July 17, 2024 | Read Online

College football has a lot of room to grow outside of North America. The video game can help.

With a little bit of a push from schools, broadcast partners and EA Sports, CFB could bloom internationally

Good morning, and thanks for your continued support of Extra Points.

On Tuesday, I wrote a story for The Guardian about the phenomenon that is EA Sports College Football 25. I tried to explain to non-CFB native audiences why this game went away, why so many people care about it, and why the release is different from virtually every other major sports video game release over the last 20 years.

But since The Guardian is a British newspaper, I wanted to tweak the assignment a bit, and specifically reach out to fans of the game who don’t live in North America. Thanks to Reddit, other social media, and my own personal network, I was able to have Zoom and WhatsApp conversations with fans living in Brazil, England, Belgium, Germany and Norway. I wish I had time to talk to even more, since those were some of the most fun conversations I’ve had on this beat for a minute.

The idea that college sports has untapped global appeal isn’t new, even on this newsletter. And the idea that American Football has global popularity isn’t new, either. An AP story from 2022 suggests the NFL has over 17 million “casual fans” in Germany. The NFL commissioned a study to suggest that there are over 37 million such fans in Brazil, part of the reason the league is hosting a game there this season. There are established American football fanbases in Mexico, England, Italy, and elsewhere.

But those aren’t college football fanbases. But after talking to fans, folks around the video game, and my own reporting and personal experiences… I legitimately believe there’s massive potential for college football to grow outside the United States.

The video game can’t do it alone. But yes, I think it’s part of the reason why.