On Sunday 9th February, the United States (and part of the world outside them) will stop. In New Orleans, the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles will play in the biggest sport event we know: the Super Bowl. The winner will be crowned world champion of American football. The match will feature the two best franchises in the NFL and is a rematch of Super Bowl LVII. Two years ago, KC brought home the Lombardi trophy, awarded to whoever wins the big game. This year though, the Eagles appear more determined and their roster is better, especially on the offensive side.
Even in the American football world, betting is always growing, especially close to such important events. The Super Bowl is just around the corner and whoever would like to make predictions can keep up to date with the latest Super Bowl odds from Oddschecker. This portal is a well trusted aggregator. It helps people in finding all the latest odds, statistics and insights about the game or player they would like to bet on.
American Football in Europe
American football has been mainly an American pastime for ages. Recently, the league introduced the so-called International Series, a handful of games played outside the State border. This innovation led to a major engagement in Europe and a big wave of popularity across the proverbial pond. Nowadays, it is not that rare to find Europeans meeting up and watching the Super Bowl together, even if the kickoff is late in the night where they live.
Rugby is a completely different sport. Of course, there are some similarities in the rulebook but rugby resembles European football (soccer) and thus tends to be liked more, especially in the United Kingdom. They both are very physical and contact is ferocious. However, there is less violence than people might think. This doesn’t mean that there is not any risk of injury. Typically, people believe that playing rugby means risking less (one of those is Joe Biden, former President of the United States). At the professional level, American Football is as much a sport as it is a show. The Super Bowl is a clear example of this and attracts a lot of people, also in the EU.
What about a Rugby Super Bowl?
Historically, there aren’t other leagues in professional sports capable of organising an event of the magnitude of the Super Bowl. UEFA is trying to make its Champions’ League final something similar, with an half-time show and extremely expensive advertising spaces, but so far it never worked. Supporters who watch that game do it mainly to see who will win it, in the end. Thousands and thousands of Americans, instead, switch to the Super Bowl just to see the exhibition at half-time. Rugby never had a Super Bowl, or something like that, but this could change very soon, following a pretty rich Qatari proposal.
Qatar offered 800 millions pounds to the Six Nations’ and Sanzaar’s group in order to bring the best team of the Northern Hemisphere and the top of the class in the South in the Emirate and have them play in a brand new tournament, called World Rugby Nations Championship. The event will last three days and would be broadcasted as a Rugby Super Bowl of sorts, with side exhibitions and games. The world ranking would define the grid between the teams invited. The sixth ranked team in the North will play the number 6 in the South; the two sides ranked fifth will collide, then the number 4s, 3s, 2s and, in the Grand Final, the first in the Northern Hemisphere will take on the first in the Southern.
The amount of money offered is a lot and would help a lot of nations in developing their rugby community. Qatar is ready to organise the first edition in 2026. The World Rugby federation seems inclined to accept and the national sides are ok with playing another tournament. Especially enthusiastic seem the nations looking for a fresh start, such as Wales, who lost its last 12 matches and recently announced its Six Nations’ tournament roster, hoping to start anew in 2025. This new Qatari event could boost morale and ranking for a lot of teams not used to dominate in international tournaments.