Irish (and other countrys) American football, Where will it be in ten years time?

Gelio

Will it of gotten bigger in Ireland?
How much bigger?
What about America?
Will they start supporting other sports Instead?

Opinions please . . .

Hazys

ajeffares wrote: »

Will it of gotten bigger in Ireland?
How much bigger?
What about America?
Will they start supporting other sports Instead?

Opinions please . . .

I think it will be much bigger in Ireland as it becomes more televised on Sky, TV3 for the first time showed the Superbowl last year. A lot more people will watch it as more and more people get fed up with the Premiership. It still be a minority sport, but even now I know a lot of people who follow it. I presume all this will increase the numbers who play at an amateur level in Ireland but it still wont be anything to write home about.

As for europe i.e. UK & Germany, it could become a very popular sport, obviously never close to Soccer. I think the last NFL Europe Final had an attendence of 40,000. Cost was the only reason NFL Europe was closed down because it was growing in Germany. I could see a successful european league if it was cost effective. In 10 years there will probably been NFL games played in 10 different european countries.

One of the goals of Arena Football is to tap into the world market and have an international league. As they see arena football as a sport that could be taken up by anybody. Their overall goal is to make it an olympic sport. (Hopefully Rugby 7's will get in for 2012, which lowers arena footballs already slim chance).

As for the US, it should remain their no. 1 sport unless Goodell messes it up, but so far he's done ok. As long as he can control the media ie in the case of 'Spy'gate where it became the biggest story in the US, he should be ok. The ending of the current CBA threatens the NFLs long term stability, I don't think the ending of a cap on salary will ruin it. Other threats to its popularity is the starting of the UFL next season but I feel even if the UFL does an excellant job it will only be a feeder league.

Hazys

Hazys wrote: »

I think it will be much bigger in Ireland as it becomes more televised on Sky, TV3 for the first time showed the Superbowl last year. A lot more people will watch it as more and more people get fed up with the Premiership. It still be a minority sport, but even now I know a lot of people who follow it. I presume all this will increase the numbers who play at an amateur level in Ireland but it still wont be anything to write home about.

On the other hand, for a good few years in the 80s it was shown at 8pm every Thursday on RTE 2 for an hour. That was a time when most houses in rural areas had access to only two channels, so we weren't even spoiled for choice. And it was a good highlights package. And while a few followed it for a while, it left no lasting legacy on sports here. Sky also show bowls, speedway, rugby league, NASCAR and a host of other sports that won't get anywhere. They show cricket, and despite the phenomenal success of our own national team in the cricket world cup just last year and some great fixtures coming up in the next couple of years, I'm not sure that it will make the breakthrough. Think Sky's impact will be negligible.

Chucky the tree

If the NFL scrap the sallary cap it will ruin the league.

Rented Mule

Chucky the tree wrote: »

If the NFL scrap the sallary cap it will ruin the league.

The NFL is never going to scrap the salary cap. The rest of ther North American Leagues have installed or are in the process of installing some sort of Cap/Luxury Tax system.

Hazys

Chucky the tree wrote: »

If the NFL scrap the sallary cap it will ruin the league.

I wouldnt totally agree with that. I'd prefer no salary cap to the proposed CBA to replace the current one.

The new CBA is stupid. It is proposed that is brought in after the current one expires. One of the rules stops successful teams from being active in free agency. If a team reaches a certain position in the playoffs they are capped on what they can spend in free agency. This is ridiculous, punishing well run teams and rewarding rubbish teams who waste money.

Id prefer no cap to this. At least the best run teams will still be better than The Redskins and Raiders who just throw money at players. The Packers last year were something like $40 million under the salary cap and reached the NFC Championship game. An excellant book to read is 'Moneyball' by Michael Lewis, where he writes about the management of the Oakland A's in a capless MLB and how they are so successfull when their wage budget is a quarter of what the Red Soxs and Yankees spend.

Id still prefer what exists now to the 2 above options.

One thing I'd like to see is a Rookie Salary cap. Alex Smith earning $10 million this year to back up JT O'Sullivan who is on $500K

fox65

The current system seemed to work.

But a rookie salery cap is a must, if the raiders flop again this year they will have very little money for the rest of the team!:pac: as it will be all going to UNPROVVEN rookies

jdivision

Hazys wrote: »

I wouldnt totally agree with that. I'd prefer no salary cap to the proposed CBA to replace the current one.

