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Gridiron kicks off at Wembley
Top teams
clash at home of English football as US game seeks a global audience
Paul Kelso
Saturday October 27, 2007
The Guardian
Wembley, the home of English football, will tomorrow play host to an unparalleled transatlantic sporting experiment when the New York Giants and the Miami Dolphins, two of the great names of the American version of the game, meet in the sport's first regular season game to be played outside the US.
The match, the equivalent of Arsenal playing Manchester United in a Premier League game in New York, is the latest attempt to convert a global audience to gridiron's unique mix of razzmatazz and raw athleticism. With its shoulder-pads and crash helmets, cheerleaders and three-hour matches studded with adbreaks and lavish half-time entertainment, gridiron is the ultimate American sport. Gaudy, glamorous, occasionally thrilling and until now utterly parochial, it encapsulates all that is good and bad about US sport. The game has tried and failed to take root in the UK before, but this time the National Football League is serious about expansion.
This is no exhibition, no pre-season friendly, but a genuine slice of competitive American sport transposed to a corner of north-west London. It is a bold move, one involving a huge logistical effort, and is a significant test of the affection for a complex, alien game in a country with its own rich and far less parochial sporting culture. The motivation, as is so often the case in modern sport, is financial.
The NFL is an awesomely efficient money-making machine, with an estimated US supporter base of 400 million people. So effective has it been at filling stadiums, selling broadcast rights and marketing merchandise, however, that the league's 32 franchise owners fear the domestic market may soon be saturated.
"The market is not saturated in the US yet, but it will be at some point in time," said Alistair Kirkwood, managing director of NFL UK, an offshoot of the league with a London office and 14 full-time staff. "The NFL commissioner, when he presented this to ownership last year, told them, 'We are doing incredibly well by every consideration, but if in the next 20 years you want to grow the supporter base from 400 million to 4 billion, you're going to have to sacrifice, take some short-term hits and gamble'. This is a major statement and a major commitment." The London game is the first of two overseas matches that will take place in each of the next five seasons, with Germany, Mexico, Canada and China potential future hosts.
Organisers are keen to return to the UK on a regular basis and have ambitious plans to establish the sport here. "Our vision in this market is to be a top five sport," said Kirkwood. "We want to be behind football, rugby, cricket and formula one and within five years become the number five sport, measured in terms of television audiences and revenue. This game is an accelerator to help us move very quickly."
The NFL's optimism has been boosted by the initial public reaction to the game. Within 48 hours of being announced Wembley had received 500,000 ticket applications for 90,000 seats, while Sky will show the game live and the BBC a highlights show after Match of the Day 2 on Sunday evening. The event has worked well for London too, with tourism officials delighted at media coverage of the city in the US, which has included front-page coverage in the New York Times.
Local enthusiasm for the event is partly explained by a lingering affection for gridiron among those that remember its 1980s heyday, when Channel 4 provided regular coverage of the NFL on Sunday afternoons, at that time a barren slot in the sporting schedule.
Today the ubiquitous Premier League occupies Sunday afternoons, and the financial success of domestic football offers another reason why the game is coming to London.
Several Premiership football clubs are now wholly or part-owned by American sporting entrepreneurs. Randy Lerner owns Aston Villa and the Cleveland Browns; the Glazer family empire includes the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Manchester United; Liverpool co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett Junior own baseball and ice hockey franchises, while Arsenal investor Stan Kroenke part-owns NFL outfit the St Louis Rams. Having invested in the English version of the game because of the riches on offer - the last Premier League TV deal reaped £1.3bn - they are keen to see if their own brand proves as lucrative.
"Sports is truly a branded consumer product of the utmost value," said Hicks. "It's a unique media and in the US we have seen media revenues grow dramatically with the NFL. It's a big business and people look at the TV ratings globally for soccer and see that the English Premier League is the best product."
Miami Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga, who sacrificed the revenue from one of just eight home games in the NFL season to come to London, is confident the move will pay off.
"The fact that the stadium [Wembley] could have been sold out three times over proves that this is a great chance to increase our fan base throughout Europe," he said. "We have a great game and great support, but it needs to become a bigger global sport."
Glossary
The Hail Mary
The quarter back throws the ball high without targeting any particular receiver, hoping, on a prayer, a teammate catches it.
Hotdog
A player who shows off instead of getting on with his duties. "Trash talking", or sledging as it is known in cricket, is a popular form of hotdogging. Joey Porter, a player for the Pittsburgh Steelers, is one of the most locquacious in the NFL. "Mother jokes - you do that to provoke them to the highest level," he says. "But it's touchy with grandmothers. You don't really want to shoot the grandmas."
The Spike
Scoring a touchdown used to be celebrated by simply "spiking" the ball - slamming it at the pitch. But Chad Johnson of the Cincinatti Bengals celebrated his scores with an Irish square dance and a golf putting routine. He once grabbed a cheerleader, went down on one knee and proposed marriage. The game's administrators clamped down on his extravagances. "Most of the fun is being knocked out," he complained.
The Truck
Weighing in at 345lb, Keith "The Truck" Traylor brings back memories of the giant William "The Refrigerator" Perry who starred for the Chicago Bears and the London Monarchs between 1985 and 1996. The "Truck" Traylor will line up tomorrow as a defensive tackle for the Miami Dolphins.
