american football in the uk - dissertation

7/28/2019 American Football in the UK - Dissertation

1/35

This Project is submitted in part fulfilment of therequirements for the Degree of BA with Honours inSports Management at the Manchester MetropolitanUniversity Business School.

Examining the factors that would affect the NationalFootball League's plans to expand in the UK market

Oliver Dawes18th March 2013.


2/35

This Research Project is an original and authenticpiece of work by me. I have fully acknowledged and

referenced all secondary sources used. It has notbeen presented in whole or in part for assessmentelsewhere. I have read the Examination Regulations,and am fully aware of the potential consequences ofany breach of them.

. 18th March 2013.


3/35

Abstract

This paper investigates the various factors that would impact the intended globalexpansion strategy of the National Football League. It features consideration of

globalisation and its impact on the sport industry, the nature of the National FootballLeague's previous attempts of global marketing, how American Football fans in Englandand the UK would perceive an NFL team playing their home games in London, and howfans in America have reacted to team relocations in the past. The existing literatureavailable will be assessed to understand each of these aspects.

Questionnaire surveys were used as a primary research method in order to gainquantitative and qualitative information from a study group of American Football fans in theUK. The findings indicate that the interest in American Football in Britain is far greater thanprevious academics have documented, and many opinions surrounding the popularity ofAmerican Football in the UK were proven incorrect through the research. The research

found that there are a number of factors that would affect the success of any expansionplan, but also offers some recommendations for the future of the sport in Britain.


4/35

Acknowledgements

There are a number of acknowledgements I would like to make.

Firstly, thanks to Steve Mansfield, who has been a great lecturer and mentor during mytime at the University.

Secondly, to friend Holly Wrigley for proof-reading at short notice and offering greatadvice throughout.

Finally to a great group of people who took part in the study all gave up their time to helpcomplete the study and it wouldn't have been possible without their contributions.


5/35

Contents Page

Statement of Ownership 2Abstract 3Acknowledgements 4Key Abbreviations and Phrases 6Chapter 1 Introduction 7

1.1 Background 71.2 Key Research Objectives 81.3 Hypothesis 8

Chapter 2 Literature Review 92.1 Introduction 92.2 Globalisation in sport and the growth of the NFL in Britain 92.3 Failure of NFL Europe 112.4 Relocation of NFL franchises 122.5 Conclusions 13

Chapter 3 Research Method and Strategy 153.1 Introduction 153.2 Theoretical Approach 153.3 Justification of Research Methods 163.4 Handling the Data 163.5 Research Ethics 17

Chapter 4 Findings 19

4.1 Fan Allegiances 194.2 Length of active participation of support 204.3 Physicality of the game and reasons fans watch 214.4 Prolonged interest in the International Series 214.5 Participation in England 224.6 Potential for British League 26

Chapter 5 Conclusions and Recommendations 285.1 Introduction 285.2 Research Aim 1 285.3 Research Aim 2 29

5.4 Research Aim 3 295.5 Research Aim 4 305.6 Research Aim 5 305.7 Recommendations 315.8 Critical Reflection 32

References 33Appendices 35


6/35

Key Abbreviations and Phrases

B.A.F.L British American Football League

NFL National Football League

U.K. United Kingdom

U.S. United States of America

Commissioner Highest executive position in the NFL, held by Roger Goodell

Grass-roots Covering amateur participation


7/35

Chapter 1

Introduction

I think London has shown, with the way theyve handled the Olympics and everyother major sporting event, that its time for you to have your own NFL franchise,

based in London.

Robert Kraft, New England Patriots owner

1.1 Background

The National Football League is a key part of the sporting scene in the United States of

America, shown by a recent study that found that 34% of adults polled declared thatAmerican Football was their favourite sport, making it the most popular sport in America.(Advertising Age, 2013)

However, before it became a brand as it is today, the National Football League had imageproblems. There was a belief that professional football players were bloodthirsty andbloodless, whilst the professional game lacked the pageantry and spectacle of collegefootball. (Oriard, 2010)

Eventually, through improvements in play, organisational change and more attention fromnational media outlets, the National Football League became a staple of American society

and culture, and that popularity has transcended to Britain. With a number of Britishtelevision channels buying the rights to show NFL games, the number of fans in the UK isrising each year, adding to an already relatively large fan base that was, in part, generatedover the last thirty years.

The NFL achieved considerable, albeit fleeting, success in penetrating the UK sportsmarket during the 1980's (Maguire, 2005), but their plans for further targeting of the UKcame to fruition in 1996, as NFL International was formed amidst plans to further promotethe sport abroad (Ming et al, 2011).

Rather than promote spinoff leagues, the NFL introduced the new NFL InternationalSeries, a program that exports real NFL games overseas (Lamb et al, 2011), and the firstof those games took place in Mexico, but after one game there, the International Seriesmade its way to Wembley Stadium in 2007, as the Miami Dolphins played the New YorkGiants in front of a sellout crowd.

There has been a game at Wembley Stadium every year since, and recently the NFLannounced that there will be two games played in London in 2013, posing questions abouttheir long term plans for expansion in the British market.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell recently announced that the idea of hosting the Super

Bowl in London had been discussed, as well as the eventual full time relocation of a teamto England too. Upon these revelations, the notion of more involvement from the NFL inthe UK became even more serious.


8/35

1.2 Key Research Objectives

The aim of the research project is to investigate the various factors that might influence theNFL's plans to expand American Football in the United Kingdom. In particular, it will focuson globalisation in sport, and how a sport can become a worldwide interest, how the NFL's

plans would affect participation in Britain and how people, both fans of American Footballperceive the sports increasing involvement in the UK.

The key objectives for this research project are listed below.

1. How do fans in the UK perceive the sport?2. How do fans think further games or a franchise in the UK would succeed or fail?3. Examine how NFL Europe failed and the measures the NFL can take to mitigate

against the possibility of a repeat situation4. How do fans in America react to a franchise being relocated?5. How does globalisation occur in sport?

The first two objectives will be achieved through a questionnaire that will be given to fans,which will feature a number of questions to generate answers, whilst the final threeobjectives will be achieved through using existing theory, literature and framework toprovide an ultimate outcome.

1.3 Hypothesis

The results of the research that has been conducted to investigate objectives one and twoare expected to show that the amount of American Football fans in the UK is growing, andthey want to see more influence from the NFL in the UK both in terms of the InternationalSeries at Wembley Stadium and from the perspective of grass-roots participation. The thirdobjective will analyse how the plans for expansion could resemble those of NFL Europefrom the 1990's, which failed due to a lack of support. To determine how successful anynew plans would be, the research will turn focus towards why NFL Europe failed and howthe NFL can learn from the mistakes they made with that project. The research is expectedto show that the NFL assumed that the growth would be continuous and that they didn'tmarket the product to the grass-roots level well enough. Another focus is to study howAmerican fans have reacted to franchises relocating to different cities in America. Theexpected results are that Americans react with a high level of hostility, and would likely dosimilar if a team was relocated to London, which has been suggested. Finally, there will be

consideration for globalisation in sport, which has occurred in recent years, and the it'santicipated to show that the advances in technology and television coverage have made itmore viable to market a sport abroad.

