FOOTNOTES: - Given that American Football has only had a decent BAFA structure for the last 10 years, they’ve managed to grow leagues, cultivate players and garner interest in the sport. With the help of the NFL - this is pretty good progress in under a decade. - Okay, so they’re not going to be beating the Americans, or Canadians anytime soon, but the fact that they’re at least competitive in a short period of time is nothing short of amazing. - Obviously, like all sports - there needs to be kids playing it and it’s currently not on the national curriculum. Will that change in the future? I guess we’ll have to see? - 4 dislikes in under 30 minutes on a video where I didn't really say anything bad about anything. People subscribing just to leave dislikes. Pretty sad. - Let me know what you think in the comment section below!
I don't think we'll ever see it properly in state schools. Schools in the UK don't tend to have lots of spare cash lying around, and American Football is an expensive sport in terms of equipment. It only really makes sense to implement it if its in maybe the top 2 most popular team sports in the country. Its the same reason why we don't see state schools offering Golf, Equestrian sports or Ice Hockey. They're just too expensive to play.
@@epicrandomperson1998 I think with demand comes supply. If this became a really REALLY popular thing amongst kids, it'd force the DCMS to consider subsidising equipment to schools. It's a longshot and it's unlikely. But I've seen funnier things.
This is a great idea! Might be worth looking into some of the Canadian ones as well. We have some cricket, gaelic football, and Australian rules football leagues over here as well that would be worth looking into
America has a highly organized and structured Soccer system, with multiple levels, but the quality is not good. It's getting better, but it may well take another full generation before the US is a consistent World Class nation. A for Rugby and Cricket, they barely register. Sometimes rugby is an intramural sport at the secondary or college level, but cricket is less than that. I've never seen it outside of expatriate Pakistanis and Indians playing for fun. As far as Americans go, cricket is a chirping insect and nothing more.
My absolute favorite thing about UK NFL games is the pregame footage of all the people excitedly shuffling in, wearing jerseys from literally all 32 teams. Just, whatever jersey they happen to have, that's what they wear. It's so endearing. I love the excitement without the toxicity of team allegiances.
@@danmorrison8194 Probably. There's a lot of American players in the Bundesliga, too, and many of them have family in the US military who were stationed in Germany at some point..
Schwabisch Hall > . Also keep an eye on the AFL, its gone international fully, now 5 countries participating including Austria itself (all former Austrian Empire countries), its setting itself up as the NFL of central europe
As an American I would love to see it become huge in Britain. It would be cool to see an event where the Super Bowl champ played the British champ. Or even the College champ vs the British champ
Imagine if some of the colleges in Europe joined the NCAA as their own division like withe the SEC of Big10 it seems like the atmosphere at a European football game is more similar to that of a College Foyt all game than an NFL one so maybe it would fit bettet
Yeah, no. Canada has been playing Gridiron football for over a century, and supports its own pro and college leagues, but the Grey Cup winner would barely be a speed bump to the SB champs. Britain isn't putting up anything at that level in our lifetimes (barring the NFL expanding to London). Football is arguably the biggest sport in America, and American schools are notably obsessed with athletics. The American talent pipeline is just too much of a juggernaut to beat.
I was today years old when I knew that Jay Ajayi was British. He has a weird accent too, in interviews he just sounds like some random black guy in London, but when he's barking trash talk during games he sounds American.
One of my favorite teams, the Buffalo Bills, have an ex rugby player from the UK on the roster. His name is Christian Wade and he scored his first career TD in a pre-season game against the Colts last year
I think one of the reasons for football's popularity here in America is how it is structured. Friday nights the high school have their games. You can go see the young hopefuls, and it is really cool to see the few guys that later make it in the NFL. High school football is a cool experience. Then on Saturdays you have the college games. You cheer for your alma mater, your home team, or whatever team you love for whatever reason. Then on Sundays you have the big boys. You can go to all three, if you want. They each have their own day, and then you can talk about the game with your buddies for the whole week until it starts over again on the next Friday.
