Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Coach Silo Webcasts Will Tutor Europeans on NFL
Europeans are known for staunchly supporting their soccer teams, but they're still learning the fine points of that tricky sport across the pond that they refer to as "American Football."
Most Europeans are unfamiliar with the concepts,strategy and rules of the sport, which led the demise of World League of American Football, NFL Europe and NFL Europa.
Like most Americans, i thought football was an easy game to learn, until I tried to explain the "forward progress" rule to a friend of mine from Romania. That's when I realized how sophisticated and inconsistent the rules of football could appear too a new fan, and the NFL has realized that fact as well.
Mark Waller, the NFL's senior vice president for sales, marketing and international affairs, explained the league's global marketing dilemma to the Wall Street Journal:
We've struggled for a long time to work out how you get people engaged in our game when they don't play it and don't understand it. We've got to get people to a level of understanding so that when we play games abroad or broadcast them, people will actually pay attention.It's the most complicated team sport on the planet. If we can create an understanding, that will make a huge difference.
To educate an international audience, the NFL is producing a series of multi-lingual webisodes starring a fictional coach (Coach Stilo), who will lead an eight-chapter tutorial on the major points of football,including offensive and defensive strategy. The entire tutorial combines for a total time of three hours, and, according to Wall Street Journal, Stilo's supporting cast will include a talking dog and highlights narrated by NFL stars.
Even if the webisodes don't provide much entertainment, they shouldn't be as disappointing as the abysmal offensive display by New York Giants and Miami Dolphins during last year's 13-10 snore fest. At London's Wembley Stadium last year, tickets were snatched up like U2 was coming to town, with the first 40,000 sold in 90 minutes. However, during the broadcast, FOX's broadcasters remarked on the overall confusion among the fan base. The fans cheered during the obvious sections such as the starting lineup, touchdowns and field goals, but first downs and penalties didn't translate. For example,in soccer, a yellow flag indicates a foul committed by an individual, whereas in football, yellow flags can be issued to a team or an individual, and the consequences for each penalty are different.
Europe's learning curve comes as no surprise, because we're often confused by some of their favorite sports,such as Rugby and Cricket. According to the International Federation of American Football, only 300,000 people play the game in 51 countries. Compare that to another popular,American-made sport, which has exploded in popularity throughout the world, especially Europe. There's still plenty of room for football to grow, but if Europeans begin a grassroots effort to build fields and start youth leagues, the sport's popularity could take off faster than Landainian Tomlinson on a touchdown run.
Posted By Matt O'Hern at 04:16 PM
Permanent Link: Coach Silo Webcasts Will Tutor Europeans on NFL
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