Through using a combination of primary and secondary research, the overall aim is tounderstand the key factors that would affect the NFL's plans to expand in the UK, anddetermine recommendations from the research.


9/35

Chapter 2

Literature Review

2.1 Introduction

This chapter of the research project will provide an overview and analysis of the currentlyexisting literature available covering a number of topics relating to this project. The topicsreviewed are globalisation in sport, the failure of NFL Europe and the relocation of NFLfranchises. The purpose of the literature review is to gain a theoretical understanding ofthe topic, identify relevant academic models to aid in the achieving of the aims of theproject and to provide a basis for the whole project.

The topic of globalisation in sport is particularly relevant to the study due to the expansionof American Football in a country outside of its usual boundaries.. Being able to develop asport that transcends a number of countries is difficult, and there is already proof that thesporting preferences of UK and US markets are distinctly different. European football orsoccer hasn't had the same success as it has had elsewhere in the world, which showsthat not every business model is immediately transferable. If an organisation believes thatthe world is homogeneous and that their product will meet needs globally withoutadaptation, then setbacks should be expected, and as a result, other types of marketingwill be explored, such as glocalisation and Americanisation.

The failure of NFL Europe was highly publicised and one of the most recent mistakes

made by the NFL. This was ultimately another example of a product or service beingtransported to another place, where there are changes needed, but weren't made. In orderto gauge the factors that would influence the success of expanding the NFL into the Britishmarkets, there must be consideration for what went wrong when the idea of NFL Europewas conceived.

The relocation of NFL franchises is something that the UK sports consumer base won't betoo familiar with, other than with Wimbledon and Milton Keynes Dons, something whichcaused major backlash from fans involved, and even from other fans who stronglydisagreed with the idea of moving a team to a different location. When relocating a team,it's key to consider the reaction of their local fan base, how such a move would bereceived and even if the local fans in the UK will respond to a team being stationed inLondon.

2.2 Globalisation in sport and the recent growth of the NFL in Britain

A key to this research is to understand the concept of globalisation and its impact upon thesports industry. Globalisation can be defined as the process by which interaction betweenhumans, and the effect of this interaction, occurs across global distances with increasingregularity, intensity and speed. (Jarvie, 2006)

Like any other industry, globalisation also occurs in sport. The term global sport and theassociated processes of globalisation are not uncommon within discussions ofcontemporary sport, culture and society. The popularity of sports regularly transcend their


10/35

regular native countries. This is seen in the wide range of countries that the EnglishPremier League is now watched in, which has been developed over time, with the aid oftelevision coverage.

The plans to expand the NFL brand into the UK market is a prime example of globalisationin the sports industry, though there are a number of other forms that the expansion plans

can take.

Whilst globalisation suggests that a product or service is being mass marketedinternationally, the term Americanisation may be more appropriate. Americanisation can bedefined as the propagation of American ideas, customs, social patterns, language, industryand capital around the world. (Williams, cited in Campbell et al, 2004)

The concept of American Football being highly publicised in the UK is a case ofAmericanisation, and there is a certain level of opposition to this idea, as people aregenerally concerned that the power of a foreign influence will eventually assume controlover local tendencies.

However, because the idea of American Football is still relatively new to the UK, theremust be consideration for the local market and the nature of consumers in Britain. Thiswould instead be a case of glocalisation, which is the practice of conducting businessaccording to both local and global considerations. The United Kingdom isn't accustomed toseeing the sport, so tailoring the marketing to casual fans would be of importance to seeany long term success.

The sport is gaining more interest outside of America, though Maguire (1999) believes thatits impact outside of America and Canada is limited. This may have been applicable up toten years ago, but viewing figures have been rising year on year, and as a result the NFLhave decided to take advantage of the popularity abroad by creating the InternationalSeries.

One of the main reasons for the sudden rise in NFL fans in the UK is because of changesin relationships between sport and broadcasting have been important in accelerating theglobalisation of the sports market, according to Collins and Trenberth. The coverage bychannels such as Sky Sports, Channel 4 and BBC have offered fans more opportunities towatch the game and increase the fan base in the UK.

Additionally, Jozsa (2004) believes that the popularity was driven by a modest contraction

of professional soccer league teams fan bases in Britain because of hooliganism androwdy behaviour by spectators who attended their games. As a result, those fans soughtalternative sports to watch, and the NFL suddenly grew more popular and the league'sgames appeared throughout England on terrestrial channels.

However, a sign of the perception of the NFL during that time was evident as during theearly 1990's, the novelty of the sport had waned and as a result, Britain's passion for aninterest in American Football and the NFL began to fade.

The NFL have already begun to expand into markets other than the UK. Plunkett (2009)states that the NFL have six priority markets split into three tiers Mexico and Canada in

the near term, England and Germany in the mid term, and China and Japan in the longterm.


11/35

The likelihood is that the NFL are currently prioritising the UK because of the financialgains attached to proposed expansions. The NFL will have strongly considered thestatistics, which show a 154% rise in viewing figures since 2006, a 4.3m combined TVand radio audience for last year's Super Bowl and a 32% increase in its "avid fanbase" oftwo million UK supporters (Guardian, 2012)

2.3 Failure of NFL Europe

When the NFL realised that they have to explore new markets outside their NorthAmerican home base in order to build their brand, they established the World League ofAmerican Football (later known as NFL Europe League, NFL Europe and NFL Europa).(Buhler & Nufer, 2012)

Lussier and Kimball (2009) introduce the concept of NFL Europe - in 1991, to globaliseAmerican Football, the NFL developed the NFL Europe subsidiary. They state that thepurpose of starting such a league was to assign players for development purposes to thesix teams in the league. As a result, players who weren't signed by teams would be able

to play in NFL Europe, gaining valuable match experience to further their careers. Theleague did produce players for the NFL, including Jon Kitna and Kurt Warner.

However, NFL Europe ultimately failed, and was eventually disbanded in 2007. Markovitzand Rensmann (2010) say the closure of NFL Europe was inevitable, because by trying toimpose an entire sports culture and language from above, without any foundation on whichto build, it never succeeded in giving its product a real core.

NFL Europe suffered from limited fan interest and nearly total ignorance of its existenceby NFL fans in the United States (Nauright and Parrish, 2012). Because of the relativeoriginality of the sport during it's inception in this country, people continued to watch thesports that they have become accustomed to. NFL Europe struggled to divert attentionaway from those sports, and subsequently suffered competitive pressures...due to thepresence of popular team sports in Europe, such as basketball, cricket, ice hockey, rugbyand soccer according to Jozsa and Maxymuk (2010).

Rosner and Shropshire believe that past efforts of exporting the game have stuttered. TheNFL has decided that there is no point offering second-rate fare. Mark Waller, whooversaw the NFL's overseas operations, backed up those claims by saying It's got to bethe NFL it can't be the European league.

