It’s showbiz
As anyone with an unhealthy addiction to Saturday Night Live and presidential debates can tell you, Americans stage a contest like no one else. And that doesn’t just apply to the race for the White House. So if you find yourself in the mood for a slice of Uncle Sam as an election curtain-raiser this weekend, tune in to the American football. Or — if you can swing yourself a ticket somehow — go to Wembley and see for yourself.
The NFL is coming to London, with the San Diego Chargers taking on the New Orleans Saints on Sunday. It will be a perfectly packaged event too, four hours of banging entertainment: that’s what the Yanks do so well. And whatever your opinion of a sport in which the action flows for all of ten seconds at a time — at a push — I hope the decision-makers in our own national game will be watching. There are lessons to be learnt.
Back in February, accompanied by a chorus of agreement from outraged pub-bores across the land, the FA dismissed out of hand an admittedly sketchily thought-out Premier League proposal for England’s top clubs to play one game a year (the ‘39th game’) overseas. In the winter. In a nice hot place like Miami, or Dubai, or Sydney, or Buenos Aires. But, the wisdom went, fans wouldn’t want to miss their home games, and players wouldn’t want to travel. They’re overworked as it is. Our hearts went out to them.
But in America, they know that the future of sport is global. Some fans in New Orleans aren’t exactly thrilled — they miss out on a home tie from their season tickets.
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