Those of us wrapped up in the world of NFL football sometimes wind up with a skewed view of the game’s importance on an international scale. The reality is that American football is really only supremely popular — fittingly — in America. And even on United States soil, more folks play basketball and soccer than football.
The game is widely popular on American television and, as a result, generates revenue that is nearly unmatched by any other sporting entity in the world. But that doesn’t mean it’s popular beyond some very specific yet passionate parts of one country.
That’s why it wasn’t surprising to see that the committee behind the 2010 Olympic Games in Tokyo has rejected football as a potential sport for that event. The game just isn’t popular enough in enough countries, and including it would make for boring blowouts and embarrassing performances from almost anyone except the United States.
Look no further than the 2011 IFAF World Championship of American Football, which didn’t involve any active NFL players. And yet the United States still defeated Canada by a score of 50-7 in the championship. The U.S. won its three preliminary games by a combined score of 126-14, and that Canada team that was blown out in the gold-medal game actually outscored its competition 112-51 during the group stage.
A sport has to be more worldly and more competitive on an international scale before it should be brought to an Olympic-sized table. Throw in the logistical nightmare of somehow having countries play multiple football games in one two-week window and including American football in the Olympics seems like a downright silly idea.