It's evident from the available literature that the failure of NFL Europe can, in part, beattributed to a diluted product that didn't grab the attention of a foreign market. This helpsus to understand what the NFL will be able to do differently when expanding in the UK, asthey should be able to learn from their mistakes and produce what the crowds really want.

Guttman supports this opinion by suggesting that it may be that the intrinsic characteristicsof the game it's complexity or its extraordinary level of physical violence will limit theproposed expansion, but the NFL seems determined to continue playing the globalisationgame. The notion that the physical nature of the sport will deter people in Britain fromwatching American Football seems misplaced, and the primary research conducted isexpected to oppose Guttman's view.

But the main area attributed to NFL Europe's demise was their failure to send theirmessage out to levels beyond the mainstream. It's stated by Ming et al, that there was a


12/35

lack of focus on grass-roots development. Since NFL Europe disbanded, the NFL havetaken extra measures to make sure they engage with amateur American footballorganisations. The same must be done to keep fans interested in the sport, as the buzzsurrounding American Football in the 1990's in Britain slowly fizzled out.

With the international series now returning for two more games in 2013, maintaining

interest levels in foreign markets has to be a priority for the NFL and NFL International.

2.4 Relocation of NFL franchises

Something that sets the NFL apart from the Premier League is that teams can activelyrelocate to other cities in America if their proposals are accepted. If a team is struggling toattract fans to watch their team, they could move their team to a more affluent city or statein the country in search of increased revenue. Ultimately, the ability to move a team opensup the possibility of a current team in the NFL moving to the UK, though it still seemsunlikely the expansion plans would include such a venture.

Jozsa and Guthrie (1999) claim Franchise relocation is a natural adjustment to marketconditions and no person or institution is better equipped than an owner to make suchdecisions But often, the owners make decisions that benefit the team monetarily.

Foster and Hyatt believe that the fans of the teams have five different ways to identify witha relocated team; identification, disidentification, schizoidentifcation, neutral identificationand nonidentification. The first type of identification is the regular type of connection youform with a sporting team that you support. Disidentification is where a supporter wouldtotally disengage their own identity from that of the team it is noted that these supporterscan become dangerous or disruptive. This situation was realised when the ClevelandBrowns relocated to Baltimore in 1996. Fans were visibly upset that their team was beingremoved from their local identity, and proceeded to tear seats out of the stadium andcause serious damage to the venue.

Schizoidentification is where the supporter wouldn't be able to decide whether they identifyor disidentify with the organisation. Foster and Hyatt (2007) believe that it may be that theyonly identify with some parts, values and ideas of the organisation.

Neutral identification The supporter would have an intentionally impartial relationshipattachment with the organisation's identity (Elsbach, 1999). The supporter would wouldhave little perception on the team as they display neither positive nor negative feelings on

the organisation, whilst people who show nonidentification simply wouldn't care aboutanything the organisation participated in. This shows a certain disgruntlement at the team'sreason to relocate, and a deliberate attempt to disassociate themselves with theorganisation without causing harm.

The idea of fan identification during a potential relocation to London is something that mustbe considered. Moving a team to London is an idea that has been suggested for twoteams based in Florida Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Jacksonville Jaguars and if thiscomes to fruition, their fans will show differing stages of identification.

As well as the fans of the teams potentially moving to London, it's important to to consider

the allegiances of NFL fans who already reside in Britain. Most of the NFL fans in thecountry already have teams that they support, especially with an estimated avid fanbase of2 millions fans. If those fans show neutral identification because of existing support for


13/35

another team, then the expansion plans could produce the same problems that NFLEurope did, where they struggle to attract regular crowds. This issue will be tackled in theresearch study, and is expected to confirm that fans would not change their allegiances.

When considering the loyalty of British fans to their existing teams and their support for apotential British franchise, the Hunt et al (1999) theory on fan devotion provides a good

basis. Hunt believes that you can categorise fans as one of five types of fan by howstrongly their affinity with the team is. These categories are:

Temporary

Local

Devoted

Fanatical

Dysfunctional

This particular ideology is relevant to the potential UK franchise, because there is almostcertainly going to be a wide range of fan loyalties to the team. Some fans will initially seethe franchise as something of a fad, with no serious intention of becoming a regularfollower, which would make them temporary. Local fans are likely to be fans of other NFLteams, but choose to attend matches because they live nearby and take an interest in thesport. Devoted fans are most likely to be fans that decide to support a UK team alongsideanother team that they support. They will attend matches because they're interested in theteam's performance, even if they don't necessarily live in close proximity to the stadium.Fanatical fans would be those that choose to support the UK team over any other team,but also fans that maybe develop a greater understanding of the game through attendingmore matches to become fanatical fans. Finally, dysfunctional fans are unlikely to begenerated early in the team's existence. Dysfunctional loyalty is built up over time, but ifthe plans for a team are continued over a number of years, then dysfunctional fans arelikely to be created.

As opposed to relocating a team to Britain, it seems more conceivable for the NFL toextend the International Series over a number of games, but with the aforementionedFlorida teams considering the move, there are a lot of external factors that need to beconsidered, and the fan allegiance is crucial. Without the constant financial backing offans, a team would struggle to survive particularly in the economic problems currently

being faced.

2.5 Conclusions

There are many conclusions to be drawn from the literature review that help form the basisof the empirical research.

The literature available on globalisation suggests that the growth of the NFL in Britain is afairly recent phenomenon, and one that isn't expected to last for a long time. Most of theliterature insists that the sport doesn't have much appeal outside of America, but theempirical research is expected to oppose this view greatly. Fans in the UK are generally

hoping for more involvement from the NFL and given that the organisation has recentlyexpanded its plans for the International Series, it's apparent that they are also enthusiasticabout the future of American Football in the UK.


14/35

The second topic studied from literature was the failure of NFL Europe and how the NFLcan learn from the mistakes they made on that project to make sure their expansion plansfor the UK achieve more success. The literature found that their project didn't reach themasses because there was a lack of attention given to grass-roots participation, but alsothat the novelty of American Football gradually wore off. To make sure this situation

doesn't repeat itself, the research will find out the level of interest a group of AmericanFootball fans have in the NFL continuing their influence in the UK.

Finally, the literature review looked at the historical reactions to NFL franchises relocatingand the association fans have with a team once they have relocated. The findings werethat fans can react angrily and show total disassociation with the team, as a form of protestagainst the relocation. To determine whether the moving of a team would be beneficial,there will be questions in the primary research, but the initial evidence suggest that itwould have a negative effect on both the franchise and the league's integrity.


15/35

Chapter 3

Research Model and Strategy

3.1 Introduction

The term research has different meanings to many academics, but Clifford Woody (ascited in Kumar, 2011) states that it comprises defining and redefining problems,formulating hypothesis or suggested solutions, collecting, organising and evaluating data,making deductions and reaching conclusions, and at last carefully listing the conclusionsto determine whether they fit the formulating hypothesis.