I remember when NFL Europe was still a thing, they'd feature it in Madden. My brother and I would play against each other with those teams for shits and giggles all the time. I would always use the Amsterdam Admirals. Why? Idk, I just think I liked their name. A couple years back I went to Amsterdam and found an Admirals jersey at the second hand shop. I was two sizes too big, but I bought it anyway. Nostalgia's a bitch to your wallet lol.
too bad... until the Jags draft Lawrence 1st overall and have a crazy rebuild. Texans fan myself so it's not exactly beneficial for me (same division) but still I think its probable.
We got Minshew and y'all lost Hopkins for peanuts. Remember that AFC Championship y'all played in recently? Oh yeah that was just everyone else in your division.
I personally play American football in Great Britain and without question coming from a rugby background as a winger is one of the most fun sport I have ever played because quite simply it's just nothing like anything else mainly because you can have 5-6 different teams for football and rugby and just one american football team in my area, personally I love it and I do hope maybe one day it grows
How do people get into playing it? I used to play as a winger in football and rugby, but I wouldn't know where to play American football (presumably as a wide reciever)
@@treborschafer3945 find a team near you! or play at uni coming from rugby you could also easily be a running back or a DB (defensive back, make tackles protect against passing)
I'm a Falcons fan and we've got a Brit on our team. I think his name is Alex Gray. He ended up being a practice squad guy, but that's still pretty impressive from a guy who came straight over from the UK to the NFL.
Ninh Ly I’ll allow it 😜, fr tho, this was a great video, I always like to tease my friends who are bengals or jags or lions fans that their team is gonna move to London, and now I have some facts to back it up, so thanks!
When I was a kid growing up in New Zealand I remember watching the World League of American Football highlights. It was so ridiculously cool. I have never really liked American Football, and probably;y never will (big Ice Hockey fan), but if they resurrect a European league I'd definitely follow it.
I don’t believe the NFL placing a team in the UK is feasible simply due to travel times mixed with the frequency of travel. It would probably be more advantageous for the NFL to sponsor or start a professional league solely for the UK for the purpose of developing, scouting, & recruiting players. Maybe also help promote youth and Secondary School football too.
I could care less about what sports are shown on TV. To me, it's all about what people actually PLAY themselves. As an American, I can tell you that while Rugby is not an organized sport of much popularity, an informal version of it is played by school-aged kids after lunch, during "recess". It's called "kill the man with the ball" and is typically played with a squeezed-together "ball" of aluminum foil. Whoever has the ball runs around until they get tackled; at which point they throw the ball up in the air for another brave soul to take on the challenge. Purposely getting rid of the ball before you are tackled is seen as an extremely cowardly act and usually gets punished.
Our family watched on Channel 4 back in the day, and my great aunt lives in San Francisco, so there are photos of me as a toddler with 49ers gear. Was delighted to see them get to the Super Bowl again this year. The last few years I've made the effort to get a proper grip on the rules, so I can fully watch along when the Super Bowl is on. Still feels strange to me that the highlights and the Super Bowl itself are on BBC these days, since I remember the Channel 4 days. Picked a good time to watch the coverage more closely this year, so I could see the 49ers doing well. What a match we got, well done the Chiefs!
I’m an American who doesn’t like, nor understand, our football, but am wholly supportive of it taking hold in the UK to see how its culture would shape the game (would high schools have cheerleaders & Friday night games, for example?).
Idk every annoying European I've seen has said that football is not a sport and it's for pussies...sooo. Even though it's been proven it's more dangerous than rugby, and more entertaining than soccer/football (in my opinion) nobody wants a 0-0 or even 1-0 final score in a 3 hour period.
I worked for the Jacksonville Jaguars for 23 years and got to work the first four of our games in Wembly. It was fun and everyone I met each trip were friendly. I hope the sport grows over there
We Americans would absolutely LOVE for you to get more into our favorite sport. You'd have all of us supporting you through and through. I'd be happy to pick a team and stick with them in the U.K. It would be amazing!
