Opinion: “americans Love Sport More”

Americans love sport more. And why that is good news for Brits.

By James Stibbs, SMG Insight – Communications

The NFL make it look easy, don’t they? They fly a few teams into the UK, fill two of its biggest stadiums twice over (during the rugby and football seasons, no less) then jet back home again to count the cash.

But as England’s Premiership Rugby found out last weekend, not just anyone can pull those kind of moves off. When Saracens and Newcastle took their show to Philadelphia last weekend only 6,000 fans came to watch. Not even enough for a good tailgate party.

So what is the secret of being a sports exporter?

SMG Insight’s latest special report, Special Relationship, examines the paths to overseas success for two of the world’s biggest sports – American football and soccer – as they attempt to conquer each other’s home turf.

The report provides insight on factors as diverse as fantasy sports, social media and soccer moms, offering a trove of data and analysis for all sports and brands looking to grow their footprint.

But encouragingly for rugby, one of the stand-out points from the report is just how up for sport the American public is.

Take for example, the appetite for American football. Two-thirds of Americans consider themselves NFL fans. And you’d guess from the attention it gets that soccer for Brits was just as important. Yet only 43% of the general public in the UK count themselves as soccer fans.

In fact, in the US both baseball and basketball command bigger market shares than Britain’s ‘national’ sport does on its home ground. Soccer would just sneak in above ice hockey if we put the market shares of both countries in a league table.

And this effect is backed up by some of the other data we collected. Take viewing figures for the two sports’ season highlights, for example. Only 44% of Britons tuned in for the FA Cup Final last season (and that was up on the season before). But three-quarters of Americans watched the Super Bowl – the very definition of appointment-to-view broadcasting. 

And yet despite the popularity of its traditional sports, America has still found room in its hearts for a new one.

Association football has now overtaken baseball as the country’s favourite youth sport. And it’s not just at the grassroots where soccer has made its mark. The average value of a Major League Soccer franchise is now $185m. NBC has put $1bn into the Premier League’s coffers over six years to supplement that US product with the English version.

The NFL continues to experience success across the pond, selling out its London games 

The growth of soccer in the States has been staggering. But it has not been an overnight success. Pele first went to play with the Cosmos more than forty years ago.

SMG Insight’s report breaks down the kind of audiences which soccer in the States and the NFL in the UK have built since then. It also examines how they have grown – to pick one example, how the engagement of 25-34-year-old Americans has been driven by gambling.

The good news for rugby (and other sports looking to break the US market) is that the US continues to be fertile territory – given the right amount of patience. 

The Special Relationship report is available for free for Sport Industry Group readers. Click here to download your copy.