This research will attempt to fill all of those criteria through a series of methods, and thischapter is intended to demonstrate how they have been achieved and justification for themethods used to collect and analyse data.

3.2 Theoretical Approach

There are two main areas of theoretical approach for research in studies the inductiveresearch approach and the deductive research approach. With an inductive stance, theoryis the outcome of of research. In other words, the process of induction involves drawinggeneralisable inferences out of observations. Conversely, a deductive research approachinvolves a researcher, on the basis of what is known about a particular domain and oftheoretical considerations in relation to that domain, deduces a hypothesis that must besubjected to empirical scrutiny. (Bryman and Bell, 2007) The deductive research process isshown in Figure 1.

Figure 1; the deductive research process

Having analysed each available process, the decision was made that this research project


16/35

would feature a deductive research approach. The structure of the project matches that ofa deductive process, where the theory is analysed and studied, before assumptions andpredictions are made. To find out if the hypothesis was being backed up, the primaryresearch will aim to prove what the theory stated initially.

3.3 Justification of Research Methods

The chosen method of research is to utilise surveys. According to Mitchell and Jolley(2012), there are two main types of survey instrument: the first is questionnaire surveys, inwhich participants read the questions and then write their responses, and the second isinterview surveys, which involves participants hearing questions and then speak theirresponses.

For this particular survey, the research will take the form of the questionnaire surveys.They will be conducted through the internet and sent out to a number of people, ratherthan identifying potential subjects locally for interview surveys.

This form of research generally provides fewer incomplete questionnaires, and havetypically achieved higher completion rates than self-administered questionnaires have.(Babbie, 2012). Because of the efficient nature of this type of research, it presents a viablemethod of collecting research.

Additionally, because the questionnaires will be conducted with people who have alreadybeen identified and through electronic communication, this eliminates the random, face-to-face interviews that researchers may do for other topics. Hague (2004) states that whenthe interview is long or complicated, the street is not a place to carry out interviews thattake more than 5 to 10 minutes. because the nature of the questions will be surrounding atopic that not everybody is interested in, the results may not aid the research.

Also, Hague continues to argue that the interviewer avoidance factor is impossible tomeasure, but at times it is obvious from the space surrounding the interviewer that manypeople are crossing to the other side of the street. The research required a sample size of40 subjects, and interviewing in the street could prove too difficult and ultimately timeconsuming.

3.4 Handling the data

With the purpose of the research established and aspects of the structure detailed, it's now

necessary to decide a way to analyse the data collected from the questionnaires. Thereare two main types of research method qualitative and quantitative. Qualitative featuresa researcher describing kinds of characteristics of people and events without comparingevents in terms of measurements or amounts, whereas quantitative methods focusattention on measurements and amounts. (Murray Thomas, 2003)

Both methods have advantages and disadvantages, which must be considered in thisprocess, as they affect the style of questions used in the surveys. Qualitative questions aregenerally open ended, which can generate a number of different opinions and view,whereas quantitative questions tend to be closed-ended, looking for simple yes or noanswers to draw numerical conclusions from the results.

Qualitative research is popular in research projects because it enables researchers to asknew questions, answer different kinds of questions and readdress old questions. The aim


17/35

of quantitative research is to yield data that is richer in description and presumably, deeperin insight and understanding than closed-ended quantitative measures. (Monsen and vanHorn, 2007)

However, the results generated through quantitative research can often be unreliable. If aresearcher is only working on one person, or even a small focus group, the results are

likely to only be valid for that particular person or focus group. Therefore, one could notnecessarily make a generalisation from the results in the way that one could with theresults of a quantitative research study. (Kim, 2006)

Quantitative research, on the other hand, emphasises the production of precise andgeneralisable statistical findings. When we want to verify whether a cause produces aneffect in general, we are likely to use quantitative methods. (Rubin and Babbie, 2012)Quantitative research helps to determine a set number of people that believe in oneparticular thing, whereas qualitative would be used to understand why they believe so.

Having assessed both methods of data analysis, the research collected in this project will

feature both methods. While quantitative research is often less resource demanding andtime consuming, the qualitative approach provides a deeper understanding through a moredetailed interpretation and evaluation (Harrington and Booth in Rosenhauer, 2009).Additionally, (Amedeo et al, 2009) says it is not necessarily a matter of qualitative versusquantitative; rather, it is a matter of choosing the most appropriate choosing the mostappropriate methodology or mix of methodologies.

In the case of this research, it's beneficial to use both methods of research because it willenable the opportunity of using questions determining how long fans have watched theNFL, which will help demonstrate the effectiveness of previous expansion campaigns, butalso to seek a deeper understanding on how fans perceive the idea of expansion in theUK.

3.5 Research Ethics

In relation to the surveys to generate qualitative data, there should be no ethical issues.The people who will be answering questions are aware about what they participating in.Their results will be used as a foundation for the research, but there will be littleconsideration for personal matters. There is no requirement for perceivably sensitivequestions, which should put the subjects at ease when answering the questionnaire.

Survey research almost always involves a request that people provide us with theinformation about themselves that is not readily available. Hence, maintaining the norm ofconfidentiality is particularly important in survey research. (Babbie, 2010) Theseconsiderations will be evident in the research design, and anonymity will be factored in,even though there will be no personal questions that would make the subjects feeluncomfortable.

Andrew et al suggest that regardless of how questionnaires are completed, they requirethat the participants have at least minimal literacy proficiency in order to complete thesurvey. This is a valid concern for the creation of the questions, as Andrew et al go on tosay that for this reason, researchers should consider the typical literacy level of the target

population and make their questionnaires as clear and direct as possible. These factorswill be taken into consideration when writing out the questionnaire, as the same set ofquestions will be sent out to the study group and with no prior knowledge of their literacy


18/35

skills, the questions need to be clear to all.

In conclusion, the research design will factor in ethical considerations and be in line withusual research protocol, though the basis of the study isn't formed upon personalinformation.


19/35

Chapter 4

Research Findings

This chapter of the research project will be used to present and analyse the findings fromthe primary research conducted for this project. The questionnaires were carried outanonymously for confidentiality reasons, in line with the ethical stance stated above.

4.1 Fan Allegiances

As part of the research, there was a planned investigation to determine whether fans in theUK would simply abandon their current allegiances to a team in favour of supporting a newfranchise, who played their home games in London.

If the NFL decide to house a team in the UK, then there will naturally be a heavydependence on fan involvement. Fans may attend games as neutrals if they live locally,

but the research is expected to show that fans are unlikely to switch their allegiances awayfrom their current team in order to support a UK franchise, rather take an interest in theminstead.

The results matched the anticipation, even exceeding them. From a total of 47respondents, 35 of them almost 75% of the study group - indicated that they would notsimply switch teams, though they would take an active interest in the British team's results.

The results below do show that just seven people responded by saying they would switchtheir allegiance, whilst five stated that they were unsure until they were made aware ofcircumstances such as ticket pricing.

