As sports leagues around the world trend toward globalization, the NFL has begun to follow suit. Their plan seems straightforward: globalize American football, increase diversity and expand the league’s popularity. Yet while globalization seems ideal, it is an unrealistic approach to gaining an international fanbase, as cultural differences and the complex nature of American football will likely hinder its growth.
In recent years, the NFL has scheduled numerous overseas games throughout the regular season and granted overseas marketing rights to many teams. On the surface, expanding the league’s world stage would seem to create greater interest in the sport, increasing profits and the pool of international players.
“Globalizing football is a smart move, because you can get more people to enjoy it,” sophomore Arvin Tao said. “You can attract audiences to let them understand the game more.”
However, football can be difficult for prospective fans to understand. Many aspects of the sport are counterintuitive, such as pass interference and fair catches. These rules can be unclear because they rely on subjective calls from officials and specific signals and timings, making foreign audiences less inclined to connect with the sport. In contrast, many sports that currently dominate the global market have a fast-paced and continuous line of action that is much easier for casual fans to follow.
“When you watch a soccer game, you watch for two 45-minute halves, and there are no ads,” French teacher Denise Schang said. “Whereas in football, you constantly have interruptions, so it’s a very different pace.”
A game of football operates with less fluidity. In a single down, 22 players are simultaneously thrown into play, each with their own task. These multiple moving parts lead to an initial viewer experience that is far more confusing than most sports.
“The learning process in football in some ways is greater than most sports, especially when it comes to understanding exactly what’s happening with the starting, stopping and the penalties,” Japanese teacher Jeremy Kitchen said. “If you compare football to rugby’s takeoff in Japan, rugby is a very fluid game that’s always moving.”
In addition to following a league, a sport’s popularity is also impacted by how accessible it is. If the audience can’t actually play a sport, they may be less incentivized to watch it. Football, which requires full-body protective gear, is often more inaccessible for the general public to play than other sports. On the other hand, soccer, the world’s most popular sport, requires minimal equipment so that anyone can play.
Additionally, the risk of injury in tackle football and the expenses of potential healthcare bills are often regarded as too high to make playing worthwhile. According to a YouGov survey, 80% of Americans believe that concussions are very or somewhat common in football. If the risks of playing football are too high for so many domestic sports fans, the same would be true among global fans.
Although it could lead to small NFL fanbases across the globe, the NFL’s attempts at globalization will be a continuous uphill struggle, as football will always take less priority over already popular and well-established global sports. The 2022 FIFA World Cup final was the most-watched FIFA World Cup in history, showing that many dominant forces already occupy the global sports scene. Viewers tend to form deep connections with sports they already follow, making it harder for new sports to fit into their watch schedule.
“I don’t think they’ll take to football as much as we have here, because we grew up with it.,” PE teacher Ray Wright said. “People who grow up playing soccer or rugby get used to it. It has become the sport they love the most, so I don’t think football will be as popular overseas.”
Having local superstars to rally behind is another major incentive for many to watch sports, one that the NFL lacks outside of the United States. In contrast to the NFL, the NBA, which has been growing in global popularity, has 125 international players — over six times the NFL’s mere 19.
Even if globalization is positive in theory, it may actually end up shrinking the overall fanbase instead of expanding it. The NFL should still prioritize the American fanbase to maintain its domestic audience.
For generations, football has held a cultural significance in the U.S. as a major piece of American cultural identity. Every year, millions of Americans tune in to the Super Bowl, the most-watched sports game in the U.S. The Super Bowl is regarded as a true American experience, with the electrifying crowd, massive buildup and an entertaining halftime show.
But having more international games would automatically create a time zone problem, preventing many American fans from watching their favorite teams live. For example, the Steelers-Vikings game in Dublin, Ireland on Sep. 28, commenced at 6:30 a.m. PST, leading many West Coast fans to miss the game. If the NFL continues this trend, domestic engagement levels may decline as games become less convenient for Americans. In prioritizing globalization, the NFL risks losing its main audience.
Spreading American football isn’t inherently a terrible idea, but its current execution is flawed. The NFL has been rushing to build a global fanbase without properly considering both domestic and foreign audiences. If they truly want to globalize, the NFL should instead focus more on organically building a sustainable foundation by increasing the number of international football players and funding programs that promote genuine interest in football.
“If the NFL is trying to make football become a truly international game, I still believe they have more ways to grow,” Kitchen said.
