Indoor American Football: Will this new sport work in the UK?

"Glasgow knows American Football - but not like this" booms out a dramatic voiceover on adverts introducing the city's newest sports team.

The Glasgow Tartans will play arena football - a high-scoring, indoor, eight-a-side version of America's most popular sport.

They will join England Eruptors, based in Nottingham, in a start-up 10-team venture with other franchises in Germany, Switzerland and America.

The International Arena League is the brainchild of Tom Mitchell, an American marketing executive who worked with a number of indoor teams, including the long-running Arizona Rattlers.

He insists they are here for the long-term, and say players will be well-paid.

However, others have expressed doubts to BBC Scotland about whether charging at least £45 per game for a sport and players people know nothing about can lead to success.

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This is not American Football's first venture into Scotland.

The Scottish Claymores were part of NFL Europe for almost a decade from 1995, as part of the sport's attempt at an overseas developmental league.

Mark Woods, who worked with the Claymores and later covered them as a journalist, told BBC Scotland the task of the new Tartans team seems considerable.

He says: "Football (soccer) has generational fans, where it passed down from parents. That doesn't really exist for smaller sports.

"What a lot of minority sports find is you're trying to build an audience from a standing start.

"The Claymores came in from scratch and were building it for zero - it was incredibly hard to do so."

Arena football is a condensed, indoor version of American Football [Getty Images]

Bennett Johnson, the Chicago-born general manager of the Tartans, says he is aware of the difficulties.

"Carving out a niche isn't going to be easy but it's not impossible and we will truly have a great sporting experience," he says.

"Once people see the sport they'll be hooked because it's really exciting."

However there is considerable scepticism from people within the country's American football scene.

Try-outs for the new league were still being held in March, even though play begins on 18 April.

"My gut feeling is that this will fall over," says Brett Rosenbaum, an Englishman who played Arena Football in the USA and now coaches the sport across Europe.

"They have given themselves just over a month to get teams together and then put out a good product - can they do that?

"If you told me it kicked off in six months I'd say they had a shot. Now I think you'll see players running about like headless chickens."

Glasgow Tartans ticket prices

Season tickets for the Tartans, who will play at Braehead Arena, start at £200 for six games, with front row seats going up to just under £700.

Tickets for single game tickets start at £45, with the Eruptors similarly priced.

That is considerably higher than tickets for the likes of ice hockey teams Glasgow Clan, who also play at Braehead, or Nottingham Panthers, while basketball side Caledonian Gladiators charge £15 for adult tickets.

Johnson says the team is currently offering a buy-one-get-one-free deal on season tickets, and the prices offer good value as the sport will be interactive, with fans placed right by the touchline.

Tartans management say the majority of their players will be Scottish.

Head coach Philip Garcia says many of them will already have experience playing together for other clubs, ensuring a strong standard of play.

However, a source with experience in amateur British leagues, who declined to be named, said many players competed with the likes of East Kilbride Pirates or London Blitz - highly-regarded local teams, but amateurs.

"These are players who you could see for a fiver or a tenner before, and now they're charging £50 or so to do it," he says.

"The likelihood of games taking place in empty arenas seems high."

Woods told BBC Scotland one reason for the demise of the Scottish Claymores 22 years ago was that people were reluctant to watch a lower-quality product than the NFL itself.

"The desire to watch the sport itself in person wasn't strong enough", he says.

Yet the temptation for players themselves will be high.

The IAL is offering £1,000 a game, with a further £1,000 if the player's team wins - higher rates than teams elsewhere in Europe can offer.

"One player told me he'd never had an opportunity like it this before," says Garcia.

These deals are paid per game, and only if a player takes part in a game.

Online comments have regularly queried whether players' insurance and medical bills are covered by the league, which Johnson and Garcia say is the case.

Fans being close to the action is one of the main selling points of the league [Getty Images]

A number of different indoor leagues have tried to muscle in on the NFL's popularity during the sporting giant's off-season.

But nearly all folded, although some - like the original Arena League - enjoyed success for a number of years.

Tom Mitchell, the man behind the new league, previously served as president of the Ontario Warriors - a California side who shut down after a single season. Such quick closures have been common in the indoor game.

Trying to launch a minority interest sport is risky, according to Dr Walker Ross, a lecturer in sports management at the University of Edinburgh.

"I want this to be successful, but there are a myriad of reasons to be cautious", he says.

"This isn't a popular sport in the US as it is, and that's a place that actually cares about American football."

Dr Ross questioned the high ticket prices, saying sponsors would also be needed.

Johnson, whose background is in banking and finance, said the Tartans are currently reaching out to secure sponsorship. But the league as a whole currently only has three listed sponsors - a bank, financial company FocusCFO, and betting company SportHitters.

The president of SportHitters is listed online as Tom Mitchell. The IAL did not return a request for comment on this.

Multiple sources told BBC Scotland they were unsure if IAL management understands the markets they are entering, with more than one person claiming England Eruptors expressed interest in having a live tiger for a mascot.

This idea did not progress any further.

Johnson is adamant that the Tartans are a long-term project, with plans to reach out to schools across Glasgow.

He says expanding from 10 teams to 16 by the second season is planned by Mitchell.

"There'll be some hiccups and maybe slow starts but we can show what we can do, and then quickly grow the sport."

Rosenbaum has his doubts.

He says: "I've seen attempts to launch it in the Philippines and China because logistics around the teams are easier than the 11-a-side game. There is a novelty to it, but people will eventually ask - why am I watching this rather than the NFL?"

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