The NLF continues its efforts to popularize football in China by funding children’s programs and by advertising to young, urban middle class men. From the International Herald Tribune:
Basketball has been played for 100 years in China. Baseball is an oddity, but at least it has roots. The NFL may be the most popular game in the Untied States, but it arrived in China only a few years ago and its playing catch up in a country of 1.3 billion with a swelling middle class.For now, the NFL is thinking small. It’s been sponsoring a school-age flag league involving 5,000 players. An NFL game is shown weekly on China’s state-run CCTV. Smeaton said the NFL is about “to announce a much broader distribution of games” in the country. It may also change viewing times and may add more live telecasts. [Full Text]
See also the Shanghai Daily article on the NFL in China.
