This year's Super Bowl - one of the most exciting in the event's 38-year history - was broadcast nationwide in China yesterday as the NFL tries to push the most-American of sports on China's mainland.
Turning the Chinese into football fans, however, may prove more difficult than kicking a 60-yard field goal against the wind.
The game was broadcast with a one-hour tape delay on CCTV-5 with the National Football League estimating it could reach 300 million viewers in the country.
While some sports bars around Shanghai were packed with local fans and American Expats to watch Tom Brady lead his New England Patriots to a nail-bitting, last-second victory, most people in the city couldn't or weren't willing to sit in front of the TV at 7am to watch a game they have little understanding of.
"If it were on a Sunday, I'd like to watch it. It's fun seeing those guys banging into each other," said Wei Jun, who was on his way to work early and drove his fist into his palm to illustrate. "But like most people, I've got to earn a living."
"The Super Bowl? It's no fun at all. Not interesting, because it's all about physical strength, and the coaches are always calling for time-outs," said Wang Qin, a sports fan working at a local securities company.
"It's a coach's game," Wang said.
While the big game has been broadcast in various regions of China, including Shanghai, in the past, this was the first time the event was shown on national TV - a sign of just how eager the NFL is to introduce American football - know as Ganlanqiu or "olive ball" locally - to the world's most-populous nation.
The league is working with Hong Kong-based Zou Marketing to sell the sport on the mainland, although several employees of the firm who talked to Shanghai Daily about the sport couldn't answer basic questions about how it is played, such as how many downs a team gets to move the ball 10 yards.
Zou brokered the deal to broadcast yesterday's game and will represent the league in negotiations to renew the pact and ensure another nationwide broadcast next year.
The NFL is also teaching the game to youngsters in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou - although they play a no-tackle version of the sport called flag football.
The Shanghai conference, held early last month, involved 400 students aged between 12 and 14. Winners of the championship will represent China in the NFL Flag Football World Championship to be held in August. The host country for the event hasn't been decided yet.
NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue has also told American reporters the league is considering holding an exhibition game as part of the inauguration ceremony for the National Stadium in Beijing, which is built as the main venue of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The stadium should be completed in 2006.
The league already holds an annual exhibition game in Japan and runs a minor league in Europe to introduce other countries to the joys of long bombs, tight-end sweeps and, of course, time outs.
Selling the sport in China will be a tough call, however, with a full set of equipment running 5,000 yuan (US$625) per player - far more than most local families or schools can afford.
"I think American football is a bit brutal with all the tackles," said Hu Yong, a 23-year-old who had a glimpse of the Super Bowl yesterday morning. "And to me, there are too many interruptions in the proceedings."
Yesterday's game may have been a titillating event, but don't expect local sports fans to start throwing tailgate parties any time soon.
(Shanghai Daily February 3, 2004)