The new CBA is stupid. It is proposed that is brought in after the current one expires.

That would be the uncapped system so unfortunately from certain points of view the current system is the best thing.

TITAN #1

One of the goals of Arena Football is to tap into the world market and have an international league. As they see arena football as a sport that could be taken up by anybody. Their overall goal is to make it an olympic sport. (Hopefully Rugby 7's will get in for 2012, which lowers arena footballs already slim chance).

A little confused there Hazy. Arena Football are planning to expand into Europe. There will be expo games in Germany this year. They might even come to Ireland.

American Football is moving towards becoming an Olympic sport.

Karlusss

Can't see many (read: any) pros being released to play in the Olympics, so the standard would be way, way below what we are used to watching. And thus kind of crap.

Arena Football in Europe might be a good idea, but in the Olympics - it's kind of a cartoon version of a real sport... doesn't really seem like it should be at the Olympics to me.

jdivision

American football is decades away from becoming an Olympic sport, rugby 7s should be there a long time beforehand

Gelio

jdivision wrote: »

American football is decades away from becoming an Olympic sport, rugby 7s should be there a long time beforehand

I wish they both could get in and replace some of the crap sports

TITAN #1

American football is decades away from becoming an Olympic sport, rugby 7s should be there a long time beforehand

I don't know about decades but it is on the agenda with the World governing body.

Rugby 7's would be a good version of that sport to get Olympic status.

munster08

ajeffares wrote: »

Will it of gotten bigger in Ireland?
How much bigger?
What about America?
Will they start supporting other sports Instead?

Opinions please . . .

I think it's steadily becoming bigger in Ireland thanks to TV3, a few of my friends watched the Superbowl and the games leading up to it.

In 10 years it'll be:
1. Football
2. Hurling
3. Soccer
4. Rugby
5. American Football
6. Golf
7. Athletics
But with the last 4 being pretty even, all those sports got massive boosts this year-Munster winning the Heineken Cup, NY Giants winning a great Superbowl on TV3, Padraig Harrington retaining the British Open and winning the PGA Championship and of course Usain Bolt's 3 gold and 3 world records at the Olympics.


Soccer is becoming the game in America for the fat white kids who are crap at everything else so I can't see the Americans SUPPORTING it but they'll have to play it alright. Rugby will never catch on there, golf is going fairly steady, I can only see American Football getting bigger there!

Gelio

munster08 wrote: »

I think it's steadily becoming bigger in Ireland thanks to TV3, a few of my friends watched the Superbowl and the games leading up to it.

In 10 years it'll be:
1. Football
2. Hurling
3. Soccer
4. Rugby
5. American Football
6. Golf
7. Athletics
But with the last 4 being pretty even, all those sports got massive boosts this year-Munster winning the Heineken Cup, NY Giants winning a great Superbowl on TV3, Padraig Harrington retaining the British Open and winning the PGA Championship and of course Usain Bolt's 3 gold and 3 world records at the Olympics.


Soccer is becoming the game in America for the fat white kids who are crap at everything else so I can't see the Americans SUPPORTING it but they'll have to play it alright. Rugby will never catch on there, golf is going fairly steady, I can only see American Football getting bigger there!

What is your top 10 based on? How many people watch? Different times of the year different sports become popular

munster08

munster08 wrote: »

5. American Football
6. Golf

:D:D

With 250,000 paid up members of golf clubs in Ireland, and the country bursting at the seams with courses, I don't think the Golf Union of Ireland sees American Football as a threat.

Maybe aim for a few pitches, and maybe 2,500 players, before taking on the juggernaut that is golf in Ireland.

Incidentally, there are loads of other sports you completely ignore, like angling, cycling, boxing, cricket, basketball, rallying and motorsports etc. etc. Again, without even checking the stats I can tell you they are out of sight compared to American Football. Much as I like the game, a dose of reality is needed first.

Hazys

ajeffares wrote: »

What is your top 10 based on? How many people watch? Different times of the year different sports become popular

I think location plays a big factor in Ireland. In some small towns around the country GAA is by far the number 1 and anything else is tiny and then GAA, I can only presume is a minority sport in parts of Dublin where Soccer and rugby rule.

