Stop the NFL hype! Rugby is the better sport

On Sunday at 3:30 p.m. the National Football League (NFL) will be in Munich’s Allianz Arena. The Carolina Panthers meet the New York Giants. The game has long been sold out and is running live on RTL. In recent years the football hype in Germany has increased noticeably. The NFL has been playing guest games in Germany since 2022. First in Munich, then in Frankfurt in 2023 and now again in the Bavarian capital. The aim is to open up further markets outside the USA. And bring commercial sport into the world.

The Americans have understood marketing, you have to give them that. The event in Munich is a huge PR coup for the NFL and should bring a lot of money back into its coffers. In general, football thrives on what’s around it, as the commercialized “Super Bowl” shows every year: during the numerous breaks in the game, one commercial follows the next. All tension is lost and the game doesn’t flow at all. And the halftime show is more important than the game itself anyway. It sucks.

Luckily, viewers who are interested in real sport don’t have to watch the tube. Because there is a better alternative: rugby. Various countries are currently competing against each other in the Autumn Nations Series.

Without rugby, football wouldn’t exist. The Americans developed their sport as a mix of rugby and soccer. Not particularly original. Actually, they just combined the sports and made them more complicated. You can see this in the equipment: most rugby players only wear shoes and the uniform of their club or national team. In football you need full protection. Helmet, gloves, shoulder pads. Kind of decadent. Rugby shows: less is more.

Although the NFL is trying to gain a foothold in the world, football is particularly popular in the USA. Donald Trump’s “America First” could also be applied to sports. At Rugby World Cups, however, it is particularly pleasing that small nations such as Fiji, New Zealand and Wales have great success. The countries that tend to get lost in other sports then find themselves in the spotlight on the world stage. David becomes Goliath. Rugby means everything to people in small countries. This was shown by the Fijians’ exuberant party after winning the 2021 Olympics.

The culture of these nations is very important in rugby. While the tenth commercial is playing before the start of the football game, the “All Blacks”, as the New Zealand national rugby team is called, are starting to perform the Haka – a traditional war dance of the Maori indigenous people. The muscle-bound players stomp on the grass. In the living room at home it looks as if the couch is shaking. You’ll want to hide behind it as soon as the New Zealanders make horrible faces and make frightening noises – both of which are part of the dance.

Of course, all of this is a spectacle that the sport doesn’t necessarily need. But it is an honest spectacle, anchored in culture and tradition. Not in commerce. Even though rugby also makes money, marketing is not as important as football. Rugby is a sport with a soul, not a product. Better haka than halftime show. No offense, Usher.

Transparency note: Stern is part of RTL Deutschland.