Illustration 1: Recently, Commissioner Goodell has suggested that one day, there may be an

NFL franchise based in London. Would you be inclined to support the London team over your

current NFL team?

Yes

No

Undecided


20/35

This result was expected, as fans in England are more loyal than most in America assume,but there were other outcomes that enhanced the view that fans would be averse to ateam being placed in England, as one respondent said the whole point of the NFL is thatit's an American product, so transplanting it here defeats the object. This is a case ofAmericanisation, which was analysed in the literature review. The product is inherentlyAmerican, and it may be that, in part, this quality which has attracted fans to the game,

therefore they don't want too much of a British influence on the game.

This opinion is mirrored by other people suggesting that they would not support an Englishfranchise over the team they currently support, with a minority vociferously stating thatthey don't want an NFL team in England.

4.2 Length of active participation in support

As the NFL have previously run expansion campaigns with NFL Europe and theInternational Series, it would be beneficial to establish whether fans started to watchgames around the times of the expansion schemes.

If the study finds that the current set of NFL fans in the UK began watching the sportaround the time of the expansion schemes, it signals that the English market is respondingpositively to the marketing campaigns of the NFL.

The figure below displays what the research produced. The results showed that almost50% of fans surveyed became fans since the inception of the International Series in 2007,with 23 of the 47 indicating they had actively been watching the NFL since they had seengames played at Wembley Stadium.

This is a clear indication that the level of support in England has risen since the NFLdecided to host NFL games in London. Media exposure is increased when the gameapproaches, which widens the range of people they reach with the campaign.

However, the research was expected to support the notion that during the 80's, support of

Illustration 2: How long have you been watching the NFL?

Since the International Series

2000-2006

1990-1999

Pre-1990

0

5

10

15

20

25


21/35

the NFL increased in the UK. The period from the 80's to late 90's contributes just 9 fans inthis study. Whilst this may not be representative of the whole of Britain, the research wasexpected to show more fans generated from the 1980's, when the NFL first started topenetrate the UK market.

Additionally, another question was posed to the study group, regarding whether there had

been a noticeable rise in the amount of fans since the inception of the International Series.Fans were asked whether they had personally noticed an increase in support of AmericanFootball in the UK.

The response was very one sided, as 40 of the 47 studied said that they have noticed anincrease in the amount of American Football fans in the UK since the International Seriesbegun.

This once again supports the idea that the International Series and increased involvementof the NFL in Britain is having a positive effect.

4.3 Physicality of the game and reasons fans watch

As mentioned in the literature review, Guttman stated that the extraordinary level ofphysical violence will limit the proposed expansion, which is something that the researchwas expected to oppose.

Alongside the tactical aspect of American Football, many respondents cited the physicalnature of the sport to be a reason for the interest. In fact, around half of the responsesfeatured the hard hitting as part of the attraction to the sport.

Guttman's theory was understandable given that non-contact sports such as cricket andtennis are popular in Britain, but it's apparent from the research that people are enticed bythe physicality, amongst other things.

Some of the other reasons stated for becoming interested in American Football were;

Intrigue as to why it's so popular in America

Friend recommendation

Enhanced TV coverage in England

Vacations to America, experienced popularity

Similarity to Rugby

Ultimately, the research shows that people are inclined to watch American Footballbecause it's another sport that they would like to explore and understand. The intriguefactor became a popular answer in the study, and particularly given friends or familyallegiances towards the sport.

4.4 Prolonged interest in the International Series

The introduction of the International Series has served as a great platform to build on interms of expansion. As mentioned, the research indicates that the number of fans hasinflated since the expansion started, and fans are regularly attending the games at

Wembley to get a sight of a game.

In relation to fan allegiance though, a number of American Football fans in Britain have yet


22/35

to attend one of the International Series games at Wembley. Using the same study group,the 47 respondents were asked whether they had been to an NFL game at Wembley yet.

The results showed that 11 of the 47 respondents had never been to one of theInternational Series games, despite them being held in England. The recent rise inpopularity is however shown by the fact that 12 people had attended their first game in

2012. Surprisingly, the results showed that none of the 47 had been to every InternationalSeries game, which again supports that the increase in support of American Football inEngland can be attributed to more recent times.

This information is important to the study as there will be a myriad of factors as to why fansdecide not to attend the International Series games. Factors such as disposable income,proximity to venue and the absence of their favourite team could lead to these fansdeciding not to attend.

As the International Series has, so far, been just one game per year, the statistic that therehas only been a crowd below 80,000 once so far seems positive on the face of it, but there

is a deeper rooted problem to plans for permanent games in England.

One game a year can attract 80,000 spectators or more, but when the games becomemore regular, like over a whole season which spans four months and when gamesdon't feature supported teams, then attendances are likely to dwindle, which was aproblem with NFL Europe that inevitably contributed to its demise.

4.5 Participation in England

As mentioned in the literature review, one of the main areas of concern that arose fromNFL Europe was that there was a lack of focus on grass-roots development. Participationand growth of active involvement in the sport will be key in the long term stability ofAmerican Football in Britain.

Illustration 3: How many games have you attended the International Series games at

Wembley?

Never One Two Three Four Five Six

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14


23/35

As part of the study, the group were asked whether they have ever played AmericanFootball before, rather than simply watch it, and also whether the NFL need to do more atgrass-roots level to ensure prolonged success of the sport in the UK.

The respondents were initially asked to answer simply yes or no, but a number of peoplein the study developed their answer by citing reasons for why they hadn't played, andseven of the 47 studied cited there was no opportunity in their local area to playAmerican Football, despite their willingness to play. The nature of this discovery furtherbacks up Ming's claims that the NFL haven't done enough to promote grass-rootsparticipation in the UK, and this is something that should be at the forefront of theirexpansion strategy.

As part of this section of the survey, the study group were asked whether the NFL shouldhelp promote grass-roots participation in England. The answers are part of the qualitativeresearch, where answers help develop a more rounded understanding of the situationthrough in-depth responses.

The responses are documented below, split between answers that indicated yes andanswers indicating no.

YES NO

If you get somebody playing a game early inlife, it becomes engrained.

Regardless of participation push, I can't seeit overtaking traditional games like football.

I'm a big fan of American Football but Ididn't even know it was BAFL finals day, somore should be done to make fans aware of

the BAFL.

If people aren't interested or don't know whothe NFL players are then I struggle to seehow the NFL could really promote grass-

roots, other than financially.It would certainly help. Not sure it would bea requirement to help the sport grow

The grass-roots game needs to bedeveloped to a much higher level before

Illustration 4: Have you ever been part of, or played for an American Football team?

Yes No

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35


24/35

though. I can see protective parents gettingin the way of children playing such aphysical contact sport here.

proper promotion will work.

It would be good to see, but I think the sportcan grow without it.

To an extent, but I don't believe it will evercatch on and be played by children. Adultswill either latch on to it or not, and I feel theonly way it well get entrenched is by fanspassing it on, either to friends or potentiallyfamily.