So its hard to gauge how popular American football will be in Ireland. It will be a strange sight to see somebody walking down the main street in some small country town in a Broncos jersey while not out of the ordinary in Cork or Dublin

TITAN #1

You could base your top 10 on participation of a team sport and get something like :

1 GAA
2 Soccer
3 Rugby

Basketball,Cricket,Hockey,Volleyball,Baseball.Water Polo and maybe even Ice Hockey would all be ahead of American Football.

Saying that, Football has grown a lot over the past couple of years and looks likely to continue to spread.

Lothaar

Hazys is talking crazy talk. American Football won't be even close to the top 10 sports, even in 10 years' time. Apart from all of the team sports Titan lists, think about the amount of track and field sports that would have a much bigger following in Ireland. Then there's boxing. And rowing. And tennis. And badminton.

Jesus, any sport I think of is more popular than football and will almost certainly remain more popular in 10 years' time.

All of the other popular team sports are practiced in secondary and/or primary schools, which helps perpetuate their popularity. Football won't have a chance of truly competing as long as it's the odd one out in that respect. Getting a presence in college is a great thing for the game, but it'll take a lot longer than 10 years before it becomes one of the top 10 sports in Ireland.

Hazys

Lothaar wrote: »

Hazys is talking crazy talk. American Football won't be even close to the top 10 sports, even in 10 years' time.

??? When did i say that ???

All i said was it is going to be much bigger in 10 years than it is now.

TITAN #1

Participation in team sports is one measurement, following the sport on television is another.

I am constantly surprised at the following of the NFL and even College football that there is in Ireland.
If you counted bum on seats in front of televisions then football would be a top 10 sport.
Getting these bums to go to an IAFL game is a matter of marketing.

TITAN #1

TITAN #1 wrote: »

If you counted bum on seats in front of televisions then football would be a top 10 sport.

Wouldn't even know about that. Its only on Sky, which has a fraction of the viewing audience that the mainstream channels get. It might sneak in on the basis that there are only about ten sports shown at all on the telly, maybe Speedway and Lawn Bowls get an even lesser audience.

Lothaar

Sorry Hazys, it was munster08 who said that.

davyjose

Chucky the tree wrote: »

If the NFL scrap the sallary cap it will ruin the league.

Agreed, the out of control spending has destroyed soccer. Lifelong Man U supporter and I can barely face the new season. No Salary cap = Dallas Cowboys the Chelsea of NFL.

Gelio

TITAN #1 wrote: »

You could base your top 10 on participation of a team sport and get something like :

1 GAA
2 Soccer
3 Rugby

Basketball,Cricket,Hockey,Volleyball,Baseball.Water Polo and maybe even Ice Hockey would all be ahead of American Football.

Saying that, Football has grown a lot over the past couple of years and looks likely to continue to spread.

What about golf? Surely golf is the most played sport in Ireland.

jamsieboy86

I'd imagine GAA is the most played by wide margin, much more GAA pitches than golf courses.

Gelio

jamsieboy86 wrote: »

I'd imagine GAA is the most played by wide margin, much more GAA pitches than golf courses.

The thing is golf can be played by all ages

Dodge

D/Sport released a couple of years ago. IN terms of participation. Football (or soccer as some of you call it) was BY FAR the biggest

tallaghtoutlaws

ajeffares wrote: »

The thing is golf can be played by all ages

As can Gaelic Football or Hurling

Chucky the tree

tallaghtoutlaws wrote: »

As can Gaelic Football or Hurling

Technically any sport can be played by people of nearly all ages. But I still doubt you get many 40+ yr old GAA or hurling players.

tallaghtoutlaws

Chucky the tree wrote: »

Technically any sport can be played by people of nearly all ages. But I still doubt you get many 40+ yr old GAA or hurling players.

Definitely agree but take 5-12 year olds how many do you know who play golf. Golf is more of a hobby sport to most really something to relax guys on a Sunday. Alot more younger folk playing it these days and a fair few taking it more serious but it will always be one of these hobby sports for most.

