Handicapping Super Bowl 50, Part 1: NFL’s Growing Popularity in the UK

If you have been following NFL football this year, you know that it is has been an exciting and very unpredictable year.  Many people were closely following the Denver Broncos from the start, being as this is almost certainly going to be quarterback Peyton Manning’s final year playing professional football.  But no one could have predicted the team’s numerous unlikely victories this season, particularly in the recent playoff game against the New England Patriots. 

This year's Super Bowl is coming up Sunday, February 7^th.  There was a time when NFL football was a sport which was viewed almost exclusively by USA sports fans and which baffled many international sports fans, but in recent years that has been changing.  Just as association football has become more popular in the USA, American football has become more popular around the globe. 

Super Bowl 50 is going to be broadcast officially (or streamed online officially) to viewers in 230 countries this year.  In fact, according to sports research firm Repucom, NFL football has become the seventh most popular sport in the UK.  It’s still ranking behind association football, rugby, and cricket, but it is outpacing snooker, tennis, and darts. 

Just how many people in the UK are interested in the sport?  Repucom found that around 8.1% of the population was interested in NFL in 2011.  Since then, that figure has jumped to 12.3%.  While that may not seem like a huge increase, it translates to 1.86 million people.  Those are all people who have become NFL fans in the UK over the past few years.  And NFL is only continuing to grow, so that number will probably be a lot higher in the coming years. 

NFL is becoming more popular in countries around the world, expanding its sphere of influence far beyond Europe to China and Japan.  Where else is the game popular in Europe?  Along with the UK, NFL now has legions of fans in Germany and France. 

If you are not yet following NFL football, the Super Bowl is a great place to start.  It is the biggest event of the season, and an exciting game where tensions are riding high and everything is at stake.  If you enjoy it, you may find that you want to start following football next year (be sure to start researching during the preseason).  Who knows—you could be the next UK sports fan to join the growing millions who enjoy NFL. 

This year’s Super Bowl is particularly intense.  The Carolina Panthers are a very strong team with an incredible offence.  But the Broncos have an outstanding defence, one of the best in NFL history.  And because this is Peyton Manning’s last year, there is even more on the line than usual for the Broncos.

While the Panthers are the favourite, this is going to be a challenging game to handicap.  Be sure to read Handicapping Super Bowl 50 Part 2 , Part 3 and Part 4 for some analysis.  Ultimately you will need to do your own research and make your own call, but that should give you a start!