I've actually given this a little thought. It's not just because the name makes no sense. It's because I'm a fan of the game we're all here talking endlessly about, and I'd love to see it spread. But from a global marketing perspective, the name "football" is a huge—perhaps insurmountable—barrier. Despite the millions the NFL could spend on promotion, the name is just flat-out taken. There's no claiming it, when those who already use it for another sport outnumber us by billions. So if the NFL were my client, I'd advise them to come up with a secondary name that could be used here in a supporting role, but used abroad as the primary name. Gridiron (Grid for short) is the most obvious choice, but there's where the NFL's money could work wonders. They could literally invent a word out of thin air, and use their marketing millions to buy it into common usage.
So, the options to date are: NML = National Man-Boob Ball League & CML and: NGL = National Gridiron League & CGL and changing AYSO to AYFO
You know, I've played soccer, and I want to address some basic things about the game: I watched Portugal tie the US in the 5th minute of injury time. The guy scored by hitting it with his head. Maybe they should call it headball. Earlier in the US Portugal game the US scored when a guy deflected the ball in with his chest. Maybe they should call it chestball. Guys trap the ball all the time with their thighs. Maybe they should call it thighball. In the Brazil game today, a guy knocked it in the goal with his knee. Maybe they should call it kneeball. Whenever the ball goes out of bounds, a guy picks it up with his hands and throws it. Maybe they should call it handball. The goalie gets to use his hands and often throws or rolls the ball with his hands. Another vote for handball. Injured guys roll around holding their ankles or shins. They often add about 5 minutes of injury time because of this little bit of theater. They could call it ankleball, or shinball, or theaterball. In the final analysis, soccer is played with a lot more than just the foot. Football? Don't let anyone use anything other than their feet or you don't really have a solid case for exclusive rights to the name. Or maybe call it football with exceptions.
Not at all. It's actually a really good example. In handball, you're only allowed to hit the ball with your hand, not your head, chest, foot, knee, elbow, testicles. Just the hand. Perfect. So... what Football*, Football+, Bodyball? Ruleball (since you need to check the rules to see when you can't use certain parts of your body).
