The National Football League, which is holding its second regular-season game in London this weekend, wants to be among the top 5 sports in the U.K. by 2012, a managing director said.
Football must overtake sports such as track and field, rugby league, golf and tennis to achieve that goal, said Alistair Kirkwood, who runs the NFL's U.K. operations. The greatest hurdle, he says, is getting casual fans to better understand the sport.
The New York-based league is trying to push outside North America after becoming the most popular U.S. sport. The NFL shut its Europa league in 2007 after annual losses of as much as $40 million. The NFL is bringing regular-season games to the region, such as this weekend's match-up between the New Orleans Saints and San Diego Chargers, and doing more education, Kirkwood said. The plan is to give supporters of rugby union clubs like Wasps and soccer teams such as Arsenal or Tottenham another sport to root for, he said.
``If we hadn't had the NFL Europa, we wouldn't be able to have regular season games played here,'' Kirkwood said in an interview at London's Wembley Stadium, where the goalposts were being raised for the Oct. 26 game. ``Our target is to say to an Arsenal or Spurs fan or a Wasps supporter that our game is played at a different time than your team. It's completely complementary to be a Saints and Chelsea fan.''
The Saints and Chargers will play in front of 85,000 fans at Wembley. The facility, the world's most expensive sports venue, is being branded with Saints' fleur-de-lis emblem and black and gold colors. Each fan will get a Saints flag to wave, Kirkwood said.
Growing Industry
The goal of breaking into the top five sports, while hard, is achievable, sports economists say.
Soccer dominates in the U.K., followed by cricket, with about $600 million in annual revenue, rugby, which brings in about $500 million a year, and motor sports such as Formula One, according to Tom Cannon, a professor at the University of Liverpool Management School. Tennis, golf and rugby league, a separate form of the sport, and track and field all hover behind.
``Sports are the fastest-growing industry in the world,'' Cannon said in an interview. ``The U.K. has been a good market, and an open market.''
About 94 percent of those attending are coming from the U.K., up from the 86 percent of local ticket holders for last year's New York Giants and Miami Dolphins match, Kirkwood said. The average fan is 27, younger than those interested in soccer or cricket, he said.
Ratings Count
The game will be shown on British Sky Broadcasting Group Plc's Sky Sports and the British Broadcasting Corp. Sky shows 130 live NFL games, and ratings rose 45 percent after last year's London match, Kirkwood said.
``There are limited opportunities short-term to generate revenue by selling tickets,'' said Stefan Szymanski, a professor at Cass Business School in London. ``Right now it's a television product.''
Football probably brings in about $10 million to $15 million in the U.K., Cannon said. That pales when compared with soccer, which brings in $7 billion a year, he said.
``With a fair wind, and some support from the media, they could increase that seven to tenfold and be a $100 million-a-year business by 2012,'' Cannon said in an interview.
The NFL is using the Internet to better explain the rules and the strategies of the sport. It takes the average person three games, or about nine hours of watching the sport, to start to understand what's happening on the field, Kirkwood said.
Coach Stilo
A new Web site unveiled this week drafts in the fictional Coach Stilo, real NFL players like Buffalo Bills quarterback Trent Edwards and New York Giants center Shaun O'Hara, and a talking dog, to explain different positions and strategies.
One of the top reasons that people are attracted to the sport is the tactics and strategies used, Kirkwood said. The NFL has to get more viewers and keep attracting big crowds to continue to bring regular-season games to London, he said.
``The more it feels different than any other game they've ever been to, the more people who'll come back,'' he said. ``Still, it's not a gimmick. It's not hype. You need to make sure the game is standing on its own two feet.''
(Source: Bloomberg)
