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

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.