AMNRL V's NFL

[SHAGMOP]

does anyone think that Rugby Leauge can maybe one day take over as prime football sport watched iin the United states. it happened down here. Rugby Union was the main sport brought over by the poms and we created our own version (Rugby Leauge) which is more popular today.

 

[Anonymous]

No. Not in a million years.

Ummmm, we didn't create league either - it was another UK import.

 

[TheFirstRabbitoh]

(I'll repeat that, now that I'm logged in).

No, not in a million years.

Mate, there are, at time of counting, at least eight other codes of football bigger than rugby league in the USA.

There's a niche for it, but don't get too far ahead of yourself.

 

[SHAGMOP]

There's a niche for it, but don't get too far ahead of yourself.

dont worry. im not. believe me i like NFL better than rugby league so i would hate to see it take over.

 

[Stevo_G]

better chances of winning lotto than that

 

[joshreading]

I think RL could one day become 'the other code that people watch' in the off season. If that could happen, RL would be watched by ten times more people in the US then Australia.

 

[In-goal]

Rugby League invented in Australia :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Razor]

at least eight other codes of football bigger than rugby league in the USA..

1. American Football
2. Soccer
3. Rugby Union

What other types of football? Aussie Rules & Gaelic Football aren't bigger than RL there. What other types of football are there? Arena football is just like American Football only indoors. Indoor soccer is just soccer indoors.

 

[incredible_holc]

aussie rules is bigger

and i suspect gaelic is to

 

[Razor]

aussie rules is bigger

and i suspect gaelic is to

And the other 3?

 

[TheFirstRabbitoh]

Gaelic is surprisingly big - more Irish in the USA than Ireland (an exagerration, but you get the picture)

Union, Aussie Rules, Gaelic, Futsal, soccer, arena, real gridiron.

That's seven. Unless you don't want to count futsal and soccer, or arena and gridiron as different sports, in which case there are five.

Though - arguably they're more different from their parent codes than union and league are.

 

[TheFirstRabbitoh]

Aussie Rules & Gaelic Football aren't bigger than RL there.

There are 50 or so Aussie Rules clubs in the USA.

There are 50 gaelic football clubs in New York alone.

 

[Razor]

Aussie Rules & Gaelic Football aren't bigger than RL there.

There are 50 or so Aussie Rules clubs in the USA.

There are 70 RL clubs I think. (at least 40 anyway - have the list somewhere)

8 play in the AMNRL. But others play in localised comps.

 

[TheFirstRabbitoh]

Dude, there are no RL clubs outside the AmNRL in the USA.

ANyway - the AmNRL IS a localised comp, the two pools are the north/south groups of the eight clubs, which are currently only in the central north east.

 

[yankeeboy]

There are 70 RL clubs I think. (at least 40 anyway - have the list somewhere)

8 play in the AMNRL. But others play in localised comps.

If you have this list, I'd love to see it. The AMNRL is the only comp I've heard of, but if there are more, I would like to see them.

 

[hot dog]

Why don't you boys hop on over some day and we'll take a ride down to Van Cortland Park. That's the only place they play Gaelic or Aussie rules in NY.

Its the only Gaelic little setup in the US. Aussie Rules is a bit bigger but the same size as the AMNRL.

NFL football owns Arena footbal - they are one and the same code.
Soccer is gaining very fast and is much bigger that Union and footy combined.
Union is much bigger than footy here.

That's it......Football, soccer, Union, footy.

 

[roopy]

There are 70 RL clubs I think. (at least 40 anyway - have the list somewhere)

8 play in the AMNRL. But others play in localised comps.

If you have this list, I'd love to see it. The AMNRL is the only comp I've heard of, but if there are more, I would like to see them.

Razor usually knows his stuff, but he is wrong in this case. I think he must have done a search and come up with a comp known as the 'Rugby Super League', which is a Union comp. When I first saw it I thought it was League as well, but it is Union.

 

[XXXX]

"There are 50 or so Aussie Rules clubs in the USA.
There are 50 gaelic football clubs in New York alone."

A third of all AFCs now run metro leagues .New York afc has 4 metro teams and plays in the NEAFL as well as playing against Gealic teams (which are much more numerous) usually at International Rules .There is also Tag and Women's AFL .

I think RL has a chance but it would have to conquer OZ first .

 

[yankeeboy]

Yeah, the Super League name for Union can get confusing.

There are at least 1,200 Union clubs in America.

There are 40 Aussie Rules clubs in America according to the US Footy website. Then, several clubs run "metro" leagues, which are 9-a-side teams played on soccer fields. They are usually based in smaller suburbs, and play in the off-season.

There are 16 GAA men's football clubs in the NY metropolitan area, and 48 more in the rest of the US (for a total of 64).

Almost every middle and high school in America has gridiron and soccer teams(I have no idea how many teams that would be, but I'd say at least 100,000). Not to mention the numerous club and "select" soccer teams, and the other organizations that also run football and soccer leagues.

Unfortunately, League only has 8 clubs, which would put it in last place in terms of number of clubs.

 

[CanadianSteve]

I don't think the NFL owns Arena football, but I could be wrong. Whether it's a separate "code" or not is a matter of opinion.

In the late 80s or early 90s one of the US sports networks, probably ESPN, started showing Aussie Rules, and it became well-known. I remember seeing a game when the comp was called the VFL, which I think preceded the AFL, so it was a while ago. I don't know if the Aussie rules clubs in the US started as a result of that TV exposure, or if they were already there, started by ex-pat Aussies. I do think the interest in Rules was kind of a fad, and it's died down now.

I don't know why RL can't get on TV here and receive a similar boost in awareness and popularity. But I think it would be confusing to the average US sports fan, who wouldn't know that there are 2 different codes of rugby. (There are lots of ex-pats who do know, of course, but I'm talking about the average US sports fan.) Also, Union has a much bigger grass roots in the US, but it is still a very marginal sport. When the US team won its first game in the Union WC, the coach was asked if it would be a big boost to the sport back home. He said to be honest he didn't think most people would notice. You can say that Americans would like league better than union if they got to know it, and that may well be (because it's easier to understand, and closer to gridiron than union is), but I don't know if it's ever going to happen - not for a long time anyway.

Maybe if league had a different name it could make a splash in the US as a brand new sport, without being confused with rugby union. Something like Tackleball, perhaps.