NFL Franchises Versus English Premier League Teams: To There and Back

Every country has its most popular sports leagues.

In the United States, through television ratings and financial contracts, it is without doubt the NFL that commands a monumental fraction of the sports consumer.

Across the pond in England, while there is little competition, the Premiership is the bread winner in that sports market.

With the EPL season in full swing, and the NFL campaign will culminate with the Super Bowl in just a week, let's take some time to draw up some comparisons of some of the clubs and organization in both leagues.

Since the NFL is pushing to schedule more games in England and with a growing American interest in the English version of football, there is an unquestionable meshing of sport cultures that simply begs to be compared. How well will that go? Let's find out.

The Legends

Call this group the vanguards of their respective leagues. These clubs hold the cards as they assume dominance over the rest of the field. When talking of postseason appearances or title contention, these are the perennial faces that show up. In other realms, they have storied and rich histories imbued with special performances with special athletes.

When thinking of the marquee franchises in the league, these are the clubs that come to mind. They are the gold standard and create cultures that the rest attempt to imitate. Setting the bar comes at a price, as these clubs constantly have a huge target on their backs.

These are the organizations that, in recent years, have made a name for themselves on the basis of consistent excellence.

Manchester United
Chelsea
Arsenal
Liverpool
New England Patriots
Indianapolis Colts
Pittsburgh Steelers
Dallas Cowboys

The Head-Raisers

This next echelon of clubs does what the subheading suggests: they raise heads. These teams don't contend annually, but they hold themselves afloat and occasionally make some noise 

Unlike the aforementioned group, these teams do not have a particular model of consistency, although they bring in the right pieces that work well together to produce a product that can contend for titles and playoffs somewhat regularly.

They do not always have the roster filled with superstars, but the occasional piecing of very talented playmakers (think Rafael van der Vaart, DeSean Jackson) creates some havoc atop the standings.

Save for Manchester City, where the change of ownership to Sheikh Mansour has resulted in an unprecedented influx of cash, these clubs do not have the luxury to simply bring in stars at will. But whatever the philosophy, these teams have respectful histories and typically experience a winning tradition. 

Tottenham
Aston Villa
Everton 
Manchester City*
Baltimore Ravens
San Diego Chargers
New York Giants
Philadelphia Eagles

*since the influx of money

The Less-Than-Once-In-A-Whiles

These teams merely scramble for attention against the more dominant, more financially stable (or financially well-off) clubs. They less-than-once-in-a-while make an ephemeral trip to the top of the tables, maybe create some headlines down the stretch, but don't expect a lengthy stay.

This isn't a slight at these teams. Rather, they are formidable opponents, but often times are on the shorter end of the stick when measuring recent success.

Fulham
Bolton Wanderers
Minnesota Vikings
Green Bay Packers

Any NFL fan likely is aware of the high instability in terms of fluctuating success between clubs in the league, where every team has good players and has the opportunity to add great, young talent every year. This is not so much the case in the Premiership, where the level of prosperity is more consistent league-wide and the establishment of young players is academy-driven.

To whichever league your allegiance lies, there is undoubtedly a great load of competition and quality performance in both of these vanguard circuits.