American sports are certainly much bigger now in the UK than they were a decade or so ago, but it’s fair to say that they still lag behind sports like football and rugby. For many fans, the NFL, NBA and MLB are sports you follow alongside the sports you already follow and alongside your club, not instead of. What’s changed is visibility, with major games being staged in London, highlights watchable everywhere, and big events such as the Super Bowl now being a must-watch.
How The NFL Has Broken Through
If you were to ask which American sport has made the breakthrough in the UK, it’s the NFL. Regular-season games in London have normalised the sport, taking it from novelty and turning it into routine, with the Super Bowl becoming appointment viewing. The Super Bowl delivers millions of unique viewers across multiple platforms and is consistently the most-watched NFL game on record each season. That audience matters because it feeds into everything else, like grassroots American football, fantasy leagues, merchandise and more.
MLB’s London Series Is On The Rise
Baseball is still more niche than the NFL, but the MLB London series is proving that live US sports can draw big crowds. The 2024 London Series game between the Phillies and the Mets, for example, was watched by close to 110,000 paying customers across two games at the London Stadium, a figure that proves the “festival weekend” format travels well. Crucially, MLB has also pushed broadcast accessibility in the UK, which is helping to transform it into a habit for viewers rather than a one-off.
The NBA Returns To London
The NBA fanbase in the UK is long-standing, but the lack of games played in Britain in the last few years has seen the casual buzz cool off. However, that has all changed as the NBA finally returned to London in January at The O2, with the game between the Memphis Grizzlies and the Orlando Magic being the first hosted in the city since 2019, and the tenth match in total. With highlights purpose-built for social media and a strong streetwear culture, the NBA fits modern fan behaviour in a big way, so the return to London should see the buzz return.
How Games Are Driving Interest
For American sports fans in the UK, the NFL and the NBA are easier to learn through play than a rulebook. Video games like Madden and NBA 2K act as interactive gateways, teaching players everything they need to know about the respective sports. Once you’ve played these sports on console, watching on TV makes much more sense. Fantasy sports and mobile apps have similar effects.
It’s not just traditional sports games, either. Online casino games, such as slots, also carry American sports themes, serving as another route through which US iconography such as teams and stadiums, show up in British entertainment culture.
Conclusion
American sports are big enough to fill major venues, pull in millions of TV viewers for flagship events and sustain online and offline communities year-round. But being big in the UK currently means supplementary. The next step is to go from sports that people watch casually or when there’s a big event on to a primary passion. With more games taking place in the UK, and especially London, it’s a step that American sports can take in the coming years, but they must stay consistent in their efforts.
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