They’re also alot of players/coach’s that couldn’t make it to or in the nfl. They still possess the skills and would love to further their careers. Great pipeline
Great video. I’m 16, playing this beautiful sport here in the uk. I’ve played two years for the London blitz, (current national championship for u19). Now also playing for the brand new NFL academy. I firmly agree with the points made in this video. Additionally I believe as a nation we are behind the us (American football) but I believe we are closing the gap quite quickly. As you mentioned there are uk players in the nfl, and now with the nfl academy it is an outlet for us to catch up and succeed the us counterpart. As I’ve seen a tone of my teammates from the academy go from no knowledge of this sport and how to play, to potential being good enough to play in the us for a college. (Which is all of our goals).
Wishing you the best, Mr. X. As big as the NFL gets, it pales in comparison to Saturday college football in the U.S. I've tutored athletes in the past (tutoring was a requirement where I went to school), and I admired these guys for what they do, and for how smart they really are!
Why do you feel it necessary to "succeed" the counterpart? It is our sport; there is no "counterpart." It is American football. It is part of our culture (one that a lot of y'all don't think we have). Be respectful. Jeez.
Thanks to upload an informative video again! As an Indonesian who have problem in English skills, watching your videos with subtitles as well as commenting on your video helpful for me to trying to increase my English skill Also, I glad American football can be lasted very well in UK despite some problems that suck for the mainstreams. I also glad that fanbase in American football is not so hilarious as soccer fanbases. I hope this sport can be more and more popular in the world, including my country, Indonesia (as well as my hope for rugby union) BTW, I am an university student, and my university have a flag football club. Flag football is a variant of American football that replace tackles with touching or holding flags on opponent's waist, I think
@@NinhLyUK The game is in such a much better place than when I played in terms of sustainability. Youth, Junior and Women's teams are providing a proper foundation. We just need to market ourselves to get some fans now!
I am so proud to be part of my university team (Winchester Silverbacks) and having access to Great Britain players as coaches. The UK scene is growing year on year in quality and quantity. Great content, love the videos!!!
Give it 5 more years and I think a league has to be created as we are gaining traction. We need small leagues in more countries this will hopefully create connections between countries so player trades occur between team in separate leagues. NFL Europe was equivalent to the MLS. Mostly a dumping group with not much opportunities to advance to the NFL.
NFL Europe created the start for Hall of Fame QB Kurt Warner (Rams/Cardinals), HOF kicker Adam Vinatieri (Patriots, Colts), and Super Bowl winning QB Brad Johnson (Bucs).
Hi Ninh. I absolutely love your videos. As an Avgeek and aspiring pilot, I would really like to see you do videos about the rules of air sport e.g. Red Bull Air Races, the Reno Races etc. Much love
i prefer rugby a lot more, but i like watching the superbowl! A video about the Premiership rugby would be interesting, explaining the history of this competition, structure, expansion, how popular the league is, what the english people think about the league, etc. or a video talking about the old rugby club championship in England, before the Premiership!
Hey Ninh, another top video there. I'm one of the originals of 1982 who still remember the Channel 4 coverage with Nicky Horne fronting the coverage - I even had to endure the Vicious Boys when they got the presenting gig. I am aware that there is a league structure in the UK that has been going since those halcyon days in one form or another. According to my trusty Budweiser American Football yearbook from 1987 there were as much as 105 clubs around the country, even though most of those teams have long since passed into history. The last few years of the BAFL saw it being totally dominated by London based teams - the sole exception was when the Coventry Jets beat the London Olympians in the title game in 2005, I think. It was so big, the game made it onto terrestrial TV - okay, so it was Channel 5, but I'm taking it. A professional league in Britain looks intriguing, especially if there is going to be a London-based NFL franchise. It might give some impetus for the players to achieve something. It's a pity that the London games won't be played this year due to DATBOI-19, but that shouldn't derail the NFL's mission in the UK. And, before I go - go Packers!!
Thanks Edward! That's right, there were plenty of clubs back in the day and even now the league is dominated by London clubs. But I'm glad that another 'Channel 4 convert' has made it to the comments section! Go Cowboys.
