ran expert Patrick Esume explained on Monday evening what the European football associations can learn from the NFL in order to become more attractive for fans again in the future.

Munich – Patrick Esume is a man of clear words, he proved that once again on Monday evening.

When asked about the differences between football and football, the coach answered on Hessischer Rundfunk’s “Heimspiel” programme: “Football has more drama, more dynamics through the physicality, but also the tactics that the coaches bring in.”

For him, the Super Bowl in particular provides more drama in the NFL. This prevents premature decisions in the title race, he said. “I actually believe that a final game is always good for the sport. Everything is looking forward to this final game. Everything is moving towards this one week before the game.”

Esume would also like to see a play-off system alongside finals for championships, as this “would make football more exciting”. Another means “to avoid one-sided title fights like in the Bundesliga in the future” would be salary caps.

‘Introduction of salary cap in Europe unrealistic’

Due to the different systems of professional sport in the USA and Europe, however, Esume considers precisely such a salary cap in football to be unlikely: “Due to the fact that this is a cross-border game with UEFA, it is of course more difficult. All national associations would then have to actually agree.”

Without this salary cap, a play-off system makes little sense in his view: “Those who have the most money buy the best players. Then you don’t have to worry about playoffs. If you have the best players, you’ll probably win the playoffs.”

In addition to the problems with the structure, Esume also sees an oversaturation of “King Football”, which makes the sport less attractive overall: “There are simply too many games and competitions, which also dilutes the whole thing. In the NFL there is one league. There are 18 game days, the playoffs and that’s it.” Attractiveness through scarcity.

‘NFL offers better fan experience’

But according to the ranNFL expert, the attractiveness of the NFL does not only result from the exciting title fight in the North American football league. “As a Fooball fan, you get much closer to the team.” This is mainly because “the NFL is a professional league, not a club sport, but a business. They understand that fan engagement is extremely important.”

Esume alluded above all to pictures showing NFL fans in their living rooms cheering on their teams and sometimes even destroying their TV sets: “The pictures could also have come from Germany. Every Sunday we have the same pictures on ProSieben. When our netman Icke shows pictures from German living rooms, it looks the same.”

To reassure all football fans, however, the Hamburg native is quite sure of one thing – namely that “football will always work, because: It has always been there. “

‘Football and football not competitors’

Esume, who as commissioner of the European League of Football also promotes his sport in Europe, assumes that football and football can “coexist quite well”. The target group is similar, but “not exactly the same”.

Football is even more of a family sport than football: “With football, you go in the morning. Tailgating with the whole family. The kids are in bouncy castles, you throw, eat sausages, you meet fans from other teams and don’t bang your bell. You stand next to each other in the block, eat a sausage, laugh and arrange to meet for the return match at their stadium. That’s the difference: you can take your family with you. “