LINK
Top teams
clash at home of English football as US game seeks a global audience Paul Kelso
Saturday October 27, 2007
The Guardian
Wembley, the home of English football, will tomorrow play host to an unparalleled transatlantic sporting experiment when the New York Giants and the Miami Dolphins, two of the great names of the American version of the game, meet in the sport's first regular season game to be played outside the US.
The match, the equivalent of Arsenal playing Manchester United in a Premier League game in New York, is the latest attempt to convert a global audience to gridiron's unique mix of razzmatazz and raw athleticism. With its shoulder-pads and crash helmets, cheerleaders and three-hour matches studded with adbreaks and lavish half-time entertainment, gridiron is the ultimate American sport. Gaudy, glamorous, occasionally thrilling and until now utterly parochial, it encapsulates all that is good and bad about US sport. The game has tried and failed to take root in the UK before, but this time the National Football League is serious about expansion.
This is no exhibition, no pre-season friendly, but a genuine slice of competitive American sport transposed to a corner of north-west London. It is a bold move, one involving a huge logistical effort, and is a significant test of the affection for a complex, alien game in a country with its own rich and far less parochial sporting culture. The motivation, as is so often the case in modern sport, is financial.
The NFL is an awesomely efficient money-making machine, with an estimated US supporter base of 400 million people. So effective has it been at filling stadiums, selling broadcast rights and marketing merchandise, however, that the league's 32 franchise owners fear the domestic market may soon be saturated.
"The market is not saturated in the US yet, but it will be at some point in time," said Alistair Kirkwood, managing director of NFL UK, an offshoot of the league with a London office and 14 full-time staff. "The NFL commissioner, when he presented this to ownership last year, told them, 'We are doing incredibly well by every consideration, but if in the next 20 years you want to grow the supporter base from 400 million to 4 billion, you're going to have to sacrifice, take some short-term hits and gamble'. This is a major statement and a major commitment." The London game is the first of two overseas matches that will take place in each of the next five seasons, with Germany, Mexico, Canada and China potential future hosts.
Organisers are keen to return to the UK on a regular basis and have ambitious plans to establish the sport here. "Our vision in this market is to be a top five sport," said Kirkwood. "We want to be behind football, rugby, cricket and formula one and within five years become the number five sport, measured in terms of television audiences and revenue. This game is an accelerator to help us move very quickly."
The NFL's optimism has been boosted by the initial public reaction to the game. Within 48 hours of being announced Wembley had received 500,000 ticket applications for 90,000 seats, while Sky will show the game live and the BBC a highlights show after Match of the Day 2 on Sunday evening. The event has worked well for London too, with tourism officials delighted at media coverage of the city in the US, which has included front-page coverage in the New York Times.
Local enthusiasm for the event is partly explained by a lingering affection for gridiron among those that remember its 1980s heyday, when Channel 4 provided regular coverage of the NFL on Sunday afternoons, at that time a barren slot in the sporting schedule.
Today the ubiquitous Premier League occupies Sunday afternoons, and the financial success of domestic football offers another reason why the game is coming to London.
Several Premiership football clubs are now wholly or part-owned by American sporting entrepreneurs. Randy Lerner owns Aston Villa and the Cleveland Browns; the Glazer family empire includes the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Manchester United; Liverpool co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett Junior own baseball and ice hockey franchises, while Arsenal investor Stan Kroenke part-owns NFL outfit the St Louis Rams. Having invested in the English version of the game because of the riches on offer - the last Premier League TV deal reaped £1.3bn - they are keen to see if their own brand proves as lucrative.
"Sports is truly a branded consumer product of the utmost value," said Hicks. "It's a unique media and in the US we have seen media revenues grow dramatically with the NFL. It's a big business and people look at the TV ratings globally for soccer and see that the English Premier League is the best product."
Miami Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga, who sacrificed the revenue from one of just eight home games in the NFL season to come to London, is confident the move will pay off.
"The fact that the stadium [Wembley] could have been sold out three times over proves that this is a great chance to increase our fan base throughout Europe," he said. "We have a great game and great support, but it needs to become a bigger global sport."
Glossary
The Hail Mary
The quarter back throws the ball high without targeting any particular receiver, hoping, on a prayer, a teammate catches it.
Hotdog
A player who shows off instead of getting on with his duties. "Trash talking", or sledging as it is known in cricket, is a popular form of hotdogging. Joey Porter, a player for the Pittsburgh Steelers, is one of the most locquacious in the NFL. "Mother jokes - you do that to provoke them to the highest level," he says. "But it's touchy with grandmothers. You don't really want to shoot the grandmas."
The Spike
Scoring a touchdown used to be celebrated by simply "spiking" the ball - slamming it at the pitch. But Chad Johnson of the Cincinatti Bengals celebrated his scores with an Irish square dance and a golf putting routine. He once grabbed a cheerleader, went down on one knee and proposed marriage. The game's administrators clamped down on his extravagances. "Most of the fun is being knocked out," he complained.
The Truck
Weighing in at 345lb, Keith "The Truck" Traylor brings back memories of the giant William "The Refrigerator" Perry who starred for the Chicago Bears and the London Monarchs between 1985 and 1996. The "Truck" Traylor will line up tomorrow as a defensive tackle for the Miami Dolphins.
LINK