Benedict XVI

Deleted User wrote: »

On the other hand, for a good few years in the 80s it was shown at 8pm every Thursday on RTE 2 for an hour. That was a time when most houses in rural areas had access to only two channels, so we weren't even spoiled for choice. And it was a good highlights package. And while a few followed it for a while, it left no lasting legacy on sports here. Sky also show bowls, speedway, rugby league, NASCAR and a host of other sports that won't get anywhere. They show cricket, and despite the phenomenal success of our own national team in the cricket world cup just last year and some great fixtures coming up in the next couple of years, I'm not sure that it will make the breakthrough. Think Sky's impact will be negligible.

I really loved that show on RTE 2 in the 80s but then they dropped the whole lot in the early nineties.

I lost interest until I went to America in the mid 90s and now follow NFL again now that I am back home.

The game has not really grown in popularity in this country in the past 20 years and I cannot see it growing much going forward.

The fact that live games are on Sky is a drawback and Sky Sports subscriptions only count of a small amount of TV audiences.

Still with the arrival of the interweb and live streaming folks like us who enjoy the game can watch it a lot more without disturbing the rest of the household.

Gelio

tallaghtoutlaws wrote: »

Definitely agree but take 5-12 year olds how many do you know who play golf. Golf is more of a hobby sport to most really something to relax guys on a Sunday. Alot more younger folk playing it these days and a fair few taking it more serious but it will always be one of these hobby sports for most.

I know of quite a few 8 - 12 year olds, I suppose it goes down to where abouts you are living.

camel toe

munster08 wrote: »

I think it's steadily becoming bigger in Ireland thanks to TV3, a few of my friends watched the Superbowl and the games leading up to it.

In 10 years it'll be:
1. Football
2. Hurling
3. Soccer
4. Rugby
5. American Football
6. Golf
7. Athletics
But with the last 4 being pretty even, all those sports got massive boosts this year-Munster winning the Heineken Cup, NY Giants winning a great Superbowl on TV3, Padraig Harrington retaining the British Open and winning the PGA Championship and of course Usain Bolt's 3 gold and 3 world records at the Olympics.


Soccer is becoming the game in America for the fat white kids who are crap at everything else so I can't see the Americans SUPPORTING it but they'll have to play it alright. Rugby will never catch on there, golf is going fairly steady, I can only see American Football getting bigger there!

wrong. in fact slowly its moving away from this. before it was firmly an upper class game(which is ironic because it has been suppressed for yrs there because it was deemed a sport of the lower classes(british hangover)

tallaghtoutlaws

camel toe wrote: »

wrong. in fact slowly its moving away from this. before it was firmly an upper class game(which is ironic because it has been suppressed for yrs there because it was deemed a sport of the lower classes(british hangover)

Wow can't believe I missed that bit by munster08 Fat White kids playing soccer in the US eh? Please have you ever seen Americans play soccer? You will barely find a large kid in sight as believe it or not the large kids either play football where they are accepted for their size or are just lazy or nerdy. Big Kids dont play soccer fact.

Fr Tod Umptious

I know it's a zombie thread and should not be revived but the OP did ask where would the league be in 10 years time, and here we are 10 and a half year on.

Gelio wrote: »

Will it of gotten bigger in Ireland?
How much bigger?
What about America?
Will they start supporting other sports Instead?

Opinions please . . .

I'm not sure if it has grown much in the Irish consciousness.

NFL games are for the most part exclusive to Sky and NCAA games are on BT.

No Irish station has shown interest in a highlights show but there is one on BBC.

Maybe with the increase in online gambling more young folk are betting on games but I'm not sure.

You do see a good few NFL team beanie hats around the place in winter but I'm not sure that says much about whether people are actively following the NFL or not.
And the RTE news app does then to give a run down of the previous days games on a Monday in their sports section.

Those of us who have always followed the game still do I guess but how many other are

Have others seen much of an uptake in interest ?

raze_them_all_

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

I know it's a zombie thread and should not be revived but the OP did ask where would the league be in 10 years time, and here we are 10 and a half year on.



I'm not sure if it has grown much in the Irish consciousness.

NFL games are for the most part exclusive to Sky and NCAA games are on BT.

No Irish station has shown interest in a highlights show but there is one on BBC.

Maybe with the increase in online gambling more young folk are betting on games but I'm not sure.

You do see a good few NFL team beanie hats around the place in winter but I'm not sure that says much about whether people are actively following the NFL or not.
And the RTE news app does then to give a run down of the previous days games on a Monday in their sports section.

