It's ironic, to say the least, that the NFL's effort to globalize the game is heating up only days after UFC president Dana White declared that no one in other countries cares about the greatest game ever invented.
According to Daniel Kaplan of SportsBusiness Journal, the league will have a football reality show on CCTV-5, the largest sports broadcaster in China.
"We are committed to growing our sport around the world," NFL spokesman Michael Signora told Kaplan, "including in China. We are exploring all avenues to accomplish this goal, including through various new projects that we aim to launch for the 2009 season."
The show reportedly will focus on some of the peripheries of the game, such as tailgating and fans dressing up and painting their faces. Chinese celebrities also are expected to participate in the show.
The fact that the Beijing Olympics have come and gone is making it easier for other endeavors to secure the focus of the nation's sports ministry.
If the new show goes well, a preseason game could be played in China in 2010 or 2011. In 2007, the Patriots and the Seahawks were scheduled to play an exhibition game there, but the plug was pulled due in part to the fact that the league also was finalizing plans for the first regular-season game in NFL history played in London.
NFL reality show coming to China
Posted by Mike Florio on July 13, 2009 11:45 AM ET
Permalink
8 Comments 
Latest stories in: Latest News and Rumors, NFL Mobile Exclusives - Rumors, Rumors Only, Top Stories
Latest stories in: Latest News and Rumors, NFL Mobile Exclusives - Rumors, Rumors Only, Top Stories
Football in China?
this will be a spectacular failure....
why is the NFL trying to do business in china, a country known for violating child labor laws?
Like Florio has said before, the NFL is not a proactive company, they are a reaction type of company. They wait for something bad to happen before they take some kind of initiative to better their sport. Even though I doubt what D. White said has anything to do with the NFL's feeble/laughable attempt to have worldwide recognition. This is just another LOL moment from Florio saying, "We(the nfl, which again, you are not apart of, and never will be) are going to be just as big as MMA worldwide. I mean, MMA isn't even a real sport!"
Face it Florio, Some sports are just not meant for the entire world to like, IE. rugby, cricket, NFL. MMA on the other hand is extremely exciting, anyone can easily understand the rules, and everyone in the world can relate to it.
On a side note: D. White has always stated that MMA will be bigger than the NFL worldwide. Most likely withing the next 5 yrs. As for the NFL, don't hold your breathe.
That would be great if the NFL could succeed in China. You know what else would be great? If China allowed freedom of the press, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, the release of all its political prisoners that are incarcerated for having a point of view, and the unchaining of their oppressed working class, who were swept under the rug during the Olympics.
So yeah, I'm really excited about the NFL and their support of China.
I just don't understand the impetus for these things. Contrary to today's business philosophy and Gordon Gecko, greed is not good.
The fact they are making a reality doesn't mean it's going to succeed there.
BTW Mad555, rugby is a global sport right now, they are big in europe, oceania and south africa and making a lot of progress in south america, nfl should be worry about that because rugby is the other contact sport fighting for popularity right now and they are winning.
"why is the NFL trying to do business in china, a country known for violating child labor laws?"
They're trying to give a little something back to the children that make all that cool NFL gear.
@ J,
Rugby? dude, do some research. Just from a sheer economic standpoint the most the best rugby players make is in the $400,000US per yr. range. That is almost half of what the average nfl player makes per yr.(which is $760.000)
Rugby's ave. pay per. yr. is around $60,000US.
the highest pay in the NFL is 17+mil. per yr.
A rugby's club salary cap is $4.4 mil. US.
The NFL's salary cap is $131 million U. S. AND F'in A DOLLARS. Yea they're sure catching up to the NFL.
HAHAHAHa
Man i never said rugby players made more money than nfl players, i said rugby is more popular as a sport in the world than football is and is gaining more fans right now in "virgen markets" than football.