Why Isn’t American Football Popular In Europe?

Why isn’t American football popular in Europe?

My first answer will be: Because it’s American instead of European football! Even though both countries have many similarities in some life aspects, not all people can accept the different football rules. This phenomenon is particularly correct when we consider both continents’ tendencies to interpret the terms “soccer” versus “football”.

Such terms alone already cause misunderstandings between Americans and Europeans. Then, again, Europeans have different ways to interpret the meaning of the “football” term. They won’t accept the ways Americans play their online and offline football games with their hands instead of their feet.

At the same time, the ways people from both continents play football games are not the only reasons why American football isn’t popular in Europe. In my opinion, here are some other reasons:

The game’s rules are too difficult to understand and implement

There are reasons why Europeans take pride in their “football” sports. For me, Europeans don’t only appreciate that their continent has given birth to some of the world’s most popular and richest football players. Instead, it’s also because Europeans have much simpler rules when it comes to their football rules.

American football players generally have to stop every ten seconds. It happens when no players commit fouls. Every foul in the game will give the game five minutes delay, then again, we never know how many fouls will each player commit. Such delays slow down the football games and it becomes rare for audiences to see full portions of the game scenes.

Additionally, such rules are not in the dictionaries of European ways to interpret the meaning of “football”. European’s ways of “football” are the ways they intended to be, which is using the players’ feet to control, handle, and kick the ball. Not to forget that the ball is lighter and has a more rounded shape than American football’s almond-shaped ball.

American football games use too many tools and equipment (a.k.a attributes)

What tools do you think of when you think of the ways Europeans implement their football rules and when the players play football games according to their rules? Isn’t the ball the only thing that the players need?

That’s right – As far as I’ve observed, only the goalkeeper has the gloves. Football uniforms and the footwear that supports the sport are yet some other attributes that players need to wear. Then, again, these things are not as “heavy-weighted” as the attributes a.k.a tools that American football players need to wear or have during the games.

All players should use (oversized) gloves when they play American football apart from the jerseys that they wear during the games. Then, again, these two attributes are not enough for the players. Helmets, shoulder pads, cleats, and pads for protecting the players’ thighs and knees, are some other attributes that American football players need to wear during the games.

Some players even use a mouthguard to protect their teeth and jaws from fractures during encounters with their in-game opponents. Many Europeans think that the attributes of American football are too complicated. Hence, it becomes another reason why American football remains unpopular in Europe.

Europeans Prefer Rugby to American football

Even American football is more demanding than rugby, the origins of American football stem from rugby. Both sports are considered as “harsh sports” which players need best protective mouth guards and other gears to make sure players are well protected when they play either football or rugby. Rugby itself is a sport from Europe. However, rugby is different from American football in that this sport lets the players use their hands and feet as much as they’d want to when they control or handle the balls.

Rugby is also different from American football in that this sport doesn’t acknowledge delay times, despite the identical gameplays for both versions of the sports. The audiences for European rugby also tend to be more flexible and casual, and less aggressive than the audiences for American football.

So, even though American football a.k.a the NFL has grown to be a sport that non-Americans can enjoy, it’s not always the case in the European continent. After all, rugby is European, and it’s normal for Europeans to enjoy the original version of their sports game instead of the seemingly-tweaked American version of NFL a.k.a “American’s rugby” a.k.a American football.

The European surroundings don’t support the sports

Even though American football has many similarities with rugby in terms of gameplay, nobody can deny the weather and temperature differences in the U.S. versus many European countries. These whole weather and temperature differences also make American football not doable in most European countries.

Additionally, Europeans only have one governing body for NFL games all around the continent. Then again, not many Europeans play NFL, and they prefer their more original and freer versions of rugby (see the previous point).

In conclusion, American football may be popular in other non-American countries, but not in Europe. It’s generally because Europeans can’t understand how Americans play football games, and they prefer to play the rugby version that originates from their continent.