Why Don’t Other Countries Play American Football?

February 3, 2013 in Daily Bulletin

The team that wins the Super Bowl tonight will be able to call itself the world champion of American Football. Yet this title is only slightly less misleading than the title of Miss Universe – a competition which we only invite our own solar system to – since no other country really plays American Football. Joshua E. Keating looked at why this was:

  • It can’t be because the sport is American. Baseball is American and that has a global fan base. Nor can it be because of how rough it is. Rugby is rougher.
  • The biggest reason why other countries don’t play American football is because of cost. With basketball you just need a ball and a hoop. Baseball requires a ball and a bat. American football requires all of the gear and equipment for all the players.
  • People might also be put off by the complexity of the rules.
  • Efforts to promote American Football across the oceans have mostly failed. This is because players who do well go to the United States, robbing the fan base of other countries of their favourite star – the very same fan base that could make the game popular.

Read more about the various efforts to export American Football over here.

Source: Foreign Policy