Sports AHC: American Football Worldwide Sport
- Thread starter ggarner57
- Start date
One way I think football could be more popular abroad is earlier US involvement in WWI. We have seen sports spread through wars, people playing it when they aren't killing each other, like how baseball spread during the ACW. At the time, football was mostly college led, even moreso than it was in the 1940's during WWII. Another advantage between WWI and WWII is at this time soccer in Europe is less regulated, so if we have American football take hold if our youth play it abroad. It would help if soccer was diminished or even outright gone altogether, but that wouod flap some butterflies that would change football to unrecognizability.
I could imagine a scenario where one of the military academies or ivies plays against a British rugby team for soldiers on leave in WWI, and it catching on after that. Soccer being much less popular would help with that too, but its too simple of a sport to remove I think.
Football IMHO is a much simpler sport to play than soccer. With football all you need is are two lines indicating endzones and something to throw and catch. The "ball" doesn't even need to be round and kickable, which soccer kind of needs.
The issue seems to be that American Football seems to be in competition with the other local varieties of football. Both played on large fields outdoors etc.
Sports like Baseball and Basketball seem to have had better traction internationally due to that lack of competition with a domestic variety.
Even Canada still technically keeps the variety of their Football even though it is very close to the American version (I believe the American version actually descends from it).
Sports like Baseball and Basketball seem to have had better traction internationally due to that lack of competition with a domestic variety.
Even Canada still technically keeps the variety of their Football even though it is very close to the American version (I believe the American version actually descends from it).
First two points I agree with.
Canadian football co-evolved with American football. Both have their roots on being adapted from rugby. International play between colleges (most notably Harvard-McGill in the early 1870's) kind of forced them to have the same rules but as the US turned to more modernized rules such as forward passes (adopted almost 20 years apart in the different rules) and scoring for touchdowns/extra points (the first NFL season in 1920 used 6 point touchdown 1 point PAT while Canada didn't adopt this until the 1950's). So I wouldn't say American football evolved from Canadian Football, but it did influence it.
Football in the old days had much less equipment and padding was simple. If it became more popular in that style, I can see it staying that way longer.
You don't need any of that stuff to play the game. It's like saying that soccer can't work in poor countries because they can't afford shin pads or goals.
EDIT:spelling
Coats/stones/anything that doesn't move for goalposts, a tin can for the ball and any bit of open ground (grass an optional luxury!). Football has everything else beaten hollow.
Ian_W
Banned
Within living memory, American football was a semi-pro sport, with the important game being Army-Navy.
That said, Id go for a POD of Teddy Roosevelt's intervention, and to have him work with what became rugby league to become one unified sport (as games, they are very close cousins in any case).
Id suggest doing that by having Dally Messenger take an Australian rugby league team on a tour of the US playing against sides there, and have Teddy Roosevelt sit down and work things out so College Football becomes safer than it was.
The professionals playing Rugby League sees the money from these American tours, and then you have Australia, the US, the UK and France predominantly playing College Rules.
My guess is that by the time the US decided to do anything overseas in developed countries, perhaps the Great White Fleet, local sporting codes were well and truly established. AFL was codified in 1859 and Rugby in 1845 indeed Rugby has been established so long it had time to schism in 1895 and Soccer football in 1848. WW1 is too late to displace such long established codes played by millions of people.
Yeah. American football is a close second, but over the years, I've played association football with plastic bottles, cans, even the dreaded penny floater! I think 'moving when kicked' is a less strenuous qualification for a round ball replacement than 'something to throw and catch' is for a replacement prolate spheroid.Coats/stones/anything that doesn't move for goalposts, a tin can for the ball and any bit of open ground (grass an optional luxury!). Football has everything else beaten hollow.
That's also a good point. Low, or odd numbers? Just one goalie. Simple. You can also have multiple small teams - World Cup Willy, Doubles, etc.
If you're on your lonesome, then even a wall will do.
I do like the Dally Messenger idea!
I'm assuming that American Football was an openly professional sport by WW1? This would make it far easier for it to work with rugby league than with rugby union, although it is worth pointing out that rugby league was banned in the British armed forces until the 1990s, so an inter forces game is probably out of the question, at least between UK-USA.
It was still college dominated, but pro teams did exist and became much more popular by the 1920s. I like that idea for Australia also, football finding a place among the Commonwealth would mean the rest of the world picks it up eventually.
Not really. By WWI had come professional leagues but they were more regional, with teams rarely traveling further than two states over. The first real attempt make a large league was the NFL in 1920. That's why I think the best way for football to spread would be informally
Another thing, American football was always the "second sport" and at some points arguably third behind basketball until the 1960s and the AFL.
Here's one. Let baseball never catch on in the South, maybe because of a shorter civil war or maybe a Confederate victory. Football becomes more important w/ international games between the four NA nations.
Here's one. Let baseball never catch on in the South, maybe because of a shorter civil war or maybe a Confederate victory. Football becomes more important w/ international games between the four NA nations.
Something with discuss in TL-191 was how baseball was so marginalized when predate the POD by years even all 80% of teams were north mason-dixon line but well maybe for that, as rugby-gridiron would be more 'culture neutral'
Still people forgot obvious answer...make it Olympic sports and all european nations play with it, both Football version(Association-Soccer Gridiron-Canadian-American) use similar size game field so can save money making a dual stadium, sold it as a 'strong, tactical team' so central and west europan team would practicez since high school and military service.
Association-Soccer size: Long:: Minimum 100 meters - Máximum 110 meters
Wide: Minimum 64 meters - Máximum 75 meters
America-Canandian-Gridiron
Long:: Minimum 110 meters - Máximum 122 meters
Wide: Minimum 68 meters - Máximum 70 meters