Italiano, Translations
Chiudere l’NFL Europe è Stata la Decisione Giusta?
Di: Travis Brody
Traduzione a cura di: Enrico Brazzi
A cura di: Valentina Ferrara
Quando arrivai in Europa per giocare la mia prima stagione con i Brussels Bulls nel 2008, la NFL Europe aveva chiuso da appena qualche mese. La National Football League, guidata dal nuovo commissioner Roger Goodell, aveva deciso di sciogliere l’NFL Europe il 29 Giugno 2007. Centinaia di migliaia (se non milioni) di tifosi europei e americani rimasero stupiti e delusi. Il risultato fu un sentimento di nostalgia per gli anni d’oro della NFL Europe.
Tuttavia si può guardare questa decisione da un’altro punto di vista. Anche se in un primo momento poteva non sembrare così, la NFL è ancora interessata ad avere tifosi in Europa. Per avere un po’ di contesto, faremo un breve riassunto della storia della NFL Europe.
Nata nel 1989 con il nome di World League of American Football, la NFL Europe era una lega di sviluppo della NFL che si sarebbe giocata in primavera. Nel 1991 venne inaugurato il primo campionato, che vedeva al via squadre sia europee che nordamericane. Tuttavia la lega ebbe grossi problemi già dagli inizi, nello specifico uno scarso interesse da parte del pubblico che risultò in uno scarso numero di spettatori alle partite. Nel 1992, dopo due soli campionati, la lega chiuse i battenti. Nel 1995 riprese le operazioni con la partecipazione di sei squadre europee, venendo ribattezzata NFL Europe nel 1998 e NFL Europa nel 2006. Nel 2007, infine, venne sciolta definitivamente.
I London Monarchs, i Barcelona Dragons e i Frankfurt Galaxy furono tra i fondatori della lega, ai quali nel 1995 si aggiunsero gli Amsterdam Admirals, i Rhein Fire (con base a Düsseldorf) e gli Scottish Claymores (con base a Edimburgo). Tuttavia, dopo pochi anni di attività, divenne chiaro che solo le squadre tedesche erano riuscite a costruire e mantenere una base di tifosi. Alla fine le squadre di Londra, Edimburgo e Barcellona scomparvero, rimpiazzate da tre squadre tedesche: i Berlin Thunder, i Cologne Centurions e gli Hamburg Sea Devils. Gli Amsterdam Admirals rimasero così l’unica squadra della NFL Europe fuori dalla Germania.
Nonostante la media spettatori fosse aumentata, grazie al consolidamento delle squadre in città che davano maggior sostegno, questo non bastò a convincere la NFL a mantenere in vita la lega. La National Football League e i proprietari delle squadre decisero che non aveva senso investire in una lega di sviluppo e decisero di chiudere tutto. La lega chiuse i battenti dopo la stagione 2007, e da quel momento in poi non c’è stato nessun tentativo di rimpiazzarla.
È facile criticare questa scelta, dato che i tifosi europei restarono, e lo sono tuttora, delusi dal fatto che alla lega non venne dato tempo a sufficienza per svilupparsi. Tuttavia, da quando la NFL Europe non c’è più, si sono create delle situazioni interessanti.
Per i novizi, la NFL ha continuato a impegnarsi per promuovere la propria immagine in Europa istituendo le NFL International Series subito dopo la chiusura della NFL Europe. Nel 2007 si è disputata la prima partita di regular season in Europa, in cui i New York Giants (che poi vinsero il Super Bowl) hanno sconfitto di misura i Miami Dolphins per 13-10. Da quel momento si è giocata una partita di regular season a Wembley ogni anno. Dal 2013, le partite sono diventate due e quest’anno Wembley ospiterà 3 partite di regular season. L’intero processo ha fatto in modo che i tifosi europei focalizzassero la propria attenzione sulla NFL, il campionato di qualità superiore.
Il football europeo è cresciuto in maniera esponenziale dopo la chiusura della NFL Europe. L’aumento di interesse nei paesi europei e la possibilità di vedere l’NFL via internet o sui canali locali sono tra i principali motivi di questa crescita. Lo sviluppo tecnologico e la maggior possibilità di connettersi a internet hanno migliorato lo status della NFL fuori dai confini americani, e il football in Europa sta crescendo più velocemente rispetto ad altre parti del mondo. Piano piano stanno aumentando anche i giocatori europei presenti in NFL, per esempio Sebastian Vollmer (Germania), Sebastian Janikowski (Polonia), Michael Roos (Estonia), Margus Hunt (Estonia), Osi Umenyiora (Inghilterra), Zoltan Mesko (Romania) e Lawrence Tynes (Scozia). Il risultato è stato un maggiore interesse per il football nei paesi d’origine di questi giocatori.
Quando esisteva l’NFL Europe (1991-1992, 1995-2007), i tifosi europei avevano poche possibilità di vedere le partite della NFL. Conoscevano invece le squadre della NFL Europe, che cambiavano giocatori in continuazione, che non investivano sul marketing a livello locale e che non suscitavano interesse. I giocatori restavano in squadra per un anno, per poi andare a giocare in NFL, CFL o nei campionati di arena football. I tifosi iniziarono a perdere interesse perché le squadre davano ai loro giocatori preferiti la possibilità di andarsene dopo un solo campionato. Anche se il livello di football era alto, gli spettatori stavano comunque guardando dei giocatori americani di seconda fascia invece di guardare giocatori europei di prima fascia. Per di più, molte squadre chiudevano e il futuro della lega sembrava a dir poco incerto. Tutto questo portò a una mancanza di attaccamento alle squadre da parte dei tifosi, che impedì la crescita della lega.
Oggi, i tifosi europei hanno a disposizione la migliore copertura mediatica possibile per seguire il football. I campionati nazionali crescono rapidamente, e ogni settimana nasce una nuova squadra. In paesi come la Gran Bretagna, la Germania, la Francia e l’Italia esistono centinaia di squadre, sia giovanili che senior. A conferma del grande interesse che suscita il football, in molti paesi esistono squadre di flag football e di football femminile. I tifosi hanno inoltre la possibilità di guardare le partite della NFL sui canali TV locali, in streaming su NFL Game Pass, o dal vivo a Londra.
La chiusura della NFL Europe non ha necessariamente portato a questi sviluppi, ma ha permesso al più grande campionato del mondo di concentrare le proprie forze nell’espandere la propria immagine. Grazie a Internet ora è possibile guardare la NFL in tutto il mondo, e questo ha favorito la crescita esponenziale del football in Europa che, a breve, potrebbe ospitare una squadra NFL a Londra. Che succeda o meno, continueremo a trarre benefici dalla crescita del football in Europa.
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