A little more, the sport is growing inuniversities but that may be despite of theNFL and not because of the NFL.

No, I don't see any need for grass-rootspromotion.

If the NFL wanted to bring a team here, Ithink it would be necessary to have somekind of grass-roots level. It would certainlyhelp popularity if there was a grass-rootslevel too.

I honestly think we are a million miles awayfrom our university players being NFL draftcalibre. For that reason the league won't doit. People in England won't back a sub parproduct.

Yes, the sport is growing in stature,especially in universities. Rebrand it asgridiron football (rather than AmericanFootball) and will be fine.

No. Not at the moment. Need to keepgetting media exposure to get more peoplewatching the NFL first.

It would certainly help but I also think thatpromoting the NFL itself is likely just asimportant.

Only if they intend to get more peopleplaying, which I don't think they do. I don'tbelieve it would encourage viewership on aworthwhile scale.

I don't think it's a necessity but it wouldspeed up development of the sport if itbecame more a part of the children'ssporting culture.

Not to help it grow. I think it was be a bonusthough.

It wouldn't hurt. But I think increasing thefan base and finding a British way to dothings might be better.

I'm not sure it's achievable. The gamewould have to somehow be introduced intoschools, but if that were to happen thengrass-roots promotion is a good idea.

Would be a beneficial idea, but I'm not sureit would work.

Maybe. Don't know much about the sport atgrass roots level in this country.

It's not a necessity, but it would be great ifthey did.

At this stage, they should let it grow on itsown. The people who want to play will play

Yes there should be more grass-rootspromotion, as we have seen a few Britishplayers playing at the college level inAmerica but to help it grow further, need todo more - maybe put money in.

Yes and no. No sport in the world has abetter system of developing players. But ifBritish players in the NFL is what willincrease support then they probably doneed to promote it a grass-roots level.

Yes, and I also think more press coverageon the NFL would raise interest. More hardcopy press rather than online.

Absolutely. Whilst there are teams in theUK, it is something you have to search for. It


25/35

is not yet widely known or played.

Yes, I believe that American Football couldbe one of our biggest sports if more workwas put in on the grass-roots level.

More grass-roots promotion should

definitely happen.Yes. The amateur leagues in Britain aregrowing rapidly but we see how ice hockeyand basketball have benefitted from directinvolvement by their governing bodies.

Yes, but I doubt it's ever going to be hugehere.

Yes, there is barely any coverage ofamateur American football over here.

Absolutely - they should be fundingcoaching and equipment across the country.

They shouldn't be obligated to do it, but itwould help them expand their talent pool.

Yes. A sport needs both a large amount ofcasual fans but also a sizable core of avidfans. Whilst the former have grown tenfoldin recent years the latter hasn't experiencedanywhere near the same growth. Gettingmore people to play the game from earlier

on will help with that.I would love it if they did, I think it wouldhelp Rugby union and league teams if sotoo.

Yes, The NFL admitted that they have donea poor job to educate other people in theNFL and only really focused on theAmerican market for it,

Eight more people indicated yes, but didn'tgive an in-depth reason as to why.

One more person indicated no, but didn'tgive an in-depth reason as to why.

The results were heavily in favour of the opinion that the NFL can take extra measures inorder to promote participation of the game. There are two-way benefits to the prospect ofincreased promotion of grass-roots American Football in Britain.

Firstly, the NFL will be able to increase the interest in the sport through active participationpromotions. People that play the game are more likely to watch NFL games if they takepart in the sport, which makes the idea of NFL expansion strategies more viable.Additionally, if they reach a high enough standard, then there is the opportunity for Britishplayers to try out for NFL teams. Fans have associated themselves with British NFL

players in the past, such as Menelik Watson, Jack Crawford and Rhys Lloyd, and somefans indicated in the study that they chose the team they support because they had Britishplayers on the roster.


26/35

Meanwhile, the British Leagues would be able to raise the profile of American Football inthe UK through heightened awareness, better equipment and powerful backing from theNFL, which would add credibility to the strategy.

Ultimately, most fans feel that the British Leagues could become an interesting alternative

to the NFL, but there needs to be some direct influence from the NFL if it is to become ofgreat interest.

4.6 Potential for a British League

Having collected the feelings and opinions on the grass-roots, the study group were thenasked whether they would prefer an NFL team to be located in London or for furtherdevelopment of a British League.

One of the overriding themes in the literature was that the relocation of a team isexpensive and complicated, and can lead to fan opposition. This makes any expansion

plans very dangerous for the NFL to undertake, as it may harm the integrity of the brand.

Amidst these concerns, the proposition of developing the British Leagues could become aviable alternative. There would still have to be a large outlay financially from the NFL, butto gauge the interest of a British League as opposed to NFL games, it was necessary toask the study group their opinions.

The study group again contained the same 47 people, and their responses would indicatehow a British League would be perceived in lieu of actual NFL games. The expectedoutcome was for a generally negative view of the idea, particularly as the literature usedalongside the research suggested that the global interest in American Football is onlyfeasible if the real NFL product is delivered.

The results showed that 23 people favoured the development of British Leagues, whilst 24

Illustration 5: Would you rather see an NFL team based in London, or develop our ownleagues (BAFA)?

BAFA NFL

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

22

24

26


27/35

said that they would prefer NFL games or teams to be housed in England. This evenspread of opinions creates a discord between what fans believe the best way to developAmerican Football in Britain is.

The feedback suggested that fans believe the sport as a whole needs to becomeestablished in UK culture before there is mass promotion of the leagues. The NFL's

exploration into the UK market is relatively new, and subsequently the reach of thecampaign is yet to reach many people.

As a result, the NFL need to maintain the marketing of the sport and all American Football-based activities in the UK for a prolonged period of time, before they consider investingheavily in developing British Leagues to a high standard.


28/35

Chapter 5

Conclusions and Recommendations

5.1 Introduction

The aims of this research project were to understand:

How do fans in the UK perceive the sport?

How do fans think further games or a franchise in the UK would succeed or fail?

Examine how NFL Europe failed and the measures the NFL can take to eradicatethe possibility of a repeat situation

How do fans in America react to a franchise being relocated?

Can globalisation be applied to the sports industry?

This chapter will aim to summarise the findings from the literature review and also from theresearch carried out through the surveys, before recommendations are offered for thedevelopment of the sport.

5.2 Research aim 1

Part of the research project was to determine how fans in Britain perceived AmericanFootball. The information collected from surveys would provide an in-depth response tothis aim.

A number of questions in the survey were designed to generate answers that would help in

answering the topic. The questions being referred to here featured the length of time fanshave been supporting for, to determine how recent the rise in interest in American Footballis, what aspects of the sport attracted fans to watch, in order to realise what can bepromoted more in the future to bring more fans towards the sport, and also whether thestudy group had interest in a highly-publicised British American Football League.

All of these questions were asked in order to gauge the interest in the sport from NFL fansbut specific angles attributed towards increasing the fan base and maximising the sport inBritain.

