When I think of what I’ve missed by coming to Oxford, there is one thing that stands out: college football. On any given Saturday, over 1.5 million Americans drive into college towns, file into stadiums larger than the student population, and watch some 20 year old college students play football. From the Penn State White Out to Florida State’s War Chant, the size and magnitude of this tradition isn’t really comprehensible to Europeans. Of course, you have your football culture, reminiscent of college football in more ways than one. But, college sports, specifically football played by student-athletes, is an almost uniquely American concept. Why, the Briton might ask, would so many people care so much about the result of a football team associated with their university? “I may have studied English there, and I enjoyed Professor Brown’s lectures, but why should I care about Coach Saban’s football team?”
Why is college football so dominant in America? It must be noted that college football predates any form of professional football in the United States. The sport has its own history, tradition, and legacy. Similarly, I believe the development of “college towns” in the US was very impactful. The largest universities in America, and especially the largest football towns, are not in large cities. Instead, they are in these so-called “college towns”, areas with a very young, energetic population and no competition for Saturday afternoons. The closest NFL team to the University of Alabama, in Tuscaloosa, is a three and a half hour drive north (180 miles) to Nashville, Tennessee. Even the University of Tennessee, in Knoxville, is an over two and a half hour drive from Nashville. Next to the lack of competition, there is a hereditary aspect to college sports. If you went to Penn State, and your father did, and his father did, then it’s a family affair, one that brings you together. This is very similar to British football, except the tie of attending the university makes that bond even stronger. Not to mention, especially in the college football crazy southern US, just being born close (and I really mean within a few hours drive) to the university is enough to make you a die-hard fan. Thus, you get a sport which has its roots in late 19th century American university culture, has less competition due to the American “college town”, and collects fans throughout generations of students. No wonder it dominates Saturdays in autumn.
UK universities tend to be in large towns with football, rugby, and various other weekend distractions. What is the need for a 100,000 seater stadium used on six Saturdays a year? Americans feel a bond with their university that moves beyond a simple business transaction. They look back at it with longing, and the connection to the college football team gives them a lifeline back into that world. No matter how long ago they may have graduated, they still have that last connection to the school, and, possibly more importantly, to their youth.
Many would say this is all a colossal waste of time and money. After all, for many American universities, the highest paid staff member is the football coach. Yet, the story is not so simple. There are more than 60 college football programs which gross more than $100 million a year in revenue. These programs fund the rest of the less acknowledged college sports, while also turning a profit for the university to use elsewhere. Those packed stadiums pay for new science facilities, research grants, and, of course, the generally loss-making humanities departments. While the “business” of college football may demand coach salaries reaching over $10 million per year, the returns they bring to the school are immense. School exposure (benefits in academic admissions competition) and benefits to the student/alumni experience should be noted. While some may argue that all the hype is overblown (especially us stuffy Oxford students), understand that in the US, this is not just a piece of our culture, but a financial juggernaut.
Would the UK benefit from a proper, American college sports environment? Or, what lessons could UK university life learn from such an institution? It must be said that for both the reasons stated above and many more, the UK will never have a college sports environment similar to that of the US. If the UK doesn’t have it by now, it simply never will. The history and tradition of inter-university competition which makes American college football so appealing doesn’t exist. However, I do think there are some lessons to learn.
Firstly, there is value in a shared culture, a shared team for which the university is associated with. At Oxbridge, the college system accounts for a good deal of this. However, there is a certain lack of school spirit associated with most UK universities. Rarely do I see university merch at the same rate that I see college merch worn either here or in the US. There is not a shared sense of camaraderie between graduates which connects them back to their school. The shared experience of going to the same university is amplified when there is a sports team that you can both enjoy. Instead, in the UK, we treat university as a business transaction. There is not the same sense of identity to do with your university experience in the UK, and that is a shame. While university sports will never be as they are in the US, the UK can still take a lesson from its younger brother across the pond: school spirit is not cringe or childish, but necessary for the kind of school community I want to participate in.
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