AMERICAN FOOTBALL VS. EUROPEAN FOOTBALL (We Went to the Biggest Rivalry Games)

For hundreds of years, sports have been bringing us together. People who otherwise might not have anything else in common come together and instantly bond over their team, moving a ball from one side of the field to another.

In this video, we are going to explore how two of the most popular sports on two different continents connect people.

This woman just gave me your bracelet.

We'll be comparing the American football experience to the European football experience by attending two big rivalry games. We'll start in Tennessee, where we both went to college, and watch the Tennessee balls play their biggest rivals, the Florida Gators. And then we'll fly across the Atlantic to attend the undisputed biggest rivalry in soccer or European football. Real Madrid versus Barcelona.

We are currently at the University of Tennessee and Nan Stadium. The stadium behind me is one of only nine stadiums in the US that seats over 100,000 people. This is also where Karen and I would to college. And if I'm being completely honest, there hasn't been a lot to be excited about when it comes to Tennessee football over the last 10 years. But so far this season, Tennessee is undefeated, and today we are playing one of our biggest rivals, the Florida Gators. Basically, what I'm trying to say is there hasn't been this much excitement on campus since I went to school here over 10 years ago. I did not just buy this shirt.

We're here on campus a few hours before the game starts to get people's opinion on which sport is better, football or soccer and to understand what people love about American football. What are your thoughts on American football? Football versus European soccer. Which one's better? American football.

Why?

Because it's the only football.

American football, the community around it. It's unique to America. You can't match it.

American football.

Yeah. American football. Sorry, I don't like soccer for a little while. She said it on me.

American football.

American funner. Fun. A word, but more fun probably. European football.

You're the first one to say that.

Hey, buddy, even the dogs are dressed up.

You don't have orange bracelet here, child.

This is why Tennessee fans are the best as well. Just gave me your bracelet. Why is it a super Ball grade fans?

Because they're the balls, baby. That's what it's the home of champions. 98, baby. It feels like 98. We're still holding onto it.

Let's do it.

And you got people for miles and miles, and all you see is season orange. So we still have a couple hours until the game starts. And I'm not sure what happens in Europe, but before most football games in the US there's something called tailgating. Not exactly sure how to explain it. Basically a lot of people get together. There's food, there's drinks. It's a way to make the game last all day. Listen, Tennessee. Tailgating is a religion in East Tennessee, central Tennessee and West Tennessee. It's what we live for. It's what we do every Saturday. It's about being out here with the ball family. It's being a ball for life.

We're making a video trying to explain tailgating to Europeans.

Ah, yeah, that's kind of funny.

How about this?

No. Football. Yeah, football. Same thing is oblong, not round. Woo. Go balls.

Go balls.

Let's go balls, baby. Let's go.

Cheers. Go balls. Go balls. We ordered the 18 to 20 pound gators, but we brought the baby Gators because that's who came to play today. Go balls. Boom. The mascot of the opposing team is the Gators which is why they're cooking and eating bacon wrapped gator today. Peyton Manning, biggest Tennessee fan. We met all day. That was a tattoo of Peyton Manning who was the quarterback UT like 15 years ago. No balls, baby, no balls. This is even better than I remember. Put my arm around you. It feels weird. I'm going to keep doing it. Okay. So this is my childhood friend Stephen. We've been to a lot of football games together. He's the one that's getting me in today. Free. Thank you. If we lose today, will this ruin your week? Yes. Your month? No. I've known nate for like 23 years.

You can describe Nate in a few words.

He is very cost conscious. He brushes his teeth a lot.

Love you.

Bye. Bye. Thanks for letting me go.

Okay, we are in the stadium. The game begins in 30 minutes.

I.

There are so many traditions that I didn't realize we had. Do other sports have marching bands or cheerleaders?

Football time.

So Stephen only had one extra ticket to today's sold out game and it was a no brainer that Nate was going with him. I just wanted to make it clear that there are no hard feelings that I am not at the game and Nate is because honestly, I'm not the biggest sports fan. I love the social part like before and after. But the actual game, after the first few minutes I'm kind of bored usually. But hearing the stadium right now, I kind of wish I was in there.

