Football is America’s favourite sport but has little or no following outside the US. To differentiate it from association football (soccer), Australian Rules football and Rugby, the sport is known as American Football in the rest of the world. American Football
is also known as gridiron football, or simply gridiron in New Zealand and Australia. In the US the term gridiron refers to the field used to play the sport. In most parts of the world the term football means association football, a sport known as soccer in
America.
In Europe, the first organized American Football games were played in 1977, when the Newton Nite Hawks and the Chicago Lions (semi-pro football teams) toured the continent for five games. The game venues were Versailles, France; Lille, France; Landstuhl,
Germany; Gratz Austria; and Vienna, Austria.
In 1985 Ted Kessinger, former head coach of Bethany College and College Football Hall of Famer took the first American Football team to Sweden. The Bethany College football team known as the “Terrible Swedes” played against the Swedish all-star team in Stockholm
Olympic Stadium and defeated the all-star team 72-7, ouch.
NFL Europa a.k.a. World League of American Football and NFL Europe was started in 1991 by NFL to introduce and popularize American Football in European countries. The league had teams in different European cities; NFL Europa was closed down after the 2007
season.
Canadian Football is governed by the Canadian Football League and the Canadian Interuniversity Sport. Canadian Football may seem extremely similar to American football but, in reality is a variant of the sport and is played under slightly different rules.
The NFL held its first game outside of US soil on October 2, 2005 in Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca (Aztec Stadium). This game was played between the Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers. It has been NFL’s intention to hold at least one game each regular
season outside of the US.
American Football in Australia is regulated by Gridiron Australia. The country lacks a unified national league and is divided into six state-level leagues instead.
There are 14 teams in the Belgian Football League. These teams compete with one another to determine the champions of the Belgian Bowl.
The Brazilian American Football League contains 14 teams divided into two (North and South) conferences.
The newly formed Finnish American Football league is known as the Vaahteraliiga (Maple League). The league contains eight teams. The winners of the Finnish version of the Super Bowl (known as the
Vaahteramalja or Maple Bowl) are crowned as champions.
The German Football League accommodates 12 teams divided into north and south conferences. The German champions are determined by a title match between the finalists of the German Bowl.
The Irish American Football League has 14 teams in it and the Irish championship game is known as the Shamrock Bowl.
In Mexico, American Football is governed by ONEFA (National Student Organization of American Football). ONEFA consists of 26 teams in 3 conferences.
In Poland American Football games are governed by the Polish American Football League.
The Nacionalna Liga Srbije is a Serbian league of American Football. Teams in the league compete in the Serbian Bowl.
The Spanish American Football league called LNFA (Liga Nacional de Fútbol Americano) was formed in 1995 and currently contains 15 clubs.
The professional American Football League in Japan is known as the X-League. The league currently has 60 teams and X-League champions are determined by the Japan X Bowl. Japan also has over 200 hundred semi-professional college/university level teams. The
Intercollegiate champions are decided by the Koshien Bowl. Rice Bowl, where professional and colligate champions compete, is held to determine the national level champions.
In the UK there are about 70 different teams that play in the BAFA Community Leagues (BAFACL).
American Football’s popularity is on the rise throughout the world. With satellite TV and channels that feature sports exclusively, the future of American Football seems secure and bright.
The views expressed in this article are the writer’s own and in no way represent Bettor.com’s official editorial policy.