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National Football League
The NFL (National Football League) is one of the, wealthiest and most powerful sports organizations in the world. Many of the single franchises or teams are worth $200-300 million each. As such, each team should be thought of as a major corporation.
American-style football, of which the NFL maintains a complete monopoly over the elite professional ranks, has its roots in English rugby, which was played in U.S. Eastern colleges and universities in the nineteenth century. However, rugby did not have features in keeping with American cultural norms. So U.S. football arose out of norms consistent with American society, such as clearly measured possession of territory and the expansion of frontiers through conquering new land.
Walter Camp, a Yale player, devised the rules of the American game. In 1880, he introduced “downs” into the game, or breaks so that teams could re-assess their position and prepare for the next attack. This was in stark contrast to rugby’s non-stop and more flowing play. This move would years later be crucial to the sport’s success.
With natural breaks in play, the game would be one conducive to American commercial television, which relies on advertisement breaks for the generation of revenue. Equally important was the later inclusion of the forward pass into the game. This made the game appear more offensive, and the famous “Hail Mary” long pass is to this day one of the most dramatic plays in sport.
Football’s success as a dominant American sport (alongside baseball) was secured in the 1960s with some important contracts with television networks. The ABC television network sponsored a rival American Football League to compete with the other dominant National Football League. ABC television did not hide the fact that the rival league was created for the sole purpose of creating more leverage with advertisers. After gaining greater legitimacy and earning more revenue, the up-start AFL was able to negotiate independently with other television networks and sign on big-name players. The most notable was star quarterback Joe Namath. With the AFL rising as a legitimate business competitor, the NFL and AFL negotiated a merger, resulting in the NFL league, as it is known to this day. Since the merger, the NFL has maintained almost a complete monopoly over American professional football.
Football’s success, then, has been a reflection of the ideals of American society and, more specifically, of American-style commercial enterprise. The league’s success has, in no small part, been due to the relationship between the media and the sport. In a sense, football is a perfect example of a modern media-generated sport, successfully linking American norms and values with a sport tailor-made for commercial profit.
wealthy
having a lot of money, possessions etc
ￚsynonym rich
very/extremely/immensely/fabulously etc wealthy
He left as a poor, working class boy and returned as an extremely wealthy man.
the wealthy nations of the world
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franchise
American English a professional sports team
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corporation
big company
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monopoly
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norm
the usual or normal situation, way of doing something etc
be/become the norm
Short term contracts are now the norm with some big companies.
Joyce’s style of writing was a striking departure from the literary norm .
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consistent
be consistent with something
if a fact, idea etc is consistent with another one, it seems to match it
Her injuries are consistent with having fallen from the building.
The results are consistent with earlier research.
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territory
land that is owned or controlled by a particular country, ruler, or military force :
Hong Kong became Chinese territory in 1997.
occupied/enemy/disputed/hostile territory
The plane was flying over enemy territory.
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frontier
an area where people have never lived before, that not much is known about, especially in the western US before the 20th century
a novel about a family’s struggle on the American frontier
space, the final frontier
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assess
to make a judgment about a person or situation after thinking carefully about it SYN judge
assess the impact/extent/effectiveness etc of something
a report to assess the impact of advertising on children
assess what/how etc
The technique is being tried in classrooms to assess what effects it may have.
be assessed as something
Many of the adults were assessed as having learning difficulties.
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stark
unpleasantly clear and impossible to avoid
ￚsynonym harshThe movie shows the stark realities of life in the ghetto.The extreme poverty of the local people is in stark contrast to the wealth of the tourists.We are faced with a stark choice.a stark reminder of life under communist rule
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contrast
a difference between people, ideas, situations, things etc that are being compared
While there are similarities in the two cultures, there are also great contrasts.
contrast between
the economic and social contrasts between the poor and the rich
contrast with
The marble is smooth and polished, making a strong contrast with the worn stonework around it.
by contrast (to/with)
The birth rate for older women has declined, but, by contrast, births to teenage mothers have increased.
in contrast (to/with)
The stock lost 60 cents a share, in contrast to last year, when it gained 21 cents.
(in) stark/marked/sharp etc contrast to something
The winter heatwave in California is a stark contrast to the below-freezing temperatures on the East Coast.
The spirited mood on Friday was in sharp contrast to the tense atmosphere last week.
The approach to learning at this school stands in marked contrast to the traditional methods used at other schools nearby.
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crucial
something that is crucial is extremely important, because everything else depends on it
crucial to
This aid money is crucial to the government’s economic policies.
crucial in/to doing something
The work of monks was crucial in spreading Christianity.
play a crucial role/part in something
The city of Mycenae played a crucial role in the history of Greece.
The conservation of tropical forests is of crucial importance .
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conducive
be conducive to something
formal
if a situation is conducive to something such as work, rest etc, it provides conditions that make it easy for you to work etc
an environment conducive to learning
Another Source
likely to produce; helping (an esp. desirable result) to happen:
The atmosphere in the conference room was hardly conducive to frank and friendly discussions.
The friendly tone of the meeting seemed conducive to finding a solution to the problem.
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generation
the process of producing something or making something happen
ￚsynonym production
generation of
the generation of electricity
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inclusion
the act of including someone or something in a larger group or set, or the fact of being included in one
inclusion in
His inclusion in the team has caused controversy.
photos chosen for inclusion in the magazine
inclusion of
the inclusion of early recordings on the CD
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offensive
American English relating to getting points and winning a game, rather than stopping the other team from getting points
ￚopposite defensive
the Jets’ offensive strategy
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dominant
more powerful, important, or noticeable than other people or things
ￚsee also dominate
The dominant male gorilla is the largest in the group.
Japan became dominant in the mass market during the 1980s.
its dominant position within the group
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sole
the sole person, thing etc is the only one
ￚsynonym only
the sole American in the room
Griffiths is the sole survivor of the crash.
The story was published with the sole purpose of selling newspapers.
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leverage
influence that you can use to make people do what you want :
diplomatic leverage by the US
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legitimacy
acceptable or allowed by law :
Their business operations are perfectly legitimate.
legitimacy noun [ uncountable ] :
Opponents have questioned the legitimacy of the ruling.
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negotiate
to discuss something in order to reach an agreement, especially in business or politics
negotiate with
The government refuses to negotiate with terrorists.
negotiate an agreement/contract etc
Union leaders have negotiated an agreement for a shorter working week.
His first aim is to get the warring parties back to the negotiating table (=used to refer to official discussions) .
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quarterback
the player in American football who directs the team’s attacking play and passes the ball to the other players at the start of each attack.
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merger
the joining together of two or more companies or organizations to form one larger one
merger of/between
a proposed merger between two of the largest software companies
merger with
There has been a lot of talk about a merger with another leading bank.
merger negotiations
the two companies’ merger was approved by the shareholders
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negotiate
to discuss something in order to reach an agreement, especially in business or politics
negotiate with
The government refuses to negotiate with terrorists.
negotiate an agreement/contract etc Union leaders have negotiated an agreement for a shorter working week.His first aim is to get the warring parties back to the negotiating table (=used to refer to official discussions)
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monopoly
if a company or government has a monopoly of a business or political activity, it has complete control of it so that other organizations cannot compete with it
monopoly of
They are demanding an end to the Communist Party’s monopoly of power . the state monopoly of television
monopoly on/in
For years Bell Telephone had a monopoly on telephone services in the US. a monopoly in copper trading
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norms[plural]
generally accepted standards of social behaviour
terrorists who violate the norms of civilized society
social/cultural etc norms
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