Henry Durand
You may not know it, but we are in the midst of a sporting revolution here in the UK. Whilst this may not be on the scale of 1776, the United States is coming for British tradition once again, and there are signs of success already, as Henry Durand explains.
The ground works for the infiltration of American sport within UK culture were laid many years ago. In 2007, Wembley Stadium hosted the Miami Dolphins and New York Giants to a crowd of 40,000 people in the first ever NFL International Series game.
Four years later, the NBA hopped onto the British bandwagon and hosted their version of the International Series in a match-up between the Toronto Raptors and New Jersey Nets in 2011. Over a decade later, the stars of these sports are now household names.
Football will always remain Britain’s (and much of the rest of the world’s) crown jewel. However, whilst the pub debates like Messi versus Ronaldo rage on, how many of you have also sat round a table with a pint discussing the likes of Tom Brady, or whether LeBron James has surpassed Michael Jordan?
Whilst you may not catch your Dad talking about the Giannis Antetokounmpo dunk from the other night, it is becoming harder and harder to avoid as a younger person
The United States and their sports are now becoming an embedded part of British sporting culture, specifically within younger demographics. Whilst you may not catch your Dad talking about the Giannis Antetokounmpo dunk from the other night, it is becoming harder and harder to avoid as a younger person.
Whilst the aforementioned rise in live spectator events has helped the growth of the NBA and the NFL, the sheer amount of media and content that is now being pushed to British and global audiences has meant that the sports stay within the public eye. For example, how many of you binge-watched The Last Dance over lockdown, or watched one of the many All-Or-Nothing series which has followed a range of NFL teams’ seasons from behind the scenes? If series aren’t your thing, then there’s a chance you may be one of House of Highlights 38 million Instagram followers, who post daily viral plays from across American sports.
This allows fans to see athletes in their true form, rather than being limited to the two-minute post-game football interviews we see, for which we could almost recite line for line
From my perspective, there’s so much to love about the sports we now share with our friends across the pond! Characters and individuals heighten these sports much more than the manner we see Premier League stars presented to us. For example, a range of American stars, such as Golden State Warriors player Draymond Green and Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce, host their own podcasts, whilst LeBron James headlines in his hit show The Shop. This allows fans to see athletes in their true form, rather than being limited to the two-minute post-game football interviews we see, for which we could almost recite line for line before Harry Kane and others have even opened their mouths. Who wouldn’t love to see the likes of Erling Haaland or Jack Grealish voice their true opinions on what life is really like as a footballer?
Whilst many Brits will slander the heavy advertising involved with the stop-start nature of American sports, you easily get used to it and even learn to love it! For example, I often find things to keep myself busy during these breaks, such as writing this article whilst I await the Raptors versus Portland Trailblazers fourth quarter to begin!
On a more serious note, I think this sporting revolution’s impact is beginning to be seen around the UK. Premiership Rugby attendance has been dwindling in the last few years after losing its appeal to young people. Elsewhere, Cricket has successfully adapted and utilised many Superbowl-like aspects to its one-day format via the Hundred. For example, this new-look development has introduced half-time shows, colourful uniforms, and a play-off like system. I genuinely believe that whilst it may frustrate traditionalists, this transition towards the flashy and exciting American model of sport is essential in order to attract and entertain younger audiences.
These sports are consistently some of the most well-attended varsity events
This growth can also be seen close to home around our campus and the wider city of Nottingham. Participation in university sports of American Football, Basketball, and Ice Hockey are booming, the first of those boasting over 4,000 weekly student competitors. My teammate Alex recently wrote about his attempt (and failure) to make the American Football side in the Impact’s November print issue (pages 44-45). These sports are consistently some of the most well-attended varsity events, and it’s coming round to that time of year once again where we highlight our collegiate ‘school spirit’ against rivals Nottingham Trent. Tickets are now available to watch our Ice Hockey team at the prestigious Motorpoint arena on February 6th, in what has previously been the second best-attended university ice hockey outside of North America!
Henry Durand
Featured image courtesy of Anders Krøgh Jørgensen via Unsplash. Image use license found here. No changes were made to this image.
In article image 1 courtesy of @nfluk via Instagram.com. No changes were made to this image.
In article image 2 courtesy of @uonaf via Instagram.com. No changes were made to this image.
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