Are you ready for some football? I am. I’ve been an NFL fan for many years, recently got into the CFL and hope to soon be watching the EFLI: Elite Football League of India.
Yes, American football in India. No, this isn’t a story from The Onion.
According to Daniel Kaplan of Sports Business Journal, the eight-team league, which will begin play in Nov. 2012, is being backed by investors such as Mike Ditka, Ron Jaworski, Michael Irvin and Brandon Chillar (the Indian-American linebacker formerly of the Green Bay Packers).
The founding teams are the Hyderabad Skykings, Bhubaneswar Warhawks, Goa Swarm, Mumbai Gladiators, Dehi Royal Fleet, Punjab Warriors, Pune Blacktigers and Kolkata Vipers. Sorry, no Bengals or Browns.
“India has no history of american football, but backers sure cuz country is crazy about american entertainment, this will fly,” Kaplan tweeted, adding in another tweet: “They are training rugby players right now. Top rugby coaches involved. Seriously unlikely any US players would got there.”
Rugby players? Seriously? Rugby may be the closest sport to football, but that’s like preparing for the PGA tour by playing croquet.
As for Kaplan’s contention that US players wouldn’t go to India, I have to disagree. As long as team owners can pay decent money, players who can’t crack the NFL, CFL, AFL or UFL would be willing to go to India. Who knows, maybe even Chillar might suit up for the Warriors and Brett Favre might come out of retirement to throw a few INTs for the Skykings.
Kaplan says the league “seems like a stretch” and I have to agree. But you have to start somewhere. Maybe by 2032, India will have a competitive football league, and you and I will be glued to the TV, watching Marshall Williams Manning lead the Bhubaneswar Warhawks over Arjun Tendulkar and the Pune Blacktigers.
You may enjoy the comments on ProFootballTalk. Or not.
That would be awesome. I wonder if some high school athletes might try to get an edge overseas =)
“Rugby players? Seriously? Rugby may be the closest sport to football, but that’s like preparing for the PGA tour by playing croquet.”
The correct thing would be to play American football as a hobby to prepare for the more physical and demanding rugby;)
Didn’t mean to put down rugby. It’s indeed a very physical and demanding sport.
your comparing WORLD renowned sport like rugby to heavily padded stop and start, stop and start pointy ball?
Pfft Football rocks compared to Rugby.
yeah it does!!! american football is rubbish 😀
“Brett Favre might come out of retirement to throw a few INTs for the Skykings”…Okay buddy, Favre also holds the record for most touchdowns, yards, and completions. So let’s top this right here. But cheers EFLI. I look forward to it.
They should keep a theme…names from the mahabharata…or ramanaya….or names of tintin books. Something creative rather than chest thumping macho names without any character.
Great, now India can participate in the epidemic of unnecessary brain damage. Awesome.
This is definitely not going to become popular in India. It’s way too rough for their taste.
What he means is that the men of the country are crazy about the American cheerleaders in the recently formed Indian Cricket League, which explains the success of that franchise. It’s the scantily clad American cheerleaders with their raunchy moves that will make this too a success, is what they are probably gambling on.
i can’t imagine this catching on in India at all. 1/it’s too hot and humid for for most parts of india for people to be running around in full padded up gear for how ever many hours 2/most people outside america, never mind india, find the game a bit complicated, and its too stop-start.
but credit to them for trying to expand the range of sports beyond cricket. India and indians need to be less monogamous with regards to sports
Any new sport in India is to be welcomed. But given the risk return equation for cricket, doubt if anything else can really catch up. Cricket, besides, is a way to build up influence and make money. There is no law in India that prevents legislators from wearing non-political hats, so Sharad Pawar is a big honcho in BCCI, and other sundry politicians dominate the regional cricket control bodies. Further only cricket associations have the clout to build stadiums, without which no game can be played. I wish the EFLI well, but nothing much will ever come out of it.
One of the advantages that cricket has over other sports is that it’s easy to play it in the street. Just setup a few stones as your wicket, and you are ready to go. American football with it’s much higher emphasis on strategy, teamwork and specialized gear cannot be really played in the street
IMO, basketball would have a higher chance of success than football. There is a larger emphasis on individual skill, plus you can play it anywhere
I would rather there be support and better infrastructure for the existing non-cricket sports in India.
I think they should stick to Kabaddi 😉
Is this the worst ever Idea or what? its difficult even to list things that go against this.
I am guessing this is a way for some marketer to make money off of rich ex jocks looking to invest money. No way this league makes money. I would look into the main guy of this operation and see what his history is.
And while I am a huge fan of the Steelers, there is no way I could get remotely interested in a second rate league. Didn’t the NFL have that Euro league that went nowhere?
The CFL is an inferior league to the NFL, but I still enjoy watching it. It’s not quite as exciting, but still can be very entertaining. If I had the time, I’d watch lots of college football too, like I used to.
I agree that the EFLI has “fail” written all over it. A football league in Mexico would have a better chance.
The video on the sight mentions “Football is just like Chess requiring strategy …” So apparently the argument is that since Chess is so popular in India, a game which is similar to Chess, Football, will be appealing too. LOL
“One of the advantages that cricket has over other sports is that it’s easy to play it in the street. Just setup a few stones as your wicket, and you are ready to go. American football with it’s much higher emphasis on strategy, teamwork and specialized gear cannot be really played in the street
IMO, basketball would have a higher chance of success than football. There is a larger emphasis on individual skill, plus you can play it anywhere”
You can play football without pads. Two hand touch? All you need is a football.
this guy rudie_c has like 2 posts dedicated to his hate to NFL. Dude you sound like some sports elitist. Let me guess you also love to sit in pubs singing socce…err i mean “football” chants while downing some Strongbow. We get it, you are into “real sports”. Comparison between rugby and NFL are plenty just like baseball vs. cricket, etc. Most of the comments are made by simpletons like yourself on various message boards without any knowledge of both of the sports. Try throwing a ball like a quaterback, try getting hit by 250 lbs pound dudes with pads, I bet it hurts more than person to person contact. American football is not a p*ssy sport, get over it. You think pads protect them? infact a person with pads is more likely to hit harder than without. And the pads are not made of goosefeathers and marshmellows!
sipping on my kronenbourg actually.
Excellent, but do we have the MANpower for it.
meaning?
I am sorry to see such dark and insenstive humor. There is no such thing as race since human sexual attraction and reproduction has no ethnic boundaries. Race is a nineteenth century infatuation of Europeans and such questions are holdovers from that era. When they ask you to check a box, you check a box. It is a stupid question, so you can only give a stupid answer.
Nikki Haley’s parents are Sikhs, so it is logical to conclude that her lineage comes from northwestern Indian subcontinent. For all we know, she may have genes of Alexander. Who knows?
It is sad to see Indians self deprecating their own kind. I heard someone say that Indians are like crabs sitting in a bucket waiting to go into the chef’s kettle. If one tries to escape and get out of the bucket, others pull it back. Isn’t that what Sepia Mutiny people are doing? Qureshis in India claim lineage going back to Prophet Mohammed. Will Sepia Mutiny make a make a similar write up on Qureshis? You have created a culture of intolerance in the name of tolerance. Sorry to see this.