Gaga for Gridiron: Beijing Pro Football Team Kicks Off Oct 1-2; NFL's Peyton Manning Stops By Sep 28
Get ready for some pigskin throwing, gridiron grinding, touchdown and tackling action, as the China Arena Football League (CAFL) makes its debut in the capital October 1-2.
Arena Football is a version of the popular American sport that others around the world might refer to as gridiron. The arena version of the sport is played indoors on a smaller field and usually features higher-scoring matches.
The China teams were formed in July and each feature 11 foreign and 11 local talents. In addition to our hometown Beijing Lions, the six-team league also includes the Shanghai Skywalkers, the Dalian Dragon Kings, the Guangzhou Power, the Qingdao Clipper, and the Shenzhen Naja.
American Clint Dolezel, formerly of the American Arena Football franchise the Philadelphia Soul, has taken head seat and now coaches the Lions.
Taking place at LeSports Center (formerly the Wukesong Arena), this kickoff event will be the first of six "super series" tournaments, which will go on to be held in half a dozen other cities across China.
According to an English schedule on the CAFL's website, the first game will be a showdown between Guangzhou and Qingdao (Oct 1, 2pm), the second will be Dalian vs. Shenzhen (Oct 1, 7pm), while the third (and arguably most heated for locals in the capital) will be a face-off between eternal rivals Shanghai and Beijing (Oct 2, 3pm).
Tickets are RMB 50 to 200 and can be purchased online here (Chinese interface only).
And as if that wasn't enough football excitement for this fall season, fans will be all the more thrilled by the news that legendary quarterback Peyton Manning is making his way to Shanghai on September 25 and (better yet) Beijing on September 28.
According to the National Football League's (NFL's) official website, the trip is an effort on the part of the two-time Super Bowl Champion and the league to promote tackle football in China. It went on to say that Manning's itinerary includes tours of the Bund in Shanghai, before coming to Beijing to see the Forbidden City and (what else?) the Great Wall.
RELATED: Take note Peyton, 5 hacks for visiting (and actually enjoying) the Forbidden City
The NFL went on to announce that Manning will also be supporting Gatorade China's "One Pass to Fame" program, which grants winners from five Chinese cities an opportunity to compete in "a quarterback passing challenge to take place during halftime of the Colts-Jaguars' October 2 game in London."
In a recent story about Manning's upcoming China trek, the GB Times noted how the NFL is a making a "concerted push into the lucrative Chinese market," before describing that effort as an attempt to replicate the National Basketball Association's (NBA's) unprecedented success here.
It went on to add that: "reports (are) suggesting that the organisation (the NFL) is even planning to kick off its 2018 season with a game in China."
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Photos: Allan Price, NY Daily News, CAFLChina.com, NFL.com
