Gambling Makes the NFL’s World Go Around

The National Football League is seriously entertaining the idea of placing a team in London.

Sounds reasonable.  The American sports scene has pretty much reached the saturation point.  I’ve already noted that some “major” sports are in serious decline.  Even the wildly-popular NFL likely faces serious challenges attracting new fans in the years to come.  Fact is, if someone isn’t watching pro football by now, there’s a slim chance they’ll convert and become a fan sometime later.  Moreover, every region of the country already has an NFL team, which means there’s really no such thing as an untapped market within the U.S.

And so — the NFL is wisely considering expansion overseas, with the primary focus on Great Britain.  The appeal and advantages of expansion here are obvious.  A common language and culture.  Considerable wealth.  A rich sporting heritage.  Excellent stadiums.  Huge television money.  In fact, London has hosted at least one NFL regular-season game for years.  But now, there’s serious talk about a franchise actually being placed in Wembley Stadium full time.

What’s most interesting about this prospect is something the NFL doesn’t like to talk about and never publicly acknowledges.  And that’s the NFL’s extensive popularity stemming largely from one thing — gambling.

There’s no doubt that gambling (and its close cousin — fantasy football) have combined to make the NFL into a juggernaut.  Every game is now watchable by anyone who follows the game, due to either a financial interest or a fantasy sports perspective.

But the Brits take betting on sports to new levels.

Consider that at present no NFL team exists in a market where there’s legalized sports betting.  Sure, there’s plenty of underground and offshore betting.  But football fans can’t legally go and place a bet nearby, and then go to the stadium and watch their action unfold.  In London, things are entirely different.

Betting shops are all over the place — hundreds, if not thousands of them spread all across the country.  They’re even across the street from the stadiums.  And, most all of them take bets on NFL games (all of them — including sides and totals).  You’d be shocked by how many Brits bet on American football.  And if you think the 95,000 or so fans who are packing Wembley Stadium today for what appears to be a dreadful mismatch of NFL game between San Francisco and Jacksonville are there merely to casually watch a football game all in “good fun,” then pull your head out of your ass and think again.  Want proof?  Listen to the crowd once the 49ers either manage to cover the 16.5 point spread or the total goes over 40.  You’re likely to hear a huge roar, perhaps the biggest of the game when that happens (Neil Channing, undoubtedly cheering the loudest).

See, that’s the whole point the NFL misses.  That sports and gambling go hand-in-hand.  The English soccer leagues attract innumerable numbers of gamblers to games, all with a vested financial interest in the outcome.  Everyone gets into the act — the sports clubs, the stadiums, the bookmakers, and the fans.  The system works.

So, what might the NFL do as a pre-condition for placing an NFL team in London?  Ban gambling?  Force the English betting shops not to take action on the games?

Fat chance.

If that happens, pro football will never make it in London.  The stadium would be half empty.  If American gambling fuels the NFL’s immense popularity, then in England it’s a virtual pastime.  It will be interesting to see how the NFL — often so hopelessly hypocritical and out of touch with reality — deals with this issue.