The results concluded that there has been a noticeable rise in the number of AmericanFootball fans in England since the NFL introduced the International Series in London. Thiswas expected when the objectives were set, as the mass marketing of a new productgenerally creates a demand for the product.

Additionally, the survey produced a wide range of responses when the focus turned towhat influenced fans to watch the sport. Many reasons were given by the study group,showing that there isn't one particular reason for watching American Football in the opinionof UK residents. The myriad of selling points that the NFL possesses makes it moreconceivable that American Football will continue to grow in the UK, as different fans areattracted by different qualities.

5.3 Research aim 2


29/35

The aim to understand how fans feel about the potential of further NFL involvement inEngland was the focus of the second objective in the project. The questions in the surveyon this subject were aimed towards generating more information on the subject, andcontained topics relating to not only the NFL, but also the prospect of there being aheightened presence of American Football through a British League.

These questions included asking how many times fans have been to the InternationalSeries games at Wembley, whether the sport needs more influence from the NFL at grass-roots level in the UK, whether they have played in an American Football team before todetermine whether viewership correlates with participation, and whether they wouldsupport a UK franchise over the NFL they currently support.

The research was expected to show that fans were regularly attending InternationalSeries, which wasn't particularly shown in the results as the most popular answer was thatpeople had been to just one of the International Series games so far. This supports theidea that the growth of the sport in the UK is very recent, as many respondents indicated

that the 2012 International Series game between the St. Louis Rams and New EnglandPatriots was their first and only occasion that they had been to an NFL game.

The participation aspect of the research displayed that whilst the game is growing from theperspective of watching NFL games, the popularity isn't being matched in participationlevels. The study showed that only 30% (14 people of the 47) in the study group had takenpart in playing American Football.

This result was lower than anticipated, as there is a thriving American Football communityin the Universities in England which was expected to account for a large amount ofresponses, but this proved to be incorrect. Many respondents indicated that they hadnever been given the opportunity to play American Football, even though they wanted to.This resulted in further research being conducted to understand whether these fanswanted the NFL to have a greater influence on American Football at grass-roots level inEngland, so more people are given a chance to play.

Whilst the majority of respondents said that they would be in favour of more promotion ofgrass-roots American Football, but that the UK needs to see more from the NFL before thefocus is turned to trying to improve the standard of grass-roots level American Football.This is understandable, and is a conclusion matched with Rosner & Shropshire's view thatthe fans in England want to see the NFL, not a second-rate product instead.

The conclusion drawn from this section of the project is that American Football fans in theUK are hoping that further influence arrives in the country, but there is a discrepancy overhow to ensure that the sport continues to grow in Britain. It seems that for the imminentfuture, continuing the International Series and increasing the presence of the NFL is thebest way to generate interest in the sport, which, over time, will lead to a focus on grass-roots level activities.

5.4 Research aim 3

The third aim of the project was to understand what caused NFL Europe to fail, and how

the NFL could use its demise to help them plan for further expansion plans. To do this, arange of available literature was used, providing a basis for the project in this phase.


30/35

The literature stated that NFL Europe was set up as something of a feeder league toproduce and enhance players that would eventually play in the NFL, but also to try andexpand the NFL brand overseas, as the sport gained popularity in Europe during the1980's.However, the novelty of American Football wore off and interest declined, resulting in NFLEurope ending prematurely. The failure of NFL Europe served as something of a deterrent

to future expansion plans, but the problems became apparent later on. The literature foundstated that fans became uninterested in the product of NFL Europe because it wasn't thehigh standard of the NFL, the sport wasn't explained properly to foreign markets and thatthe project didn't reach grass-roots level.

This stage of the research project was valuable in determining the factors that willultimately affect the success of any expansion plan the NFL decides to put in place. Theproblems found in NFL Europe formed the basis of the surveys to try and create moreinformation on subjects such as participation and reasons for watching American Football.Given that these issues can be rectified, the research shows that the NFL can andshould be able to use that failure to develop a sustainable product in England.

5.5 Research aim 4

Having analysed the failure of NFL Europe and what the NFL can do to avoid similarproblems, the next aim was to look at the alternatives, which included the prospect ofrelocating an existing NFL team to England in lieu of a specific British League. The specificangle of this section was to look at how NFL fans in America have reacted, or are likely toreact, to their team being relocated from their regular home.

The relocation of NFL franchises has happened in the past, but the literature indicated thatthe response to relocation can be hostile and can even lead to damage of property byfans, which was seen in 1996, when the Cleveland Browns fans reacted angrily to newsthat their team was going to be relocated to Baltimore, which meant the team was moving375 miles away, and leaving Cleveland without a team at all.

There was also literature supporting the idea that different fans react in different ways to arelocation. At opposite ends of the spectrum, some fans totally disassociate themselvesfrom the team, whilst others choose to support the team regardless of their location. Thisparticular section of literature was useful in understanding how American Football fans inthe U.S. would react to the prospect of an existing NFL team relocating not only out of itsregular city or state, but to a different country entirely, with the notion of a team moving to

London to play all its home games at Wembley Stadium.

Having found enough literature to understand the nature of fan reactions in America, theconclusion was made that American Football fans in the U.S. would react negatively to theprospect of an NFL team to England. As a result, the NFL need to be wary of such abacklash, and should consider this when making any decision over their future activities inthe UK sports market.

5.6 Research aim 5

The available literature formed the main basis for the fifth research topic was to

understand how globalisation can be applied to the sports industry, and how other sportshave used global marketing techniques to maximise their brand.


31/35

Globalisation involves the process of marketing to a global audience, and this is somethingthat the NFL have been utilising in recent years, in a bid to increase the fan base for thesport outside of the U.S.

However, given the failure of NFL Europe, it's apparent that the brand of American Footballis not simply transferable to other countries. As a result, forms of glocalisation the

process of adapting a product to the local culture or standards could be something thatthe NFL would find more beneficial.

Because the UK sports market isn't accustomed to seeing American Football yet, thensimply bringing a team or a league into the country could encounter the same problemsthat NFL Europe did. The target audience didn't fully understand the rules of the game andstruggled to become attached to the sport. This signals that the NFL need to understandwhat will attract British fans, rather than simply assuming they will be drawn to the samethings as Americans.

The issue of Americanisation was prominent in the research, and this suggested that

people in the UK are almost afraid of aspects of American culture penetrating the UKmarkets. This is a valid concern in the process of developing American Football in the UK.Cultures and trends are different, which once again supports the idea that the product willneed to be catered to a UK audience for it to have sustainable success.

5.7 Recommendations

There are a number of recommendations that have been produced from the research.They centre around encouraging the NFL to continue expanding in the UK sports market,but offer some caution regarding the speed they seem to be growing at.

1. Continue the International Series

This recommendation is already being put in place, as the NFL introduced a furtherInternational Series game in 2013 to supply the demand for more action. With morereasonably priced tickets, the amount of fans attending the International Seriesshould increase, which would be a good indication for the NFL that the interest inAmerican Football will be long-lasting, and not just a novelty, like it was during the1980's.

