Why the world loves the LA Rams

The LA Rams play football in the NFL, but to most of the world, the sport is known as American Football. Right now, the popularity of American Football is growing worldwide, growing quite rapidly in many parts of the world. Of course, English speaking countries are the most receptive to the game.  But even those countries offer a wide and diverse range of sports called ‘football’.

The word ‘football’ to the world means ‘soccer’ to Americans.  Internationally, the American version of the game is often referred to as ‘American Football’.  For Australia, they more aptly have named the game Gridiron, as the football field resembles a cast-iron gridiron to residents from the Land Down Under. And for several reasons we will discuss here, the LA Rams are one of the more popular NFL teams to our international friends and neighbors.

Perhaps the popularity springs from the appearance of the Los Angeles Rams facing the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LIII. Over 100 million estimated viewers from around the United States tuned in to join the 75,000 people in attendance for that game.  But they were joined, in turn, by over an estimated 50 million viewers worldwide.

Each day, we are surprised to find viewers checking out the LA Rams articles from around the world. In fact, in 2020, Ramblin Fan recorded over 300,000 sessions from viewers from around the world.  Our articles about the LA Rams reach the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Mexico, Australia, Japan, Brazil, China, and other locations. Historically, the internet has opened access to sports viewing and following to practically anywhere in the world. But with so little international travel in 2020, the popularity of the NFL worldwide is no longer attributable to travelers.

NFL is very marketable in today’s society

The NFL has a sports product that is easily marketed. With game day highlights featuring plays that last on average 4.0-seconds, American Football can be packaged with a fast-paced sport to match the fast pace of modern society. And with the game clock continuing to run while NFL teams huddle, the actual playing time in each quarter actually falls to about 11 minutes per quarter.

But fast-pace is not enough. You see, the NFL offers something to everyone. For gamblers, there are weekly opportunities to bet on the outcome of NFL games.  For intellectual types, there is the strategy involved in building an optimal roster through the annual NFL Draft. And for gamers, there is a host of online and real-world simulations to mock the NFL Draft, run a fantasy football team, and other ways of replicating the entertaining quality of the game even after the season is over.

Even the HBO Hard Knocks series, featuring both the LA Rams and LA Chargers, allowed viewers to experience snippets of what it’s really like at an NFL training camp. And after each episode, there were plenty of new revelations to discuss, analyze, and breakdown afterward.

City of Angels

The city of Los Angeles gives the NFL an opportunity to bridge the distance to the Pacific Rim region and to Asia itself. And that is exactly what LA Rams owner, Stan Kroenke, envisions for the future.  Of course, that future has been pushed back with the 2020 coronavirus pandemic.  But when travel restrictions abate and the logistics become feasible, look for the NFL to seek opportunities to play games in Asia or Australia.

"‘We don’t want to play games in just London; we want to explore the Asian opportunity. We want to grow the brand internationally. I think there’s an opportunity to grow the Rams brand and I think the league wants to grow their brand in that market.’ – LA Rams COO Kevin Demoff per The Guardian’s Les Carpenter"

And so, welcome aboard to friends and fans both near and far. We are about to take a journey through 2021 together. We are so grateful to be read in Mexico City, Mexico; London, England; Edinburgh, Scotland; Sydney, Australia; Rio de Janeiro; Doha, Qatar; Beijing, China; and everyone in between and beyond. This NFL season, we hope that we earn your trust and friendship along the way.

So buckle up. The LA Rams have only just stopped playing and they are already making NFL Headlines. This is going to be an exciting, but fast-paced period for the team.