Howcome Americans like NFL but not rugby?

[mozza1831991]

Rugby League is way better than Rugby Union. One thing I hated about RU is team scores are mainly from penalty kicks, i guess tries are hard to come by but it's boring to watch as a league spectator.

This. League is far more open and free flowing. Union could be a great game but over officiating and ridiculous delays on penalties ruin it.

 

[Dusty Rhodes]

Haka > kneeling during the anthem

These guys are fucking mental

 

[Rimbaud82]

All the UK games have sold out for years, it's the fastest growing sport in the country. The nfl show on the BBC is very funny.

The number of Brits that identify as avid nfl fans is 4 million, that's double the number 6 years ago. 4 games are played a year over here now.

I'm just right on this one.

You're just not right, no doubt its more popular than it used to be, but its the same as other niche sports...when the bar is so low initially there is a lot of room for rapid growth. Like soccer or even rugby in the US, or how the UFC used to claim MMA was the fastest growing in the world.

In any case, there's no chance that it will ever come to pass that more brits prefer NFL to rugby, and obviously not soccer.

 

[Katsumi Yamada]

Lol. So is rugby mostly European? Or is it like soccer, where the whole world is into it except America?

Its not only Europe. The game of rugby is very popular in the following countries:

England
Wales
Ireland
Scotland
France
Italy

These are the 6 nations of the northern hemisphere that compete in an annual tournament, called 'The Six Nations'. Before Italy joined and became the whipping boys it was called the 5 nations.

New Zealand
Australia
South Africa
Argentina

These 4 also have a similar tournament. It used to be called the Tri nations until Argentina joined in 2012.

Other than those countries, rugby is very popular in the Pacific islands.
Fiji, Samoa, Tonga etc.
New Zealand and others actually scout a lot of their players from these islands.

Rugby is considered a major sport in all of the above countries, and THE major sport in some.

 

[RollSonnenRoll]

The deep ball

 

[KnightTemplar]

This. League is far more open and free flowing. Union could be a great game but over officiating and ridiculous delays on penalties ruin it.

League is a faster game than Union, without a doubt.

 

[KnightTemplar]

These guys are fucking mental

The Haka is not limited to Rugby matches. There's a video somewhere of NZ soldiers doing the Haka at the funeral of one of their mates who had been killed in Afghanistan.

 

[Heelhook71]

Look up the top 25 100m sprinters in history. Notice something about every single one of them (literally all 25 of them) that isn't common in countries where rugby is popular but is common in America and also common in the NFL. Those guys would absolutely dominate rugby.

Athletics isn’t that popular in a lot of countries. In the U.K. until recently it was very badly funded (now it’s still not great).

If you’ve got talent you go into soccer or even Rugby. Same with the other countries that dominate rugby. These sports have academies and use youth development schemes, scouting the best talent in the world and training them to be pros.

You don’t magically have better athletes, they have similar ethnic and genetic backgrounds to a lot of other countries.. You do however have systems in place that encourage top sprinters to develop their talent and stay in that sport. Like other countries do for Soccer or Rugby but not athletics

So no you wouldn’t just dominate. You’d just just be competing with countries that invested equally with you in their athletes.

 

[Phlog]

You're just not right, no doubt its more popular than it used to be, but its the same as other niche sports...when the bar is so low initially there is a lot of room for rapid growth. Like soccer or even rugby in the US, or how the UFC used to claim MMA was the fastest growing in the world.

In any case, there's no chance that it will ever come to pass that more brits prefer NFL to rugby, and obviously not soccer.

I'm not sure niche is the appropriate term, as that describes an audience with particular needs and what I've seen of the American football audience in the UK is that they are diverse.

There may or may not be a low bar, American football has been present for some time in the UK, since the 80's. It would seem that it is growing in popularity, the biggest barrier seems to be the lack of understanding of the rules. Many clubs are now starting youth programs and outreach into schools, the number of young American football fans is a particularly growing demographic.

I don't think there is any conclusive evidence that either sport will either retain or gain dominance, what American football does do however is provide an audience with athleticisms that are almost entirely ascent in current mainstream UK sports.

I'm not sure why you're bringing up soccer.

My point was that I believe the largest reason why American football is not more popular in the UK than rugby is due to the lack of knowledge of the games rules. As evidenced by any discussion with a pro rugby anti American football loudmouth.

The stats provide a convincing case. I don't proport that what I suggest is the definitive, but that there is a case. That differs from yours in that you specify there is zero chance, a logically inconsistent stance.

 

[MartinGibson86]

I like rugby. I watch it when it’s on espn every so often. A lot of South Side Chicago Irish people play it.

 

[OverCoronavirus Pressure]

As an American, I wish we did love rugby.
Superior to American football IMO

 

[Madmick]

We do like Rugby. It definitely caters to our sensibilities. I never meet guys who talk shit about Rugby even though most of us don't know a lot about it.

There's just no space for it to breathe in the USA with American Football sucking all of the oxygen out of the room. Impossible to grow a sport in that environment.

 

[Mr Mojo Lane]

All the UK games have sold out for years, it's the fastest growing sport in the country. The nfl show on the BBC is very funny.

The number of Brits that identify as avid nfl fans is 4 million, that's double the number 6 years ago. 4 games are played a year over here now.

I'm just right on this one.

Do you think there is a good chance London will get a team? I heard that the Jacksonville Jaguars are considering a move.

 

[Phlog]

Do you think there is a good chance London will get a team? I heard that the Jacksonville Jaguars are considering a move.

From what I understand the ground is fertile and the market is ready but, that it hinges on an owner making the decision. There was a thing with the jags but I think that's fell through a bit as the owner ain't an owner anymore of the UK stadium they'd be using. I only vaguely paid attention tho so don't quote me.

I've heard 2020 as a date something might happen.

 

[Rimbaud82]

 

[Rimbaud82]

League is a faster game than Union, without a doubt.

It's not as pronounced now as it used to be, but certainly league is still faster on the whole. League is much more one-dimensional, but it's a very exciting dimension....swings like a pendulum end to end very quickly. Union is more fluid, each team with different phases of pressure, but you can get some slow passages if the defense is able to stifle the attack because they don't have to retreat 10 every time like league. In league you are guaranteed a lot of forward movement unless you are pinned back right on your own line.

I will say that a lot of the time union rucks are often - somewhat paradoxically - much faster than league play-the-balls. Often in union the ball comes out of the ruck pretty much instantly if the forwards get there quick enough and the defence doesn't waste players by committing men to the ruck, whereas in league there is almost always some grappling at the play-the-ball which can be a bit tedious.

I love both codes though. Though obviously league is almost non-existent here.

 

[Rimbaud82]

These guys are fucking mental

All the pacific island nations have their own ceremonial war dances (they have an important cultural role, not just sports), so the best is when two of them face off against each other. Especially huge rivals like Samoa and Tonga. The Tongan is called the sipi tau and the Samoan the siva tau:

 

[Rimbaud82]

No, black people don't play rugby if thats what you're asking.

what....?

 

[Kyryllo]

This. League is far more open and free flowing. Union could be a great game but over officiating and ridiculous delays on penalties ruin it.

As a cross code player and a capped Rugby League international myself, I must admit Union is much deeper game and more entertaining for me to watch and I appreciate it much more when playing. I still love the flow of League playing at pivot or centre, could do it for days.

 

[peytonlucy]

I don't know for sure why I don't like rugby. I think it may be related to the fact that I don't accept that they are NFL quality athletes. Just like I can't watch women's World Cup or Olympic soccer knowing how much better the men are --- and I don't watch men's soccer at all. Sounds like bias more than logic.