This year saw record breaking numbers attend Wembley to
watch the Patriots and Rams do battle. Though featuring a franchise that is
broadly known in this country (the Patriots, mainly thanks to superstar
quarterback Tom Brady, and the fact that they are the most successful franchise
of the 21st century), obviously helps boost the popularity of the match, it isn't the first time they have played here. In 2009, they entertained the
Malcolm Glazer owned Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a similarly uneven contest.
Therefore, the high turnout this year has re-affirmed the belief of many of the
suits in the NFL that England just simply can’t get enough of the game, despite
it apparently being only the joint seventh most popular sport here, on a par
with darts. The belief is so sure that there are two games pencilled in for
next year, with the Minnesota Vikings clashing with the Pittsburgh Steelers
before the Jacksonville Jaguars, who have signed a contract to play one game at
Wembley until 2016, take on the San Francisco 49ers. This will be a real test
of whether or not the game has “taken off” over here, but with three of the
four teams new to London, it will give a chance to fans of those franchises to
come down and experience a game first hand. Gaining a wider fan base is one
reason for the NFL’s expansion, but another is money. Currently, the NFL is a
$9 billion business, with revenue coming purely from the States. However, to turn
it into a $20 billion business, then global expansion, and revenue, is
necessary. Just like all businesses, the NFL is always going to be looking at
ways to increase their revenue, and by taking the sport to England, it is the
most logical way of them doing just that.
It’s not just American football that is trying to expand
from a national to international scale. European Rugby Union is also trying to
do the same thing. Recently, London-based club Saracens took on Parisian side
Racing Metro in a Heineken Cup match at King Baudouin Stadium in the Belgian
capital of Brussels. It was the first time that a top-level rugby match had
ever been played in Brussels, and was seen as a “stepping-stone” to the
continued usage of a developing country’s stadium as a ground in a Heineken Cup
tie. With many European countries slowly taking up the sport more, including
Belgium, Spain and Portugal to name but a few, the idea is to have these
countries host top-level matches as a way to increasing the games popularity
there. Expansion of the game is not stopping at Europe though, with the Rugby
Union World Cup taking place in Japan in 2019, and with Russia and even Jamaica
both registering interest in hosting the event in the future, rugby looks set
to truly go global in the next decade or so.
Naturally, there are those that disagree with the degree of
expansion being seen at the moment. When the infamous “Game 39” of the English
Premier League was first mentioned, fans were quick to slate the idea,
mortified with the thought of their favourite teams playing a supposed “home”
match in a foreign country. Even though football is a truly global game,
Premier League chiefs were very hot on taking a game overseas. Nevertheless,
due to fan discontent the idea was never really allowed to get going, and after
many years of it being dug up from the ground for month or two each year, it
seems to be dead in the water for now at least. In fact, if it’s revenue that
drives the need for expansion, it is often the fans that are the people who
fight against it. The NFL are highly unlikely to give the “home” game to a team
with a strong following or good record back in the States, such as the Green
Bay Packers or the Baltimore Ravens. Before the Jaguars’ tenure at Wembley
started, the NFL used to pick teams who were struggling for home attendances to
give up the “home” game, due to the understanding that the fans and franchises
alike would be upset if they were a successful home team having to give up that
game. Even the perennially travelling Saracens team’s fans were sceptical about
the game in Brussels, saying that due to them constantly moving (while they
await the completion of the new Allianz Park in Barnet) and having such a small
fan-base anyway, it just didn't make sense for them to be hosting games abroad.
It really is turning into a tug of war between the owners of clubs who need to
keep the money rolling in to stay competitive and the fans who desperately want
to stop losing any chances to keep the team their own. The difference is that
the fans now understand that expansion really is the main way of staying
competitive, and have to let go the chance to see their beloved teams play as
often in order to ensure that they keep winning trophies and having renewed
success on the pitch.
With the great successes of the NFL’s invasion of the UK and
of rugby’s progress across the globe, it appears that expansion of national
sport is not only going to be around for the foreseeable future, but also that
it is largely a success for those that persist. It’s the age where the club is
no longer just that, instead, it is a corporate entity. Money is driving the
success of many clubs, particularly in football with Manchester City and
Chelsea, and in rugby with Toulon. The NFL has this slightly under more control
with the draft system enabling less successful teams to remain competitive, but
franchises still strive for that little bit more to help give them an advantage their rivals. Expansion provides the foundation on which money can be bought in
easily and quickly. Those that succeed will have the edge in this day and age.
One certainty is then that while the potential for expansion is there, it will
be exploited by those who can.
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