American Football Gaining International Popularity
American Football Gaining International Popularity
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.
Jonathon Hardcastle writes articles on many topics including Football, Recreation, and Games
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