Those of us who have always followed the game still do I guess but how many other are

Have others seen much of an uptake in interest ?

There's around 30 teams in the country, everyone watcjes the super bowl. It'll grow alright but the big thing most Irish hate is the sheer amount of ads per game

Billy86

I doubt we will see much growth to be honest, bub who knows - the sport is growing for spectators hip and the upsurge of rugby popularity and the level we are playing it at could certainly help. Both sports are very different in some ways (conditioning especially) but encourage similar body types and skillsets generally for most positions.

I also reckon with all the current knowledge of head injuries in the sport it may never take off here, but who wouldn't love to see how a Cian Healy, Furlong, Stander or SOB would far up the middle on 4th and 1, or Stockdale on a well executed WR screen, or Larmour scampering throughout the backfield line a Christian McCaffrey?

Jumbo2018

It's never really going to take off properly as a playing sport here or in a large way all across the world.

Why the hell would parents let their children play a sport that is proven to cause significant brain damage.Its falling off massively in the USA because of this.

Rugby is going to suffer in years to come with the issues around safety associated with it , there's an article by Paul Kimmage in todays independent about parents worried about letting their children play rugby.

I suspect a large number of sports with safety issues are going to suffer in the future as why bother playing an unsafe sport when there are loads and loads of sports that are perfectly safe to play with little risk of injury.

American football is a great sport to watch and it's obviously grown as a spectator sport in ireland but as a sport for playing I doubt it will ever get above being a very tiny niche sport.

Fr Tod Umptious

raze_them_all_ wrote: »

There's around 30 teams in the country, everyone watcjes the super bowl. It'll grow alright but the big thing most Irish hate is the sheer amount of ads per game

Well something like NFL RedZone fixes that problem, plus it's available at no extra cost to the most basic of Sky subscriptions.

Jumbo2018 wrote: »

It's never really going to take off properly as a playing sport here or in a large way all across the world.

Why the hell would parents let their children play a sport that is proven to cause significant brain damage.Its falling off massively in the USA because of this.

Rugby is going to suffer in years to come with the issues around safety associated with it , there's an article by Paul Kimmage in todays independent about parents worried about letting their children play rugby.

I suspect a large number of sports with safety issues are going to suffer in the future as why bother playing an unsafe sport when there are loads and loads of sports that are perfectly safe to play with little risk of injury.

American football is a great sport to watch and it's obviously grown as a spectator sport in ireland but as a sport for playing I doubt it will ever get above being a very tiny niche sport.

I'd never expect it to take off as a participation sport, but I'm really wondering if it has taken off as a spectator sport here compared to the time that the OP was posted.

I don't think it has.

BonnieSituation

It's definitely more popular than it was 10 years ago. I mean even anecdotally from the amount of people I know who give a crap about the super bowl alone it has grown.

MadYaker

BonnieSituation wrote: »

It's definitely more popular than it was 10 years ago. I mean even anecdotally from the amount of people I know who give a crap about the super bowl alone it has grown.

I’ve noticed this too. I have less than zero interest in it but a lot of my friends and me get to together to watch the Super Bowl but really it’s just an excuse for all night session which is fine by me!

Big Pussy Bonpensiero

There's definitely been a big increase in popularity in the last 10 years. Granted it's still a long, long way off the likes of GAA, football, rugby, etc, but I see a good few people going over to London games, watching the playoffs and actually know what teams are doing well. I see a lot more merchandise about the place these days too.

The playing of the sport is obviously still tiny, it's hampered by the fact rosters need to be so big, along with the start-up cost to play, the fact players aren't insured and the need to have a decent knowledge of the rules. Also, outside of Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Belfast, teams are poorly run, which would be off-putting to players who have played at a decent level in other sports.
I played myself for a bit, and I would compare Shamrock Bowl conference teams to good junior or poor intermediate gaelic football teams. There's a decent amount of very good athletes playing, with some I know having played minor & U-21 for their county.
It's definitely helped by the fact it starts after the rugby season ends so there's a big crossover in players. About half the players on my team also played rugby. I was told that there has been a definite increase in quantity and quality of players in the past 5-10 years, and a lot of clubs also run a flag team. Afaik there's an Irish u-20 team as well which looks to develop younger players.