Adam Holmes of the “That American Football Show” podcast believes that the UK fanbase of the NFL has a bright future and will continue to grow as time goes on.
The podcast has been running since just before the start of the 2019 season with each weekly episodes featuring the four hosts Adam, Craig, Joe and Tim giving their insights on all the goings on in the NFL.
Holmes is optimistic on the growth of the sport in the UK saying: “I think the popularity is on the rise, considering that the league is always adapting, the NFL is always expanding and it’s getting easier and easier to follow”
“It’s only a matter of time and education. The more fans of the sport, the more fans will follow.”
Many have questioned where the next generation of fans could come from, with sports such as F1 and cricket seemingly fading out into the background it could present an opportunity for the NFL to storm through and attract new potential fans.
Holmes responded by saying: “I played American Football at uni and I know I great amount of NFL knowledge and history. Education of the game comes from exposure”
He continued: “I believe some migration will come from other sports.”
“Joe is a huge cricket fan though and probably won’t want me saying anything about that dreadfully boring sport”
With the NFL still being relatively niche in the Uk it means the tv coverage that it has isn’t the widest that it could be with five games being shown on Sky Sports and BBC one holding the highlights rights and the Super Bowl it means people are unable to be able to watch a full game for free.
On this Holmes said: “I pay for NFL gamepass, Sky and BT Sport just so I don’t miss anything. It needs to be airing at least an episode a week a free channel to attract significantly more fans.”
One stumbling block the NFL has with UK fans is the length of the matches with things like ad breaks, time-outs and clock stoppages being a real barrier for those trying to get into and then stick with it.
“We are raised in a culture that idolises football, rugby etc. I personally can’t stand continuous games as I never know when to leave the room or look away from the screen, People prefer what they are used to.”
He continued: “Obviously watching a game for four hours isn’t ideal but American culture says that Sundays are football so they dedicate the whole day.”
Another point raised is how a professional standard football league would work in the Uk with the only league currently running in the UK is an amateur league some have questioned if a professional football league would work.
Holmes said: “I would watch a Britball league but we don’t have a have a high enough skill level or interested whatsoever, if it happened it would be great but not at all necessary.”
One big piece of speculation which would be absolutely huge if it ever comes off is the possibility of an NFL franchise being based in London weather that be the Jacksonville Jaguars relocating or a new expansion franchise opening up.
Holmes gave his thoughts on this saying: “I think we agreed on the pod that we don’t want and expansion team or a franchise relocation.
“Whilst it would probably boost Uk fan amounts it would affect the league negatively in so many ways that I’d rather they stick with a couple of games a year.”
You can listen to That American Football Show at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/that-american-football-show/id1479821014?ign-mpt=uo%3D4
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