I'm one of the originals of 1982 who still remember the Channel 4 coverage. When Marcus Allen reversed and cut up the middle , against the Redskins , i turned the tv volume up. W want to recreate that moment? then just sing this out loud , real loud :) Where have all the good men gone and where are all the Gods? Where's the street wise Hercules to fight the rising odds? Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed? Late at night I toss and I turn and I dream of what I need I need a hero I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night He's gotta be strong and he's gotta be fast And he's gotta be fresh from the fight Somewhere after midnight in my wildest fantasy Somewhere just beyond my reach there's someone reaching back for me Racing on the thunder and rising with the heat It's gonna take a Superman to sweep me off my feet Through the wind and the chill and the rain And the storm and the flood I can feel his approach like a fire in my blood I need a hero I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night He's gotta be strong and he's gotta be fast And he's gotta be fresh from the fight. Thank you channel 4 , thank you Bonnie Tyler and god bless you Marcus Allen :)
I remember watching the Barcelona Dragons play on TV growing up. They were a good prospect and had overall media support, but they ended up moving the franchise somewhere else because nobody actually cared, even if they won the World Bowl at least once!
American Football is probably the most popular American sport in the UK. Many reasons for this from about the late 1970s into the 1980s and beyond. American Football highlights was broadcast on UK television and it had good ratings. Many Rugby League and Rugby Union fans and players are fans of American Football. In fact many even think its actually a better sport than English Rugby League and Rugby Union. So since the early 1980s. Brits started American Football clubs to indulge their love of the sport and on the whole far and away the most popular American sport in the UK. When you consider how other American sports Ice Hockey, Baseball, Basketball have etc have done really badly in the UK and struggled for audience participation and funding. American Football is a rare American success story in the UK.
"British American Football Association" sounds like a combination of American Gridiron Football & British Association Football. I like to know how those 2 sports would work together.
I think an expansion team in the UK could work. The travel costs would be a lot but I think the fact that every game they play would be England vs. America would generate enough interest and enough views to cover those and make the team profitable
Once it introduces relegation/promotion in a couple of decades it will be considered a top 6 world league, and soon become the most popular sport in the USA
@@islezynkeez72 Currently, yes, but that will soon change. Hockey's popularity continues to remain stagnant, if not decline slightly, and the vast majority of baseball fans are old boomers, and when they die off, so will baseball's popularity. Replacing these boomer sports fans are millennials and zoomers, who statistics show favor soccer more than both hockey and baseball. Additionally, soccer's participation numbers have gone against the trend as MORE high school students have played soccer from year to year compared to a decrease in participation of other sports, namely American Football. These statistics, combined with the anticipated spike in popularity that will result from the primarily-US-hosted 2026 World Cup, all point to soccer overtaking hockey and baseball by the end of this coming decade, placing it as a solid 3rd among the American sports hierarchy, behind the NFL and NBA.
Hey ninh been a huge for for a long time am so happy you could do a video about my favourite sport and have just started my rookie season playing youth football in the U.K.
Nice video. Slight correction to the timeline that saw the NFL come back in 2007, which was before the BAFL split from BAFA in 2010. BAFA has been the recognised NGB for the sport since the late 1980s. BAFL soley organised adult leagues.
I don’t think they will put an NFL team in Europe. If you watch the rams video about what it takes to take a team to London it makes sense. Maybe if they put in a Europe conference, division, or maybe even another league it would work. I personally really want to see American footballs and internationally so there could be an equivalent of the World Cup or champions league some day
I don't think it's an insurmountable challenge though. Over here we have the Toronto Wolfplack who've been playing in English Rugby League for a few years now. Also there's 2 South African teams playing Pro 14 Rugby Union, which is mainly Welsh, Scottish and Irish teams.
Great video Ninh, a few things you forget to mention are the extra support that the Jags in particular are offering and some places offering football scholarships. The Jags have the gridiron grant to fund a limited number of young people's degrees to play football and the jags academy is there for current players at uni and adult level. Also, although not from the uni but the sport unions/SUs; places like Sterling have fully funded some people's masters degrees to play football. The most recent example of an SU scholarship for football was the university of sunderland paying for someone's masters degree to play in div 2 only to come 4th place.
Combined with both the professionalism of Rugby Union, and Rugby League moving to the summer, a lot of great contact athletes moved away from American Football.
