Brace yourself for the day of the zombie.
Those of you in the office on Monday morning will see them wandering around in a haze, clutching over-sized coffee cups and dodging conversation. Those working from home may (or may not) notice them on the Zoom call, the ones with the mute button and camera switched off for the duration.
Bleary-eyed and praying they can make it through until 5pm, they are members of the UK’s growing American Football audience and they all have one thing in common – they each stayed up until 4am to watch the Super Bowl.
In the UK, more than 14 million people call themselves NFL fans. Pictured: Fans at 2019 NFL London game between the Carolina Panthers and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium has provided a stunning backdrop for NFL games in the UK
More than 5,000 miles from Los Angeles’ SoFi stadium, where the upstart Cincinatti Bengals face the hometown Rams, the NFL is big business.
Decades after humble beginnings on Channel Four and jokes about Dynasty-esque shoulder pads, more than 14 million in the UK say they are fans of the sport. Four million of that staggering figure – which has doubled in the past decade – describe themselves as ‘avid’. The zombie army is on the march.
On Sunday night, multiple bars in every major city will host watching parties for the big show. It is not a one-off. Many host NFL-themed nights every Sunday during the season, where punters can stick their giant jerseys on, gorge on Buffalo wings and sip Bud Light with likeminded souls in front of a big screen or seven displaying Sky’s excellent coverage on its own, dedicated NFL channel.
The best bit for the bean counters? The demographic. Huge numbers of those who dedicate their time and money to the cause are from the sought-after younger market.
A Zombie Army will stay up late to watch quarterbacks Joe Burrow of the Bengals (left) and Matthew Stafford of the Rams (right) go head to head in the 2022 Super Bowl
And when the game comes here, those figures are laid bare. In 2007, the first 40,000 tickets for the first international series match at Wembley between the Miami Dolphins and New York Giants, sold in 90 minutes. Fifteen years later, little has changed.
Last year’s two London games drew 121,000 to Tottenham’s new, purpose-built stadium. Around 3.5m tuned in to television coverage which showed a ratings jump of 15 per cent.
On social media, there were 4.5m video views and 415,000 engagements over the two game weeks.
Head of NFL Europe and UK, Brett Gosper tells Sportsmail he believes a London-based franchise is inevitable
It is a marketer’s dream, and it is a marketeer who is in charge. Brett Gosper, a former advertising exec, is the head of NFL Europe and UK has been in post for 12 months. The Australian arrived from a successful, eight-year stint at World Rugby and, earlier in a wide and varied career, worked for the legendary Ogilvy and Mather agency.
The first question is the obvious one. Is London finally going to get its own franchise?
‘I think it will happen one day,’ says Gosper. ‘I’d love to put a timeline on it. I think this is too big of a market in every way – given the global ambitions of the NFL. A team one day in London is a very real possibility.’
The traditional perception is that the UK needs to show it has the interest and fanbase to support a franchise should one decide to cross the Pond, and that has long-since been established. But Gosper outlines what else needs to happen before the dream becomes a reality.
‘There are wider issues on placement of players, the players’ union, tax,’ he explains.
‘What does it mean for the media deal for next 10 years, games in this time-zone? I think we have proved that there is a fanbase here that’s sufficient to support a franchise. More than enough. I think there are several stadiums, the Tottenham stadium that’s purpose-built. But there are other questions that need answering that would lead to more comfort in that area.’
Gosper goes on to make a fair point. ‘Its not easy to pick up 50-odd players and move them into this part of the world,’ he explains. ‘Tax, personal, family. It requires thorough thinking through with all parties.’
Gosper’s reservations on a UK-based team surround tax complications and the players’ union
The popularity of NFL among UK fans is soaring, particularly in the young adult demographic
Not that he thinks the location would be a hard sell to a kid from, say the heart of the Midwest who may not have grown up dreaming to play in England, rather than New England.
‘I think you dream of playing for an NFL team,’ Gosper says. ‘I don’t think where it is matters. London may be more exciting than most places for those coming out of college.’
But there may be competition to the east, rather than the west. Germany, another market the global domination-hungry NFL is keen to exploit, is set to host games and will open an office. Should the UK be worried?
‘No,’ says Gosper. ‘It’s a supplementary complementary area in which we are deploying resources. I don’t think the UK should not be worried at all. Eventually it will lead to a higher volume of games in Europe.
‘So many Germans fly to London – as many as 10 per cent of the crowd. I think you’ll get people flying in to Germany from London. It’s another opportunity to see games.’
Last year’s two London games drew 121,000 to Tottenham’s new, purpose-built stadium
Gosper has a reputation as a man who gets things done.
At World Rugby he delivered a lucrative 2015 World Cup in England, the £260m surplus from which you would imagine has come in very handy in recent, pandemic times. Record-breaking revenue at the 2019 version, in Japan, was his parting shot.
Does the 62-year-old want a London franchise to be his legacy here? Is the aim to get those zombies get a team on their own soil?
‘There are no discussions about an imminent franchise here at the moment,’ he says.
‘We’ve always said our job is to make that decision easier for someone contemplating it. But maybe we need to push that contemplation a bit further than it has been before. It would make good sense for a team in London economically. We need to push it.’
Super Bowl LVI is being held in Los Angeles, meaning UK fans will be up until 4am to watch it
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