“Maybe if I am in the MLS in the future or somewhere like that, it might be a thing where you could connect the two maybe with the seasons…”
It was a throwaway comment, perhaps half in jest, and it was easy fodder for the sports media during the long September/October international break, but those words, spoken by England captain Harry Kane, tell us something about the growing popularity of American football in Britain.
Kane was musing on the fact that he believed he had the skill set to become an NFL kicker, winding down his career in such a role. It is a unique job in the NFL, often bringing in players from other sports. A handful of rugby players made the switch. Several Gaelic football players from Ireland have moved to the NFL as kickers.
Job switches aside, the NFL’s influence is growing massively in the UK. Three NFL games will be held in London across October, filling the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (twice) and Wembley for each game. Fans will be engaged all season across television and social media. They’ll be buying jerseys and perusing Sunday night football odds, just like their American counterparts.
NFL growth has been considerable
A threat to the dominance of (association) football? Perhaps not yet, but organisers of grassroots football should not ignore it. American football and its chief product, the NFL, remain niche in the UK, and we would certainly say that fandom, i.e., those who watch as fans rather than play, by far outstrips participation levels.
Thus, those keen on attracting youngsters to start playing football at a young age should not be too bothered about the rise of gridiron, at least for now. Yet, there should be questions asked about what happens if participation levels begin to follow fandom. There are signs of that already, with more schools and clubs picking up American football.
A key aspect will be the NFL’s own strategies. We mentioned the London Games previously, which have been held every year – the COVID-19 pandemic excepted – since 2007. Those games are just a small part of the NFL’s global growth strategy, which has been nurtured under Commissioner Roger Goodell. The process has been patient by design, and it is intended to play out over decades.
Part of that strategy will include player development. NFL scouts aren’t going to be hovering around underage football camps trying to pick out the best talents, but there will be – and already has been – investment in scouting networks for British talent. There is also some money going into the development of league systems, some of it in partnership with the British American Football Association.
New structures would need to be implemented
There are, however, structural barriers. American football is not just as easily picked up as soccer. Sure, kids can throw a ball around a pitch or playground just as easy as they can kick one, but facility requirements are different.
Perhaps even more pertinently, there is the fact that the school and collegiate system that acts as the training ground for American football in the US is absent in the UK, and it would take an incredible shift to install it. It would effectively mean uprooting long-standing British culture.
But the growth of American football globally should not be taken lightly. Certainly, football can coexist with gridiron, as it does with rugby and cricket. This product, with a multi-billion-dollar machine behind it, may soon turn the heads of young players, maybe even forcing them to choose between the two sports. It’s unlikely that association football will be dethroned any time soon, but the NFL’s reach has grown.
