- Views
- 711
- Comments
- 47
- 01/17/2012, 07:42PM ET
FFTI II: Circe- Which foreign country should the NFL next play a regular season game in?
Outlaw... said 01/17, 07:42 PM
Excludes UK and Canada.
My country of choice is Germany.
Germany has a pretty strong cult following for American football. They have their own league, the GFL, consisting of 14 teams spread throughout the country. Germany is one of few countries outside of North America that has a professional American football league.
The GFL predates NFL Europe.
While the GFL stadiums are very small compared to NFL stadiums, it is known to be vastly inferior to the NFL.
Germany is among the leaders when it comes to online viewership of NFL games.
Point being, there are a lot of Germans already familiar with the game.
A regular season NFL game being played in Berlin's Olympic Stadium with a capacity of nearly 80,000, not far behind Wembley Stadium would be a huge success.
There's already a following of American football in Germany, and an NFL game being played there would gain more interest in the sport from those who haven't been turned on yet.
If the Saarland Hurricanes can draw over 35000 fans, I'm sure an NFL game could sell out Olympic stadium.
Sweetness85 said 01/19, 09:06 AM
While Germany may seem like the best choice here, I think you are making the same mistake that NFL has made for many years now. The NFL has seemed to fail at globalizing the product, and needs to branch out further than just what is comfortable. Yes Germany has a solid market for American football, but why corner yourself with an already existing market?
The NFL needs to reach out to the largest and fastest growing market in the world, and play the next regular season International game in Beijing China.
While there is no real existing market in China I think that is an even bigger reason to play there. If the NFL can reach the Asian market, that will open the flood gates to a much larger economy. China, having noticed the brand that exists in sports has really expanded in the basketball market and the baseball market, why not take advantage of that.
As far as stadium, Beijing has the Nest, an 80000-91000 seat venue in the heart of the economic capital of the largest population base in the world.
The NFL needs to grown into that market more than they need to hit an already existing market.
Outlaw... said 01/19, 12:48 PM
The thing with China is there isn't much in terms of American football fans there. There's a few, but not many.
When most NFL games are played, the people in China are in bed.
If the NFL wants to play an international game, they need to play in a country where there is already somewhat of a following.
The NFL needs to air replays of games in China, and make streams avaliable online, and market the sport over there before they decide to play over there, otherwise it would most likely end in failure.
It would be like having a professional Buzkashi game in the US. Sure, a few people would show up out of curiosity, but overall, it wouldn't get much attention locally.
The American football market in Germany is there, but it is by no means extremely popular over there. It's more of a cult following.
Germany is a safer bet that the stadium will be filled, and since there is already a bit of a market, it's a great chance to expand that market. Many Germans are still unfamiliar with the NFL.
China, as of now is too much of a risk.
Leaderboard
| Fan | W | L | T | Win % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | (Un) | 101 | 18 | 8 | 82.7% |
| 2 | Darth Maim | 80 | 20 | 6 | 78.3% |
| 3 | DO_WORK... | 76 | 30 | 13 | 69.3% |
| 4 | :CubanM... | 63 | 27 | 7 | 68.6% |
| 5 | Olderth... | 86 | 35 | 17 | 68.5% |
| 6 | JimJ77 Can't make it up | 130 | 53 | 26 | 68.4% |
| 7 | Marlins Fan | 150 | 66 | 33 | 66.9% |
| 8 | HOOTZ | 31 | 14 | 11 | 65.2% |
| 9 | Argos. | 177 | 103 | 27 | 62.1% |
| 10 | Schad - Notorious Deadbeat | 71 | 43 | 9 | 61.4% |
Truth & Rumors
MOST POPULAR
-
1
LeBron lacking key champion component
- Views
- 2584
- Comments
- 1371
-
2
Youkilis headed in reverse
- Views
- 7826
- Comments
- 214
-
3
Garden ice under fire
- Views
- 2555
- Comments
- 105
-
4
Tide's room gets a waterfall
- Views
- 7941
- Comments
- 101
-
5
Was Crosby robbed of Hart?
- Views
- 4963
- Comments
- 94
Most Active Users
Comments + Blog Posts + Throwdowns
-
1
Mickey Bad Arse
-
2
Em Em Aye
-
3
Otis B. Driftwood
-
4
USN
-
5
crazyalzado
Blogs
-
asifyouknow's Blog
Jimmie Johnson: For God's sake man let it go!
Get over it JJ, you got Snookered! Is part of life my friend, we all get…
- Views
- 91
- Comments
- 3
-
808LakerFan's Blog
There will be a Game 7 Spurs vs. Heat and the…
I am not a Spurs Fan or a Heat Fan so this is an unbiased opinion.The Heat…
- Views
- 55
- Comments
- 0
-
For the Record
Ten years after 9/11
<!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Cambria; …
- Views
- 17539
- Comments
- 62
Fantasy Plus
TM & © 2013 Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved.
FanNation.com is part of Sports Illustrated Sites
Terms under which this service is provided to you.
Read our privacy guidelines, your California privacy rights, and ad choices
Comments (47) Add A Comment
FFTI II!!!!
Somebody of Note
Total Comments (31836)
Germany was what i was thinking when i clicked on this TD
:CubanMissile:
Chicagoland, IL
Total Comments (2109)
CANADA! CANADA! CANADA! ASDFGHJK!
Somebody of Note
Total Comments (31836)
Utah.
Assassin: Simile…
Total Comments (32925)
LA
Grue
Total Comments (21383)
Please tell me this is a joke.
If not, so help me God.
Assassin: Simile…
Total Comments (32925)
Sarcasm.
YankeesFan
Total Comments (14990)
Can I have idiot for 400?
Rudedog: Thankful
Total Comments (27520)
What?
Are you drinking?
4 Loco is bad for you!
UnBiasedPerspective-…
Total Comments (48002)
Its actually worth 500..
Assassin: Simile…
Total Comments (32925)
Dubai
(KMac) Lame Sauce
Total Comments (1528)
Japan
(KMac) Lame Sauce
Total Comments (1528)
Hey UH can you resend this challenge around 5pm (ET is fine) I'll be in class all day today and won't be able to get to this till tonight. If these truly are not expiring, then I'll just get to this one tonight. Thanks man.
Sweetness85
Total Comments (7574)
"While the GFL stadiums are very small compared to NFL stadiums, it is known to be vastly inferior to the NFL."
This reads like the Hooters slogan, "Tacky yet unrefined"
Oso
Total Comments (1336)
Comment
Remember to keep your posts clean. Profanity will get filtered, and offensive comments will be removed.