Print

Mail

wiki links

NFL battling to establish a foothold in China

Are you ready for some meishi ganlanqiu (美式橄欖球)?

The NFL is intent on finding out if that is indeed the case in China. The league is venturing into untested territory and hoping the country's vast marketplace will respond to its product.

Clearly, there are details to sort out. For one, the language. The sport's vocabulary may resonate from Maine to Maui, but it's a poor fit in Chinese. This, after all, is a country where American football is largely unknown.

"We've had to come up with an entirely new nomenclature for the sport," Gordon Smeaton, an NFL vice president, said on Friday during a promotional tour with the New England Patriots. "This is a situation we don't face in any other country and it will take some time."

In Chinese the game is known as meishi ganlanqiu, which can mean "American-style rugby" or "American-style olive-shaped ball," depending on the translation.

A touchdown is a dazhen (達陣).

The quarterback is the sifenwei (四分衛) -- the one-fourth position.

And then there are the byzantine rules. New England Patriots tight end Benjamin Watson has been spending a few days trying to explain strategy and tactics to Chinese fans and reporters.

"We need to teach about throwing and catching and some of the rules of the game," Watson said. "About where players line up. The game is almost like a chess match."

Also see story:
NFL folds European league after losing money for 16 years

This story has been viewed 1006 times.