I don't know what's going on, but it's exciting.

How's the field goal? It's like half a point in soccer.

Stephen, what's your Prediction for the final score, 33, 30 Gators. Because I'm.

Go, go, go, go, go.

It's a little closer than everybody would like it to be, but we're going into halftime up by three. During halftime, everybody floods out into the mezzanine area to get concessions. I'd say the majority of food sold in this stadium, overpriced. The most popular foods include hot dogs, hamburgers, nachos, pretzels, soft drinks, beer. Also, if you want to go to the bathroom, good luck, because the line is about 30 minutes long. Started back there. Still going, still going. This is the bathroom line. I'm not joking. Still going, still going, still going, still going. This is the end of the line.

Sweet. Thank you. $12.

Goals. Go, balls.

At this point in the game, Tennessee have blown a big league, which unfortunately, unfortunately, we are all too used to as Tennessee fans, which is why my friend Steven is so pessimistic.

And the end of the game all came down to one play.

Said, it's great to be a Tennessee boss. All right, from here we go to Europe.

We have just landed at the Madrid airport. We have about five hours until the game starts. So we're going to grab a taxi, drop our bags off at the hotel, and then meet up with a local who is going to join us for the game and help us better understand the European soccer culture.

So, before going to the game, we ran into to a parade of sheep.

It has nothing to do with the soccer game, but it was too interesting not to include.

So, from what I understand, back in the 90s, the Shepherds did this as a protest in order to get a law passed so that they could move their sheep from place to place. And private landowners couldn't tell them that they couldn't. And now it's been embraced and it's become a tradition, and it's pretty much turned into a parade that they do every year. Way more people than I would have thought showed up to watch sheepwalk down the road.

This is our new best friend, Joanna. She's going to be our local football expert today.

I'm 35, even though I look 20, but so I have a lot of experience in this rivalry today that we're going to see. And just remember, Barcelona is the best.

Oh, I have a feeling we need to act like real Madrid fans, because we're in Madrid.

And remember, the Nate looks like Cristiano Ronaldo, and he was a very big.

Madrid player, so maybe we'll get some special treatment today.

So I've seen online everybody saying that this game is called El Classico.

What does that mean? It's the classic rivalry here in Spain, and it was actually the first official football game in 1960 between Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Wow. I can already feel the energy rising.

If I buy a Real Madrid jersey, can we still be friends?

Well, friends, I don't know.

I mean, I will help you depend on who wins.

There's so many.

Is this what you're most excited about?

Getting merch?

Yeah.

Gracias.

Slowly morphing into a Real Madrid fan.

And Joanna is slowly liking us less and less.

Do I look like a soccer fan? Go soccer. Once again, we showed up to the stadium a couple couple hours before the game to experience the atmosphere and compare the pre game festivities to the tailgating we had experienced before the Tennessee game. There are so many people on this street, we can barely walk.

I think we're just grouping together to do chairs right now.

Joanna's so funny. She said, I hope I don't see any of my friends. This would ruin my reputation as a Barcelona fan.

When are we chanting? We are the Julio. We are the hooligans.

This is pretty much just a group of really passionate fans that get together and cheer in the same place every game.

So far, it feels like the biggest difference between fans here in Europe and American football fans is instead of tailgating with your friends and family before the game, everyone is one. One big family here.

So apparently it's a really big deal to go see the buses that the players are coming in on. And I think we've made it just in time.

The Real Madrid bus is coming. I can't see anything.

Vamos.

I love this whole street filled up with people just to watch a bus drive by with tinted windows for about five seconds. Have you ever heard of tailgating?

Yes, I have.

Do you tailgate in Europe? They will install these small wires across the street.

Street.

And you can buy beer and some snacks. But no, we don't feel good. I should give 10 to American football right now.

Okay, we're making our way into a small restaurant to hopefully go to the bathroom before we go to the stadium. Also to get a beer, because apparently they don't sell those in the stadium either.

We made it.

Gracias. Who's gonna win today?

Madrid.

Madrid.

There's the end.

