Gideon’s Gridiron

Why George Osborne’s push for a Wembley based NFL team would be great for the London and American Football

By Matthew Gass

I usually catch up on enough news during the day, through Today/City AM in the morning and some browsing at lunch, that I don’t feel the need to grab an Evening Standard on the way home. However yesterday’s headline, stating that George Osborne is in talks to bring an American Football franchise to London, caught my attention like a fourth down interception.

Don’t worry if you didn’t get that – you’ll have plenty of time over the coming years if this ambition is realised. The Chancellor’s enthusiasm for all things American is well known, so it was not surprising to hear him say he planned to take his son to one of the now regular games at Wembley over the next few weeks. However the prospect that Britain’s thousands of American Football fans could get the chance to cheer on a home team is a thrilling prospect.

The NFL has been playing regular season games in London since 2007, drawing crowds of up to 84,000 and has boasted a rapidly growing fanbase for years. Given London’s large and international population, strong sporting tradition and the clear interest of its fans it’s easy to see how the city can justify its own franchise.

There would be a lot of challenges. American Football is a gruelling game. Players have strongly resisted expansion from 16 to 18 regular season games on health grounds. Despite the heavy padding, often mocked in the UK, the risk of injury is easily comparable to rugby. Adding frequent 8 plus hour flights would do nothing to help the wear and tear the players face. There would also be a cultural resistance from US fans of a sport which has, up until recently, been almost exclusively American in a way that Baseball and Basketball no longer are. That is to say nothing of the backlash from the fans of whichever one of the 32 franchises moved as a result.

However the NFL’s experiment with international expansion following the closure of the NFL Europe in 2007 has been a huge success. An overseas franchise would be the next logical step and London the best choice for a host.

Despite its huge popularity in the States the NFL has had many controversies in recent years. The physical toll mentioned above is an ongoing scandal. American Football players have an average career of just 3.2 years and, shockingly, a life expectancy “in the mid- to late-50s”. The League needs to take action on controversies such as injuries, particularly concussions, the team name of the Washington Redskins and the number of players arrested for domestic abuse. These could easily turn off a new international audience. If this can push the League into confronting some of its demons this can only be a good thing

London would benefit hugely too, both in terms of its economy and culturally, further cementing its status as the cultural capital of the world. For all its controversies it is an amazing sport, displaying tremendous athleticism and requiring a level of strategic thinking that will surprise non-fans who often find the stop-start nature a barrier.

The excitement watching the New England Patriots go 16-0 in 2006-7 was a highlight of my time living in the US (although watching them lose the Superbowl to the New York Giants was not). I even have fond memories of my embarrassingly poor efforts on my old High School team. I look forward to the day when my fellow Brits will get to enjoy these thrills watching their own hometown team. Given what I’ve said it may not take a Hail Mary, and here’s hoping Osborne can take this one all the way to the end zone.

Matthew Gass is a former director of Parliament Street

@MattGass

Image from espn.co.uk

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