I love that you are in a Rhein Fire Game Used Jersey at the end of the video. NFL Europe/WLAF stuff is quite collectable here in the states. I own a London Monarchs 1991 World Bowl Champions Jersey. I'm disappointed that you didn't talk about the jerseys in the 1995 season. Some of the best ever made.
@@NinhLyUK Every now and again they pop up on Ebay. Have to be quick though! I actually own Ernie Stautner Game Used Galaxy Coat and it is so cool. People stop and stare as I walk past. Man I miss the 90's big logos and eye catching graphics.
@@maxscameraguy Yes, that's where I get some of them from. Found a game worn jersey in a the window of a charity shop one time ... that was a sweet find!
There are several leagues but basically all playing level only no one watches and not pro. Could do afl England tho they do play other countries and win
I played the game both as Tight End, and Inside linebacker from 1986 to 1992 both in the BAFL league and the Budweiser League which brought more sponsorship money, its a Fantastic sport,, and back them i remember there were no less than 180 teams with no less than 4 divisions all over the Country, its good to see they are taking the game even more seriously now ,in terms of training camps.Cudos to who ever thought that idea up😊
Very good take! i run a Britball FB Group and we give out a positive vibe and keep on the road to make the sport domestically continually growing and spreading awareness. I guess, in a way, because we had Budweiser and Coco Cola sponsor us back in the 80's and early 90's and teams had 2, 3 or 4 American Players which lifted the standard, the game since 2000's and 2010's gets compared to that era and pales in comparison. Its getting the NFL fans to come and see their local side, once you ask questions and get to know teams, you do get drawn in, its not perfect, but the guys that play it are very dedicated to the core.
Yes, that's exactly right. I think there's no shortage of NFL fans over here, the next stage is for people to follow their local teams. That said, the product on the field has to be pretty good in order to get them to do that. Doesn't have to be NFL standard, but it at least has to be entertaining. Thanks Jason.
Maybe it's just the way you said it "Will Great Britain be known for American football, rather than it's native football?" - It will never NOT be known for soccer/football. American football most definitely has the ability to rise in the UK and I think it will, but I doubt it will ever eclipse football/soccer here. Also, being a 32 year old who has got into American Football the last ten years or so, I really wish they progressed a lot further than they did say 20 years ago - would have been great to give it a go and see what would have happened.
yep it's like the people that say Soccer will be number 1 sport in USA. Yes it is growing fast and will be more and more popular but it will never overcome football in audience numbers and America will be known for basketball as its stars shine the brightest and the game becomes more popular overseas where more and more foreign players are in the NBA which means foreigners who watch will associate basketball with America.
Perhaps a 6 nations like tournament featuring the best players from Britain and Ireland competing annually would be a good way to drum up even more interest
I live in Pittsburgh and went to a Steelers preseason game a few years ago with my brother. We met a pair of brothers from Germany who flew in specifically to come to the game. It's very cool to see American Football become a global sport. You should do a video on Flag Football which the NFL is backing and positioning itself to be an Olympic sport.
What the UK needs is a star grown from you leagues in a glamour position. That would be QB, defensive lineman with sacks, WR, or a secondary with INT's. You get that and you'll get an NFL team.
I think many more contries in Europe and around the world should pick up American football because it would increase the competition for brittan and the us because the standard of competition would be brought up to at least college level
American Football is such a passion driven sport here. I played in the 3rd division here in Serbia and people who play it here really fucking love it. We got 2 top teams that participate in the CEFL. Its really fun to watch them since they usually sign some college players every season. Btw, I love that our National Team was just a field goal shy from getting into a top 4 group in the European Cup(we had 2 of them from 25-35 yards and missed both). Also we started playing it here in like 2003 without proper equipment and no goverment support. Even tho we still do not have that goverment support the match against 2 top teams in Serbia - Kragujevac Wild Boars and Belgrade Wolves feels like a Division 1 college game in the NCAA.
Popularity of the sport in NZ grows but I find the development of the sport just seems to take 1 step forward and 2 steps back. I'm sure it was better structured in the late 90s.
