The International Appeal of American Football

American football is certainly an exciting sport for its fans, but the perception of the sport is that it is an entirely an American phenomenon. Due to certain factors, like the amount of expensive equipment needed to play the game, the sport has not taken off in other countries. Compared to a sport like soccer, where all you need is a single ball to play a game, American football requires a a pretty long list of protective equipment.I was looking for more information and found it here. The fact that American football is not as popular as soccer does not mean that it has failed entirely to gain followings in other countries.

There is a moderately strong following in Britain and in Europe as a whole where, along with Britain, there are leagues in the following countries:
Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine

The fact is that few sports have the full-on physical contact and speed of American football. It is a game where the players’ emotional investment is usually high and that makes it more competitive. Compared to more universally popular sports like rugby, American football is more aggressive, as well as faster. The speed and intensity of the playing style draws in true sports fans no matter what their culture. The sport is also uniquely well-suited to the medium of television due to the pauses between plays.

It is one of the stated goals of the International Federation of American Football to be accepted by the International Olympic Committee and to participate in the Olympic Games. This would give the sport worldwide exposure and garner wide interest of the sort that has occurred in the sport of basketball.

Canada, America’s neighbor, does not have an American Football League, but they do have Canadian Football which is very similar.

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