Wow. The beers are bigger in Europe. €5 each.

This is insane. The crowd is literally on fire.

We're gonna stock up on some snacks because we're not sure what the food situation's like on the inside. Should we Get Cheetos.

Usanitos means worms.

Oh, they're worms. That makes it less appetizing. Maybe potato chips.

Do you guys want to be a typical fan? You have to take this.

I don't like any food I have to work for, but I'm gonna for Madrid.

I have to say, I gave the food inside of Nan stadium a hard time, but the food in Spain might be even more underwhelming.

I can't believe it. Our first soccer game ever. I mean, football, Football game. We're in the stadium. Our tickets were real. I was, like, low key, nervous about these tickets not working, but we're in. We did it. They're real.

What?

This is amazing.

I can't believe how close we.

Wow. I literally bought, like, the only available seats on the Internet last night. And this is where we're sitting.

So right now on your right, the Barcelona team, they're warming up.

Okay.

And then on the left on your side, the Real Madrid team in white is warming up as well. 20 minutes before the game.

This is the most excited I've ever seen. Cara, for a sporting event.

What is the sound?

Booing. Because they're presenting the Barcelona lining and they're booing Barcelona team.

That is so interesting. The booing here is really high pitch. And in the US I'm sure we captured it at the UT game. It's.

But here it's.

What is 35. 35 is 35 National Leagues that Realmodine has.

Has won.

They're chanting Gala Madrid, which means like, good luck or Go Madrid.

Oh.

Starting. Starting.

Right. Fifteen minutes into the game.

I like the head ball.

Oh, oh, oh.

I've always thought soccer was pretty boring because you didn't score a lot of points, but so far, wow.

Apparently soccer games are only 90 minutes. American football games are, like, eight hours long.

If you're an American football fan is a good thing. If you're like Karen, you don't enjoy the sport that much could be considered a bad thing.

How many people do you think are watching this game today? Around the world?

A hundred million?

More.

500 million people are watching this game. And how many people do you think watch Super Bowl?

50.

50 million?

Yeah. It's normally between 30 and 50 million. So you can understand the impact this.

Game, this particular game you're witnessing today has to appreciate about soccer. That I kind of just realized for the first time is your offense and your defense are pretty much playing the whole time. And that's why football's so slow, because, like, every single time they do something and they gotta swab out. There's timeouts all over the place. Oh, darn.

A yellow card for number 20 for Real Madrid. Obviously, the stadium is not very happy. The main enemy is the referee.

I think that's something that both sports have in common, is that no matter which team you're. You always hate the referee.

I wouldn't handle that very well. I'm glad I'm not a referee.

Yes, this tiny water was €260. This feels expensive. But I think the water at the Tennessee game was double the price.

They're sending more security. Apparently, the later it is in the game, the more crazy people get.

Here we go.

2 to 0.

The absolute best part about European football versus American football is that there are no commercial breaks. Every, like, five minutes at the UT game. This man in a red shirt would come stand on the field here. Not a single commercial break.

I'm loving all the people sitting on the. What do you call the end zone in soccer? I don't know who they are, but they're all wearing matching white shirts. They all have flags. They all do synchronized jumping and cheering. Really adds to the vibe.

That, for me, was penalty.

The Barcelona coach and the Real Madrid coach are such opposite people. Barcelona coach is like this young, hip dude. He's wearing skinny pants. The Real Madrid coach, he is from Italy. He is wearing a suit. Oh, I want Barcelona to score at least once.

Don't be nice now. Nobody believes it at this point.

So you watch both American football and European soccer?

I do. Go Tampa.

Which one do you prefer and why?

The American football. I've been to two games and I enjoy the entertainment of it, but it's a little bit slow here. It's more dynamic. It's more about the sport.

It's more about the rules.

Who do you think pays better?

I know that Cristiano Ronaldo is the top three highest paid athletes in the world. So I'm going to say European. Really?

I was going to say American football because I just feel like it's all about the money for American.

Well, I'm actually impressed and they know that. But, yeah, he's one of the top. But the top guy that plays for a French team, 150 million euros per year, Per season. Okay. And the best quarterback in the States, he gets paid $45 million a season.

