WHY FOOTBALL BEATS NFL

As an English fan of American football, about to witness Tom Brady lift his fifth Super Bowl title, I was surprised to see an old man with grey hair lift the Vince Lombardi Trophy instead. He was Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots franchise. That would be crazy in football. Imagine if the Glazers went up to lift the Premier League trophy at Old Trafford? The very interesting book Soccernomics explains that the owners do not actually make profit in football – the sport is just a hobby. Yet in the States, they treat NFL teams as a franchise. Hopefully our clubs will never change, and we’ll continue to witness emotional captains lifting cups.