Why the world finds American sports strange

The NFL is the most popular sport in America. But it does not sell the most tickets or enjoy the strongest hold over communities.

That’s college football. But if the NFL is the USA’s most popular entertainment product, why does college football pull in higher attendances?

Nick Harris writes. Philippe Fenner illustrates.

#NFL #CollegeFootball #Sport

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[jeromheath]

"Why the world finds American sports strange" - this video doesn't really reflect the title.

[Zones]

Something I think Europeans don’t appreciate enough probably because it’s very common to them is the fact that every small town no matter how small, has a club, and you can participate in it.

You have no idea how difficult it is to play organized sport after schooling is over as an adult. It is practically nonexistent which has pretty much led to the standard that all children can play sports, but after childhood it’s on the athletically gifted. The average American will never get a chance to play 11 on 11 tackle football like they did in high school.

[glolorun]

American here, hadnt noticed how unappealing our accents are until comparing this vid with the main channel

[olliehayesfisher]

As a Brit who loves Tifo Football, was excited to watch this. However, I think the video doesn't explain why the World (which should be capitalised in the title) finds American sports strange so much as it just lists a bunch of facts about how popular and rich college football is. Lower-league football is also remarkably well-attended in the UK comparatively with other countries. Personally, the reason I find American sports strange is the franchise system, which sees a closed-shop prevent relegation/promotion (limiting jeopardy), and the ability of clubs to relocate across the country, all to keep them financially profitable (putting the CEOs ahead of the fans), but that's just my opinion.

[Lucas_]

This video has little to nothing to do with the title

[zachattack]

feel like this vid should be called “what is college football” or something idk

[JD-hxyd]

The first 3 minutes of this video could be completely refuted with the two words 'stadium capacity'.

[fredericrohner]

Germany here. The only thing the world finds weird about american sports, is that you guys don't have real nonprofessional sports leagues. Where regular people play after their 9 to 5.

[jacobeberhart]

Without the editing and graphics, this video is a high schooler’s class project

[tonyarmbrust]

You kind of skipped over a bunch of important points. Initially, the Ivy League schools, the first colleges in the US, believed in the ancient Greek model of education, academics but also athletics. That more-or-less became the standard for college sports. What wasn't mentioned that many universities in the US are land-grant schools. They mostly located in fairly isolated parts of the state (usually away from major population centers) to assist local farmers in education and development of crops, in addition to educating professionals, like teachers, doctors, lawyers, engineers, etc. Currently, college football is huge because of the television rights going up. Both college football and basketball are what is called revenue-generating sports, meaning they bring in the revenue to the athletic department to fund the other sports within the department.

[matthewmusgrave]

Nebraska's stadium becomes the third largest city in Nebraska on game day Saturdays.

[cheems]

Interviewer: Why the world finds American sports strange?

Me: Ummm, commercials and too many rules.

[DeepitMagee]

Doesn't work without Joe Devine's voice.

[gabrielalohan]

This content was a waste of time. The title doesn't even reflect the content, it focused largely on telling us about the growth of college football which doesn't amount to American sports in basketball, baseball, ice hockey, NASCAR etc and did not do a proper execution of the perception that the world has on American Sports.

The narrator is good, but bland. The illustrative points used in the video are a bit incongruous too.

[pohjan]

A symptom of the issue is that you define the NFL and College football as seperate sports in the opening segment of the video. Sports in North America hold a different role in society compared to most other cultures, and I think that is why they seem weird. That's my take at least.

[SmashTheNumbers]

College Football has a better atmosphere than Pro Football. In Michigan Stadium, for example, 30K students (mostly ages 17-25, and way more enthusiastic than average fans) and locals walk to the game. Some non-football fans go to the games just for the band, or to sing "Mr. Brightside", or just to get "the college experience". It is a community thing. Only ~7 home games means it is very scarce. Even many people who are NOT local, but used be locals, and come in overnight.

[jaend]

I've been into NBA and NFL for several years now. as an Asian, what I find strange about American sport is how tf do the audiences put up with the silly amount of ads in between small portions of the game.

[nathanvandyke]

The other thing that makes college fanbases so passionate is the fact that your hometown team can't just relocate like the professional teams can. The Crimson Tide will always be in Tuscaloosa, the Wolverines will always be in Ann Arbor, the Seminoles will always be in Tallahassee, etc.

[JT-ocyt]

This was actually a really bad video that really never makes a point it kinda just states random facts for 8 minutes lol

[joex]

The coaches at the service academies aren't actually in the military. They're civilians employed by Army Sports, a private non-profit.