Conquering Europe
Can North American sports penetrate the European market?
NICK FROST, THE GATEWAY (UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA)
If the British Empire (on a political level) or Pinky and the Brain (on a Saturday-morning-cartoon level) have taught us anything, it’s that complete world domination just isn’t possible—there will always be factors such as decolonization or poorly-built ACME products preventing one from attaining success on such as massive scale.
But on a sporting level, with the surprising fan support of the expansion Toronto FC and the arrival of David Beckham in America, it seems like soccer finally has the major sporting markets in its grasp (for the next five years, at least). As a result, the major North American sports leagues have got it in their heads to do the same. But two examples¬—hockey and football—show the problems with this plan.
Over the next two months, London will play host to two of North America’s four big sporting leagues: the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings will square off in a two-game set the on Sept. 29 and Sept. 30, and the Miami Dolphins and New York Giants of the NFL will entertain fans at Wembley Stadium on Oct. 28. Both these leagues are trying to expand their appeal into Europe, but hockey appears much more likely to succeed in the long term.
Hockey is already popular in parts of Europe—England just isn’t one of them yet. But while the mass popularity might not be there, at least a semblance of a hockey league is: the Elite Ice Hockey League, which currently operates in 10 locations throughout the United Kingdom.
The EIHL doesn’t get much fan or media attention, but with the NHL rolling into town for not one but two regular-season games between one of the most well-known cities in the world, and the defending Stanley Cup champions, people will pay attention. Not to mention that the Ducks and Kings have enough international flavour between the two of them to appeal to a European crowd—they feature players from eight different countries.
If the NHL games are successful in finding an audience in England, it should help the EIHL develop a following as well. With a bigger fan base, it could become one of the most important European superleagues.
On the other side of the coin, American football is about as appealing to people outside North America as cricket is to people inside North America. With the exception of the now-defunct money pit that was NFL Europa, there are no North American-style football leagues outside of this continent, so most Europeans have no exposure to the sport outside of Hollywood movies.
One of the biggest mistakes that the NFL is making in their European foray is that they are presenting a really boring match-up. Neither the Dolphins nor the Giants have been particularly successful recently, and there really aren’t any marquee players on either team, with the exception of Giants quarterback Eli Manning—although I bet there are going to be a lot of Brits seeing his name in the paper and asking themselves, “Wait, isn’t his name Peyton?”
A big name is needed in this situation to give the game any legitimate hype. These teams aren’t even division or conference rivals: this game couldn’t be any less interesting if it tried. The only thing it has going for it is the novelty value, and while that may have created a ticket demand for 500,000 people so far, once they see what they’re actually spending a ridiculous amount of money on, that number will drop for any games in the future. So much for long-term sustainability.
While it is definitely a positive thing to see North American sports leagues want to go international, the ability (or wherewithal) to do so sometimes isn’t there. A better strategy would be to expand a game at the grassroots level first, and then build it up before trying to take over the world.
