Which NFL team to support based on the Albion?
American Football is a sport that’s growing in popularity across the United Kingdom. There will be four NFL games staged in England this year, two at Wembley and two at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and there is even talk that one of the franchises could become a London-based club in the not-too-distant future.
If you’re yet to catch the NFL bug, then now is the time – especially with the new season about to get underway. Which begs a difficult question – which franchise should you follow?
The guys at Betway have come with a method to help you to decide, basing which NFL team to support on Premier League clubs. And the answer for us Seagulls fans? The Arizona Cardinals.
Why Arizona? Well, just like Brighton they’ve taken a punt on a rookie manager for the coming campaign. While Tony Bloom has put his faith in Graham Potter, the Cardinals have turned to 40-year-old Kliff Kingsbury, who has never held a head-coaching role in the NFL before.
Both sides have made exciting acquisitions over the summer too. The Albion have splashed out £20m on Neal Maupay, £18m on Adam Webster and £17m on Leandro Trossard, three players who Potter will be hoping can light up the Premier League. In the case of Trossard, he already is.
The Cardinals meanwhile drafted 22-year-old college superstar quarterback Kyler Murray (no relation to Glenn). Murray was the first pick of the entire draft while his individual honours lists includes the Associated Press College Football Player of the Year, Davey O’Brien Award, and Heisman Trophy awards for his 2018 season with Oklahoma. He also won the 2014 Gatorade American Football Player of the Year award as a senior in high school.
Just like Brighton, the Cardinals have a mean looking bird as their badge. They also don’t taste much success, which is something that we can definitely identify with. The Cardinals haven’t won a championship for 70 years, which is apparently the longest drought of any team in any sport in the United States and Canada. In 2012, they became the first NFL team to pass the 700 losses mark.
Their wonderfully named State Farm Stadium looks a little better than the Amex, but of course this is outweighed by the fact that you can get to the Amex without facing the risk of being shot.
It was opened in 2006, has a capacity of 63,400 (no safe standing) and hosted the Super Bowl in 2008 and 2015. It will do so again 2023.
State Farm isn’t a stranger to real football either, with fixtures in the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup and the 2016 Copa América both having been held there.
But for all that, they couldn’t quite match Brighton’s start to the season under Potter. The Cardinals drew their opening game 27-27 with the Detroit Lions (presumably, they’re the closest match to Millllllllllllllllllll). Kingsbury takes his roster to the Baltimore Ravens this Sunday, who must be the side for Wigan Athletic fans to support given that one of the best pubs in Wigan is called The Raven.
Come on your Cardinals!
You can visit Betway’s NFL betting page here.
