of Rugby (I don't dislike it and have watched games with family etc) I just thought, your comment was massively underplaying the relative popularity of the game in Germany (as small as that is) in comparison to a "sport" I can't even get reliable participant numbers for. Sure Germany is not going to become a Rugby nation anytime soon but it has plenty of teams and registered players and although it is lesser than half as popular as American Football (by number of registered players) which is probably only ahead because of all the American military bases in Germany post world war 2 and the fall of the Berlin wall (it certainly isn't due to being a better sport or being easier to get into)

[@LagartoPT]

Things Americans must understand about European sport fans: You are born in a club , you may not even like sport but that's your club , during your life you may change where you live , the country you live in , your house , your car , your wife , your family and even your religion but YOU NEVER CHANGE CLUB. You support your club in all sports they are engaged (unlike in USA most European clubs are very eclectic). Unless your club creates a team of American Football and plays with the rivals you don't even care.

[@MrTonyHeath]

i think that you have been studying my life story.

[@DavidWren-u3k]

because it's boring

[@brandonneumann5294]

Soccer isn’t boring 😒

[@OriginalPuro]

1: It's not a real sport, it's artificial, the people even seem dead unless there is music over the loudspeaker and someone telling them what to sin. 2: Most of the time in American sports is commercials, especially the bigger events. 3: It's boring and we have better sports, we also have better fans that create a lot of energy without having to be told what to sing or having music over loudspeaker.

[@richardbrown8966]

just cos its popular in germany, doesnt mean it will take off in the rest of europe

[@atorthefightingeagle9813]

It's got no chance in rugby playing countries.

[@Glumpf78]

"Popular" is relative. A football, handball, ice hockey, basketball game,... in Germany has more people in the stands watching as american football. Even in the amateur or youth leagues. The game in Munich had so many people in the stadium because it was an event, not because they all were am. football fans. Probably would have been the same when there would have been any other "exotic" sport event.

[@elizabethcsicsery-ronay1633]

American football failed in Europe bc they have a game that's 100 times better, real football.

[@Hall-Ex]

As a French person, I find this video really interesting and surprising on many levels. American football is predominantly played in the United States, but learning that it is the second most-watched sport in Germany really caught me off guard. In France, although we have teams and a federation with nearly 30,000 registered players, American football remains very marginal and almost invisible on our national TV channels. I perceive it as a true strategic battle, which could make it particularly fascinating for fans of strategy games. Unfortunately, its heavily Americanized decorum, including cheerleading, mascots, branding, merchandising, and an over-the-top spectacle culture, seems to be a major obstacle to its internationalization. Another significant barrier to the global expansion of American football lies in the use of yards and feet for measurements. Except for a handful of countries, most of the world uses the International System of Units (SI), which can make the sport harder to understand and less appealing for those unfamiliar with these measurements. Beyond the sport itself, the entire culture of mass consumption and spectacle that comes with American football can be perceived as an obstacle, particularly in countries like France, where this approach is often criticized. Perhaps if the strategic aspect of the game were more emphasized, and the environment surrounding the sport were more adapted to different cultures, American football could experience even broader growth internationally.

[@BuckledFrame2187]

American football is played in germany but its like the 50th most played sport. They only average about 500 fans a game. Also japan U23 national team beat usa U23 team recently and germany U18 beat usa U18 a couple if years ago