Does The NFL Need A Euros Style Tournament?
Unless you have been living under a rock you would have seen that over in Europe, the European Championships has been taking the world by storm and entertaining the masses.
As someone who very rarely watches soccer, I decided that this tournament would be something fun to watch to see if I can get into the sport that is a global phenomenon and the most popular sport in the world.
Having watched around 10 soccer matches now I will consider myself a fan. The first game I watched was the opening game with Germany and Scotland and this game already set the tone of the tournament. With tackles flying in, goals galore, people being sent off and big decisions. This felt like the perfect game to first watch as it really got me enthralled with the sport and got me excited to watch more Germany games.
What Have I learned?
As an entry-level soccer fan, being thrown into the deep end with a full-blown tournament is a bit intimidating but it has been perfect for me. An international tournament gives me the opportunity of being able to see a lot of the world's best players and see how people play and mesh together.
The thing about these tournaments is the fact that they get players from all around the world who wouldn't usually play each other and have them face each other. Some nations are blessed with a lot of talent and star-studded teams and when they play each other it brings soccer fans together and gets them excited and I am a part of this now.
My first big game of the tournament between two of the biggest nations was Spain Vs Croatia and my excitement was immense considering the little time I had spent watching the tournament at this point. I remember before this game trying to find the best Euro 2024 odds winner so I could pick who would win the game and the tournament and that was early into me watching it. A few weeks later and as the group stage closes I am eager to see the knockout stages and see teams fight for their progression in this tournament.
Would This Work In The NFL?
I think the main thing that I love about soccer is the global impact and fans that it has. A lot of nations around the world are obsessed with soccer and unfortunately for the US, the NFL doesn't get that treatment.
The reasons why are unknown to me, I think a part of it is the fans of the NFL and their ignorance towards soccer and ignoring the name football. I know this is hypocritical because I have called it soccer the entire time but I still do understand that it is football to most of the world and we should respect that instead of saying that our football is football and the rest of the world is wrong. Because the NFL does not have the global reach that football has, it means fewer players are from anywhere in the world other than the US which makes an international tournament challenging.
Could It Happen One Day?
I do think that globally the perception of football is changing and becoming more popular, with England being one of the nations that welcome it the most. Stadiums in London like the Tottenham Hotspur stadium have become one of the NFL's global homes and welcome tens of thousands of fans a year. If this carries on and the global appeal stretches further, I think eventually enough people will be interested in learning to play football and bringing more young attention to the sport.
I think within the next twenty years as the sport grows and changes, more fans around the world will enjoy the sport and some of the younger generation will grow up with excitement to play and pursue football this is when we can have our own international tournament.