In most parts of the world, if you say the word
"football" people assume you are referring to soccer, the most popular
and most widely followed sport in the world. However, American football
is starting to spark more interest overseas. The National Football
League actively promotes American-style football overseas, sending
players as ambassadors and holding pre-season games in Europe, Mexico
and Japan. Games are broadcast in many countries and the Super Bowl is
broadcast to almost every country in the world.
American football
is played in almost every continent on the planet including North and
South America, Asia, Europe and the Pacific Rim nations. The
International Federation of American Football is the official
international governing body of American Football and oversees 45
member organizations. Beginning in 1999, the International Federation
of American Football has also sponsored a world cup of American
football with Japan taking the honors in both 1999 and 2003.
American
football has also grown in popularity in Mexico, where many households
are able to watch games on American television stations. There has been
such interest in American football in Mexico that the NFL opened an
office in Mexico City in 1997 to supervise fan development, marketing,
public relations and special events. The NFL also publishes a
Spanish-language web site targeted to Mexican fans.
American
football is also gaining popularity in Europe. In 1991, the National
Football League backed a European league called the World League of
Football. From that emerged NFL Europe, a six-team league that serves
as a spring developmental league for National Football League teams in
the United States. Five of NFL Europe's teams are based in Germany and
one is in the Netherlands. The National Football League not only uses
the NFL Europe to develop new players, but also to develop and test new
rules and regulations.
American football has always been popular
in Canada although Canada does have its own Canadian Football League
which plays with slightly different rules than American football.
However, the National Football League continues to reach out to
Canadian fans. For Super Bowl XL, held in Detroit, just across the
border from the Canadian city of Windsor, the National Football League
held special events specifically for Canadian fans including a special
train that transported Canadian fans to Windsor to view the game at an
arena there. The National Football League also publishes a website for
Canadian fans that focuses on the progress and statistics of
Canadian-born players.
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