2. Eventually exert influence on grass-roots American Football in Britain

The research found that fans were in favour of more opportunities to participate inAmerican Football in England, but it also found that fans were hoping the focuswould remain on the NFL, so as to raise the profile of American Football as aproduct. The strategy should be to continue promoting the NFL for the next 5-10years until the number of fans increases, and then start to encourage grass-rootsparticipation.

3. Do not relocate a team to London

The final recommendation is the most important the NFL must not relocate a team

to London permanently. The research suggests that not only would the fans inAmerica be opposed to a team relocation, but that fans in England would not beinclined to abandon their current NFL team in favour of supporting a team playing in


32/35

London. When both of these instances are combined, the relocation of a team toLondon seems nonsensical.

5.8 Critical Reflection

This research project has provided an in-depth look at the various factors that would have

a strong impact on any plans the NFL have to expand in the UK. Of course, whilst thestudy sample of 47 can't be totally representative of the whole of the UK, the size of thestudy did give a wide range of opinions and views, which were conducive to formulating aconclusion and recommendations.

The method of research was restricted by the available resources, and more methods ofresearch may have been used in different circumstances, but the results generated fromthe study did provide enough quality to make the study worthwhile. For a research studywith more available resources, a larger number of participants would be required to makea more accurate assessment of the factors.

Despite the relative drawbacks of the research, the final conclusion is that it providedenough information to be able to effectively answer the research topic, which was toexamine the factors that would affect the NFL plans for expansion in the UK. Therecommendations given serve as an analysis of the findings that contribute to answeringthe research topic.


33/35

References

Advertising Age, 2013. Look Out, Baseball. College Football Is Hot on Your Cleats. [online]Available at:

Andrew, D.P.S., Pedersen, P., McEvoy, C.D., 2011. Research Methods and Design in

Sport Management. Illinois: Human Kinetics

Amadeo, D., Golledge, R.G., and R.J. Stimson, 2009. Person-Environment-BehaviorResearch: Investigating Activities and Experiences in Spaces and Environments. NewYork: Guildford Press

Babbie, E.R., 2012. The Practice of Social Research. Connecticut: Cengage Learning

Babbie, E.R., 2010. The Basics of Social Research. Connecticut: Cengage Learning

Bryman, A., and Bell. E., 2007. Business Research Methods. Oxford: Oxford University

Press

Buhler, A., and Nufer. G., 2012. Relationship Marketing in Sports. London: Routledge

Campbell, N., Davies, J., and McKay, G., 2004. Issues in Americanisation and Culture.Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press

Elsbach, K.D., 1999. An expanded model of organizational identification. Research inOrganizational Behavior, 21, 163-200.

Foster W.M., and Hyatt. C, 2007. Franchise Relocation and the Expanded Model ofOrganizational Identification Journal of Sport Management, 21, 194-212

Guttman, A., 2007. Sports: The First Five Millennia. Massachusetts: University ofMassachusetts Press

Ingle, S., Focus: 'Razzle meets dazzle as NFL comes out of the shadows in the UK'. TheGuardian [online] 27 October 2012. Available at: [Accessed01/11/2012]

Hague, P., 2004. Market Research in Practice. London: Kogan Page

Hunt, K. A., Bristol, T. & Bashaw, E.R. (1999), A Conceptual Approach to ClassifyingSports Fans, Journal of Services Marketing, 13 (6), 439-452

Jarvie, G., 2006. Sport, Culture and Society. London: Routledge

Jozsa, F.P., 2004. Sports Capitalism: The Foreign Business of American ProfessionalLeagues. Vermont: Ashgate Publishing

Jozsa, F.P., and J. Maxymuk., 2010. Football Fortunes: The Business, Organisation andStrategy of the NFL. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland

Jozsa, F.P. and Guthrie, J.J., 1999. Relocating Teams and Expanding Leagues in
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/oct/27/razzle-dazzle-nfl-out-shadowshttp://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/oct/27/razzle-dazzle-nfl-out-shadows


34/35

Professional Sports: How the Major Leagues Respond to Market Conditions. Westport,Connecticut; Greenwood Publishing Group

Kim, Y., 2006. Measuring the Value of Succession Planning and Management: AQualitative Study of U.S. Affiliates of Foreign Multinational Companies. Michigan:ProQuest

Kumar, R., 20011. Research Methodology. Delhi: APH Publishing

Lamb, C.W., Hair, J.F., and McDaniels, C., 2011. Essentials of Marketing. Stamford,Connecticut; Cengage Learning

Lussier, R.N. & Kimball, D.C., 2009.Applied Sport Management Skills. Champaign, Illinois:Human Kinetics

Maguire, J., 2005. Power and Global Sport Zones of Prestige, Emulation and Resistance .London: Routledge

Markovitz, A.S., and L. Rensmann., 2010. Gaming the World. Princeton, New Jersey:Princeton University Press

Ming, L., Macintosh E.W., and Bravo, G., 2011. International Sport Management.Champaign, Illinois: Human Kinetics

Mitchell, M.L., and Jolley. J.M., 2012. Research Design Explained. Connecticut: CengageLearning

Monsen, E.R., and van Horn, L., 2007. Research: Successful Approaches. New York: ADAPublishing

Murray Thomas, R., 2003. Blending Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methods inTheses and Dissertations. California: Corwin Press

Nauright, J., and Parrish. C., 2012. Sports Around the World: History Culture and Practice.California: ABC-CLIO

Oriard, M., 2010. Brand NFL. North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press

Oxford English Dictionary, 2012. Definition of Globalisation. [online] Available at: [Accessed 02/11/2012]

Plunkett, J.W., 2008. Plunkett's Sports Industry Almanac. Houston, Texas: PlunkettResearch

Rosenhauer, S., 2009. Cross-Cultural Business Communications. Munich: GRIN Verlag

Rosner, S., and Shropshire, K., 2011. The Business of Sports. Massachusetts: Jones &Bartlett Publishers

Rubin, A., and Babbie, E.R., 2012. Essential Research Methods for Social Work.Connecticut: Cengage Learning
http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/globalizationhttp://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/globalization


35/35

Appendices

Appendix A

Survey sample

1. How long have you been watching the NFL for?

2. What first attracted you to the NFL?

3. Which NFL team do you support and why?

4. How often do you watch your teams games?

5. How many times have you attended the International Series at Wembley Stadium?

6. Have you noticed an increase in fanbase of the NFL in Britain over the last fewyears? If so, why do you think this is?

7. Do you think the NFL need to promote grassroots level American Football in Britainto help the sport grow?

8. Have you ever played for or been a part of an American Football team?

9. Recently, Commissioner Goodell has suggested that one day, there may be an NFL

franchise based in London. Would you be inclined to support the London team overyour current NFL team?

10.Would you rather see an NFL team based in London, or develop our own leagues(BAFA)?

american football in the uk - dissertation

Documents