Why is American NFL not popular outside the United States?

American football is a very special sport, and its significance has gone beyond simple sports. The American NFL Super Bowl champion can call himself the “American Football World Champion”, just like the “Miss Universe” in the beauty pageant can call herself “Miss Universe”. After all, only Americans play American football seriously, and only the world holds beauty pageants. American football (NFL) is not popular outside the United States. I think there are several reasons for this: (Note: This is my original content)

First, this is a very expensive sport.

Many people know that playing rugby requires “full gear”, so how much does it cost to put together a set of rugby equipment? The standard equipment for professional athletes is as follows:

Helmet : The unit price is USD 160-320. The helmet is the most important equipment for football. The current price in the US sporting goods market is like this. Football helmets are very particular. While ensuring hardness, they must also take weight into account. The structure and materials of the helmet are a big deal. Players in different positions will also choose different helmets. The helmets used in major competitions (NFL, NCAA) are now equipped with wireless intercom equipment, so the whole team can chat while playing. Helmets can really reflect the saying “you get what you pay for”. There are cheap ones on the market, but do you dare to use them? Don’t wear them to get into trouble.)

This set of armor is worn inside the jersey. Football players look tall and strong because they wear this invisible armor inside their jerseys (although they are still tall without the armor). This built-in armor is consumable, especially the pads on the shoulders. If you use it too much or hit hard, you need to replace it. This set of armor that protects the shoulders and chest is life-threatening for football players and is as important as a helmet. Prices vary, but the “low-priced” ones are not cheap.

Here, a set refers to the “slim and sexy Milan Fashion Week latest bright color hit” tights (pants only) and the pads inside the pants for protection. You can buy a few less pads, but you can’t save money on the pads for the most critical part of a man.

Well, once you have collected the above three items, you can go to the court and play. That’s right, wear a helmet, put on armor with bare arms, put on padded shorts, no gloves, bare feet, and you can go to the court. The above three items are basic and standard, because they are life-saving stuff. Let’s take a look at the “not so” important equipment, but normal people will choose to wear it:

Jersey: Pick your favorite sports T-shirt, or wear the school uniform, or wear a team uniform. This is what most players do, and it is normal. If you deliberately buy a jersey, it may cost a few dollars, dozens, hundreds, or thousands.

Gloves: You can wear no gloves or wear football goalkeeper gloves. Of course, the best way is to buy regular football gloves. Gloves are not expensive. Just don’t buy baseball gloves.

Sneakers: Formal competitions will have regulations on sneakers, but if you are just playing around, just wear your favorite pair of sneakers.

Socks: Football has special socks, which cost about a hundred dollars a pair (20 U.S. dollars). Socks are standard for professional athletes, but ordinary socks will do.

The above are the main equipment for football, and there are many small items (such as braces) that are not listed. A while ago, I met a white mother and son in a Big Five (a chain of sporting goods stores in the United States). The mother complained to her middle school-aged son about why he wanted this today and that tomorrow. I guess the child is obsessed with equipment, or his school does not provide enough equipment.

Football is a team sport, and the team spends a lot on equipment. A player on a prep team spends more than (about 700 USD) on a set of equipment, and the figure for a college team (NCAA) can reach (about 1,000 USD). In the United States, the University of Dallas football team spends nearly (110,000 USD) on equipment every year to fully equip its 105 players at home, and this is just a relatively ordinary team among the 128 teams in the NCAA Division I (D1) league. Moreover, the cost of players’ equipment is not a large part of the team’s overall expenses. The coach’s salary is higher than the equipment expenses.

For example, the wealthy Stanford University spent a total of $18 million on its football team in 2014 , including the tuition of the team members (the school pays them tuition, and the tuition alone is several million dollars), the salaries of the coaches, the cost of recruiting talents nationwide, the cost of competitions, the maintenance of the stadium, and the main event marketing, while the cost of equipment is only a fraction. When I first found out that American college football teams actually spend so much money, I was very surprised. After checking the data given by ESPN and the reports of Forbes and Business Insider, I believed that what I saw was reasonable, and Stanford was not the highest. It is worth mentioning that these NCAA D1-level teams earn tens of millions of dollars every year.

Second, whether playing or watching, the threshold is very high

American football has complicated rules, which is a barrier for both spectators and players. Soccer and basketball also have many rules, but they have very simple basic rules and game goals, which is to get the ball into the goal/basket. Rugby is different. If the audience does not know the rules, then they will not understand what the people on the court are doing. What are the lines on the court? How can you kick the ball with your feet? Why do you have to pause in the middle of the game? Can you actually stack people? Why does the scoreboard change for no reason?

Rugby is a difficult sport to learn. For other countries that lack a rich rugby atmosphere, it is not so easy to develop this sport. The United States has a special liking for rugby. Rugby has a long history in the United States. The American people play rugby just like a person playing Warcraft 3C when he was a child, and then playing DOTA. When League of Legends comes out, he will immediately choose Garen, and playing DOTA2 is also a piece of cake (the above-mentioned games are all multiplayer online attack and defense games of the same type. Because not everyone plays games, this is just an analogy). For someone who has no basic knowledge of games in this area, it is difficult to understand even if you look at it.

The complex rules of rugby have created its unique attributes. It is a sport for those who understand it. For those who understand it, a rugby game can make the audience sitting in front of the TV eat 10 chicken wings and drink 5 bottles of beer, and hide the TV remote control under the sofa.

Third. Special personal development

A hundred years ago, there was no NFL, and Americans played English football. It was not until 1930 that Americans realized that “we need to wear helmets to play this way,” and began to study helmets. Later, more and more rules were added, and this rural sport became professional. Today, American football now relies on professional leagues and heavy commercial activities.

Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Anyway, it’s none of my business. Football is an American sport, and it’s a “non-shared” sport. It’s not an exaggeration to say that Americans play for their own amusement. One of the biggest characteristics of football is professionalism, which means that an ordinary middle school is willing to spend millions of dollars to build its own football field, but may not be willing to provide free lunch to students. High school football games must look like the NFL, which is American football.

The commercial profits behind football games are also a point of analysis. Every year, the Super Bowl is an advertising show, and companies in industries such as beer, cars, and snacks try their best to make an appearance in the Super Bowl. Economic elements such as commercial sponsorship and advertising tug-of-war have allowed American football in the United States to flourish in its own small circle.

Fourth: Sense of belonging and honor

In the eastern and southern United States, people’s passion for football has reached a level of madness. The local middle school or university team is the spiritual sustenance of the locals. Every time their school team plays, everyone goes crazy, wears the same jersey, cheers for their team at home, or invites three or five friends to go to the house of whoever has the bigger TV.

The National Collegiate Football Association (NCAA) is one of the largest sporting events in the United States, and its mass base is difficult to be replicated or understood by other countries.

Before the game begins, popular singers will be invited to sing the national anthem “The Star-Spangled Banner”. When the last line “the land of free and the home of brave” is sung, several F-18s with colorful smoke screens fly over the stadium. Then, tens of thousands of people in the stadium cheer together. Sometimes the president is among them. This scene is a typical opening of an American professional football game, and it belongs only to the United States.