There are a lot of ignorant people who have never watched American football in the UK and just pass it off as nothing but I guarantee there would so much interest if we got a national league
I hadn't realized Jay Ajayi was from Britain. He wasn't a bad RB, his career was short and volatile but then again, he did have bad knees coming into the league.
It's actually popular in the Uk. Similarly to american football, they have several leagues, including a university league. There's also AFL Europe, which has a Euro Cup every year and a European Championship every 3 years. I feel like it's gradually getting a lot more popular
The critical yet unrecognized key to getting niche sports to get wide appeal quickly is as you pointed out, access to it in an easy way. Free tv access is a huge way of doing this. In my country, worked well for the growth and interest in cricket after a World Cup was televised live and free. Suddenly everyone and their grandpas were playing backyard cricket.
Great video. It kind of stuns me the American Football is the UK success story versus the other North American sports. It seems like the UK has a lot of diversity in contact sports and low diversity in non contact sports, why is that?
Europe in general has a sprouting gridiron culture. We've had a couple Frenchmen, Brits and Germans that have come here over the years and made an impression on the NFL. I think the main appeal of the sport to foreign audiences is the fact that football a life-sized chess game. Football is 30-40% athletism, 70-60% playmaking and strategy, it doesn't matter how much more athletic or bigger your players are, the team with the better strategy and better plays will always win and I think European audiences recognize that.
@Jason C And yet, sports like chess have a large European following. Your point isn't at all invalid but I'd say that the fact that people first have to learn the how the game works first is impeding the growth of gridiron in Europe rather than the pace of the game because people simply don't have enough time or extra effort in their hands to learn the sport and make an intimate connection with the sport unlike the other sports already popular in Europe, the chess and soccer culture is already ingrained in European culture which allows Europeans to make that intimate connection at a young age.
I was in London a couple years ago and there happened to be an NFL game at wembley that week. It was saints and I forget who else. Just riding the tube and walking around the city I saw tons of NFL jerseys and merch on people. One dude I talked to was from slovenia and told me he goes to Miami every year for a game. On TV at my hostel I was able to watch NFL games and even college games. It's cool seeing our game take off in other parts of the world. I can understand if someone doesn't like it because it's too slow or too technical. But Football is king in the US. I'm happy to see other places enjoying it too.
It is really cool seeing just how much the game is being played overseas in the UK and Germany. I had always wondered if the London games being sold out were because of a large influx of fans from America coming over or mainly fans from the UK and Europe. As for a team, the NFL will put a team in London, they would be stupid not to but the logistics would be tough to figure out. I also like what some people suggested of having teams from across the pond play each other.
I'd love to see a revived NFL Europe as opposed to sticking an NFL team in London. Maybe even have NFL vs NFL Europe crossover for preason games and even have the Pro Bowl between the all stars of both leagues.
Great Britain v France today at Coventry Butts Park stadium… get yourselves down and support our lads. They have been training hard and are up for it. Let’s goooo !!!
Our brand of football (American here) has a challenge much greater to engaging children than any other except maybe hockey: it is monstrously expensive to field a team. Even some high schools, the pipeline for college ball and the NFL, are contemplating dropping football due to the expense involved.
If you have an NFL team in london it could theoretically work if you do 4 games at home, 8 games in America and then 4 games back home for a total of 16 games
They would have to play in the AFC East without a question. Any regular schedule would be too grueling both for the UK team and for the other teams that have to travel there to play.
I go to a Giants game and a Jets game every season, and at every game I meet someone from another country (It also happens at hockey and basketball games too). I also ask if it's just curiosity while visiting New York, and most of them say no. Someone in their group is a fan and watches it on TV. I met people from France (twice), Czech Republic, Netherlands, and at one particular game, I had people from Argentina sitting next to me, and people from Brazil behind me. Thankfully, both groups were watching the game in front of us. Surprisingly, I haven't seen any Brits, but I do see them all the time at hockey.
In Malaysia it's been since 2004 . Mainly from students that used to study in the US. It has grown since. But we're still in flag football. It's just too expensive to import the helmet and pads. Hopefully in 10 - 20 years we could afford helmet and pads.