Okay, it's half, time, so we're gonna go explore a bit of the stadium toilet galore. This might not seem like a big deal, but I had to pee so bad at the Tennessee game and never Ended up going because the 30 minutes long.

Absolutely the nicest Porta Potty I've ever been in.

I don't know if this is all stadiums in Europe, but one huge difference between Neyland Stadium and this one is that Neyland Stadium, you can walk all around, make it to all the different sections, but here we're limited to just, like, three small seating areas. Okay, 15 minutes later, halftime is over, we're back at the game. No breaks for another 45 minutes.

It's going to be all right.

Her husband is a major Madrid fan. So this is bigger than this game. Not a goal.

I'm sorry, but it's not a goal.

It's not?

No.

They didn't count it. It's crazy how many times the players will, like, lay down and act like they're hurt and then nothing happens. So they get up and keep playing like nothing happened.

Oh, ouch.

He must be hurt.

Oh, wow. He's magically running.

Oh, man. Oh, this one made me really nervous. They're all lined up. One guy's laying on the ground.

What?

Everybody's mad. Whatever this means.

Gesture means the card. The yellow card.

Yellow card, Yellow card.

Oh, he get his beat up.

What happened?

He scored.

You can't celebrate. So, buddy, literally no one celebrated.

I'm not super familiar with European football, and as soon as they scored this, they didn't just get completely silent. So I assume, like, we were waiting on the refs to make a call, but they just scored. So now it's 2 to 1 with 10 minutes left. Long ranger for Atu Fati. And it's just past the post.

I took sprang. I would jump into that thought they were about to tie it up.

They're chanting to bar the coach because he's not doing very well. There's some insinuation that he's going to get higher, and they're saying, stay. Stay with bar.

These guys are relentless.

I feel like the players and the people should be much more excited.

There wasn't like, a horn or anything. Everybody just started, like, leaving their seats, and we were like, is it over?

I'm very sorry that your team didn't win.

Oh, actually, I'm very sad a little bit. But I'm so happy to share the.

Experience with you guys.

It was pretty fun.

It was a lot of fun. And actually, you know more of soccer than you think.

I played in third grade, so.

Oh, wow.

I know a lot.

So to wrap it all up, both pream experiences were exciting in their own way, but the chanting in the streets is definitely more intense than the eating and drinking. The game goes on at tailgates. However, once we got inside of the stadium, I think the atmosphere inside of Nan was much more exciting than inside the Real Madrid stadium. And here's my best guess why. Since American football is slower and there's more time between plays, it gives the fans time to really get into it, where a soccer game moves so quickly that you end up just watching the game and you almost don't have enough time to cheer. The food at both places was nothing to get excited about. And American football games games are much longer. A football game in the US can easily last four hours and a soccer game is 90 minutes with 15 minute halftime and pretty much no stopping. So it's over in half the time. But I would say my biggest takeaway from the entire experience was realizing that it's really only the US that cares about American football and basically the entire world cares about soccer. While we were at the game, we met Real Madrid fans from all over the world who had flown in to watch the game, from Senegal all the way to Mexico. So the thing that I now appreciate about soccer that I didn't before is just how it brings so many people from all over the world together to cheer for one common goal. And I feel like that doesn't happen very much anymore. So I think that's pretty cool.

Go balls.

Yes. I love you guys. English who is going to win today?

100% 3 0. The one thing I will say about European football though is it's their only sport, so they galvanize around that one sport.

Basically they're saying, bar is a.

Good.

Day is ahead of us guys.

Very long. To be fair, you guys wanted a full experience.

It tastes the same in Europe.

They're adding four minutes to the game just because they can do whatever they want.

American football or European soccer? European soccer. Why? Too slow. American football. The ball has been played for like nine minutes out of three and a half hours.

175 journalists today here at the stadium.

Make it 177.

Honestly, there's nothing like being nuzzled in nature's bosom under natural shade on flat land inside side of the stadium, amongst.

People like yourself, Nature's bosom where I like to be.

Yep.