Imagine this: you’re 29 years old, working as a sports agent.
You successfully negotiate contracts for your Minnesota Vikings clients.
Things are looking up
then, the General Manager of the Vikings looks you up and down, and asks “do you speak
Barcelonan?”
Do you mean Spanish?
He says yeah.
Took it in highschool, why?
well how would you like to be the first general manager of the Barcelona Dragons?
It’s a team you’ve never heard of, because it doesn’t exist yet.
The NFL has big plans to bring American football to Europe, and the Dragons will be one of
the inaugural teams.
That scenario isn’t fiction.
In fact, it’s exactly what happened to Andrew Brandt in 1990.
“, I'm three months from opening day on ABC television.
I have no coaches, no staff, no players -- didn't know where I was going -- and was moving to
a country that didn't know what American football was.”
Brandt realized he was in for a wake up call..the first being that 'barcelonan', of course,
isn’t a language... in that region of spain, people speak both Spanish and Catalan
ANYWAY this was the beginning of a 16 year effort by the NFL... to conquer the hearts
of European sports fans..
...this is the rise, fall, and rebirth of NFL Europe
In 1989, network TV execs approached the NFL with a question…
“What are the odds we can air even more football in the spring?
The NFL was intrigued, so Commissioner Pete Rozelle created committees and brought in
former Dallas Cowboys president Tex Schramm to investigate if globalization was feasible.
It seemed promising: the NFL was on track to sell $50 million in licensed products in
Britain alone, and American networks were interested.
So, NFL voted to create the World League of American Football, with teams in the US, Canada,
and Europe.
But this new venture was at a crossroads right out of the gate.
Most saw it as a developmental league with some financial revenue, but newly-appointed
president Schramm wanted to go all out and make it an independent major league.
So, In October of 1990, the NFL fired Schramm and replaced him with Mike Lynn, general manager
of the Minnesota Vikings, who was more aligned with the NFL’s vision.
In 1991, the league was set to start with 10 teams: 6 American, 1 Canadian, and three
European: the London Monarchs, Frankfurt Galaxy, and Barcelona Dragons.
But setting up these new European teams was no easy task.
For Brandt, the first GM of the Barcelona Dragons, the process was… chaotic.
“You talk about teams that are put together in months and months, this was put together
in five days.”
Oliver Luck, General Manager of the Frankfurt Galaxy had this to say in 2017:
"I can't emphasize how little had been done to prepare to launch a pro sports franchise.
There was no stadium deal, not one employee.
No local staff,, PR.
Our first game was March 25.
We had all of three months."
The next step?
Getting fans to watch.
“From the moment I got off the plane, we met our ticket manager and, I'll never forget
as long as I live, he said to me, with some pride, “Andrew, we have sold 173 tickets
- season tickets.”
And I'm like, “uh, how many does the stadium hold?”
“40,000.”
I said, “that's not good.””
So Brandt threw a Hail Mary to attract fans.He handed out tickets and even begged the general
manager of the Football Club of Barcelona --one of the most popular soccer teams in
the world -- to showcase the Dragons during halftime at an upcoming match.
“We got up in our full gear.
We kicked the ball, we threw the ball, the announcer said -- I think he said-- at least
I hope he said -- tomorrow night at Montjuic stadium.”
When the league kicked off on March 24, 1991, 19,000 fans showed up to the Dragons' debut.
And it was a pretty successful first season
Over 61,000 fans attended the league’s first championship game, where The Monarchs defeated
the Dragons 21-zero.
But the hype couldn’t sustain the league past a second season.
Network ratings were disappointing, the league had lost millions and there was labor unrest.
so the NFL pulled the plug.
...but only for three years.. in 1995, the World League returned.
This time with a network contract from FOX, a 40 million dollar 4-year budget, fresh sponsorship
deals, new strategies, and a narrower focus on Europe.
Now, teams would be located in London, Barcelona Frankfurt Amsterdam Düsseldorf and Edinburgh
But as the years went on, the league realized it had to continue to evolve.
So, in 1998, the league rebranded again: this time to NFL Europe.
But that didn’t do much.
So, the league condensed teams to where the game was received best: Germany
By 2005, NFL Europe had 5 teams in Germany and 1 in Amsterdam.
“ There are a lot of American military bases in Germany.
And I think perhaps some people had that background..
In 2006, the NFL decided to do yet another re-brand -- this time as “NFL Europa.”
