Why American/Canadian Style Football would never work in the Olympics

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell stated in his "State of The NFL" Speech before The Super Bowl that Football would be an Olympic Sport by 2020. He obviously didn't think this through. Here are four reasons why it would never work as an Olympic Sport:

 

1. The Timing is bad.

The Winter Games usually take place in February, just after the season. No Pro, College or High School Player would want to play then, and I'm sure that Coaches, etc. wouldn't be too crazy about this either. The Summer Games? You can forget that too. They take place anywhere between July and September which would interfere with Training Camp or the start of the Season.

 

2. Football is a Game that is normally played once a Week.

Olympic Games span two weeks, at the most there could only be three games for a team: The Opening Round, The Semi-Final and The Medal Round. They would have to be played only on the Weekends.

 

3. American & Canadian Style Football isn't played in a lot of other Countries.

Seriously, name an NFL, CFL, Arena or even College Player that is a Citizen of a Country other than the United States or Canada? YOU CAN'T. This isn't Baseball, Basketball, Ice Hockey or Soccer. It is played as a Club Sport in some countries, and that is very few. I doubt there would be more that six countries and even that in my opinion is stretching it.

 

4. American and Canadian Football are different in terms of Field Dimensions and Scoring.

There would be a debate on what style to play. American Pro? American College? American High School? Canadian Pro? Canadian College? Canadian High School? The American Rules would likely be adopted which would force Canadians to play a style that they're not used to.

 

My guess is that Goodell based it on two things:

 

1. The Regular Season Game in London always attracts a big crowd. OF COURSE IT DOES. Over there, it's seen by Brits and Europeans the same way that Americans would attend a Soccer Game featuring well known International Clubs like Manchester United and FC Barcelona. IT'S SOMETHING DIFFERENT.

 

2. NFL Europe had good attendance. Well, there was a reason that most of the teams were based in Germany. All the US Military Based in Germany who obviously saw it as a little piece of home.

 

I haven't heard anymore about this. Maybe Goodell realized that it just wouldn't work. (...at least I hope so.)