But that didn't last long either...in 2007, NFL Commissioner Roger Godell shut the league
down and the NFL opted for a new strategy: playing just a few games overseas each year
“We took the strategy to its next logical place, and gave fans a better opportunity
to actually be in love with the sport “
So why didn’t this league work?
Well for one, the goals weren’t that clear from the start.
“I never got a feeling like they were settled on one.”
“The rebrands are a consequence of how the strategy is performing and so the fact that
it gets rebranded tells you that something needs to move on and evolve.”
When the NFL broke into Europe in 1991 it not only had to attract fans, but also teach
them the sport.
Brandt recalls one particular moment, when a receiver hauled in a 70-yard pass, breaking
three tackles on his way scoring a touchdown...which normally brings standing ovations from an
American crowd.
In Barcelona, that play got polite applause.
But when the kicker successfully kicked the extra point following the touchdown, fans
erupted “And all of a sudden I'm like oh my god,
we're not in Kansas anymore.”
Accustomed to their beloved soccer, some Europeans found the games pacing too slow.
“When you're at a soccer match its loud the entire game, So, they’re teaching the
fans that when Hamburg is on defense - everybody get loud!
Then you hear okay now Hamburg on offense, ‘everybody get really quiet.’”
And while broadcasting agreements can be complex, local media often didn't even air the games.
Even in Germany, where the league was most popular, networks aired the championship game
a day later General managers recognized that in order
to make the game more attractive, they had to bring a little slice of American life to
europe.
“I brought over two Miami Dolphin cheerleaders.
I taught them to teach the women how to dance like that -- Las Chicas del Dragons.
They loved that.
They were more popular than the team.
“the elephants and the cheerleaders and all that and it almost became kind of like
a theme park.”
But even this got old “So, of course after the first season.
the popularity just died down,” “There were probably more fans at our tailgates
than at our games” Additionally, most players came and went quickly.
See, the league was operating as a developmental one, which meant once players caught the eyes
of the NFL teams back home, they left.
“If you're going to develop a loyal following, people like to know names, people like to
know that they're gonna go back and they’re gonna be able to see a Kurt Warner playing
over there for more than just one year.
At the end of the day, it's hard to sell a minor league.
“It's not the NFL, you don't have the very top best stars playing over there.
Most guys are just trying to make an NFL roster.
When you don't have as good of a league...you're not going to get as much support..””
Associate Professor Isaac Woo reviewed almost 500 news and industry trade press articles
in an attempt to determine the true cause of the league folding from a PR perspective.
His findings?
That the NFL couldn’t create relationships with the public.
“They kept saying, we want to make some money.
But like if you want to make money you need to know the people first.
..” But according to Waller, he believes the goals
that were set were met...besides the economic side of it.
WALLER: They lost a lot of money for a very sustained period of time.
In the end, the NFL lost $30 million per season….estimating a total loss of around 400 million dollars.
So, clearly, the league had a lot of challenges.
Still, there were upsides - Several superstars and hall of Famers like Kurt Warner started
in Europe, the league did bring awareness and fans to the sport, and it ultimately increased
the amount of foreign born players in the NFL.
And remember the shift in strategy to the annual games back in 2007?
Well, in London, fans grew to really love the showcase games, which continue to draw
huge crowds to multiple stadiums, selling out to this day
There’s even continued interest in a permanent NFL team in the UK.
The NFL also played games in Mexico and now has its sights on Germany as a potential host
country for games.
And while soccer is still king in Europe, Waller believes that fans have room in their
lives for other sports “ it will find a way into their lives either
as an additive or as a displacement.”
*extended pause* PRODUCER: how do you believe the NFL looks
back on that 16 year run?
WALLER: with incredible PRIDE.
It built the foundation for the stage that we're now at
Could NFL Europe have worked today?
“It could probably work a little bit better today.
I think there’s almost, part of me that thinks it might have been stopped a little
too early PRODUCER: Do you think they pulled the plug
too soon?
BRAMLET: I do.
“They're never going to be even close to what the NFL does, but I think it's like any
minor league.
What are your expectations, what is your talent?
Yeah, it could work at a limited scale.”
NFL INTERNATIONAL NOW & AMERICAN FOOTBALL IN EUROPE
And now, another American Football league is giving it a shot.
It's called the European League of Football, created by owners SEH Sports & Entertainment
Holding and Patrick Esume.
Games began in June of 2021.
This league struck a deal with the NFL to use some of the same team names -- so the
Hamburg Sea Devils are back.
But for how long?
Well that remains to be seen….
Will the European League of Football be a success?
What do you think?
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