Matt Bufton: Can the NFL save society?

Like the old Staples commercial said, it's the most wonderful time of the year, and not just because the kids are back in school. We're just days away from the start of a new season of NFL football. The NFL isn't just the best sport, it may also be the cure for a fragmented society and the male loneliness epidemic.

Many of my more bookish friends are puzzled by those who love "sportsball" in general, and particularly American football, which combines both astonishing violence and frequent stops. A typical play lasts less than 10 seconds and is followed by a team meeting of up to 40 seconds, in which players decide what to do next. And of course, the sport is so hard on the human body that many of the people who play it are left with physical ailments for life, with some suffering serious brain damage.

So why should anyone watch football? Because it's one the few elements of shared culture we have left.

It wasn't so long ago that mass culture was dominant. More than five-million Canadians (16 per cent of the population) watched the series finale of "Friends" the night it aired. People listened to a handful of radio stations and heard the same things. Even commercials gave us shared references (if you're over 40, there's a good chance you remember "Got Milk?" "I feel like chicken tonight!" and "Whasssup!?").

Today, we each have the ability to choose from an infinite media universe of movies, shows and songs. Even the ads we see are targeted towards our demographic and niche interests. There's something nice about this level of choice, but it also reduces our ability to bond over shared experiences. The days in which everyone was talking about anything are pretty much gone.

And that's why you should be watching the NFL if you're looking for something to connect over. Part of the story is how absurdly popular the NFL is — particularly in the United States, where it accounted for 46 of the 50 most-watched TV broadcasts of 2025.

In Canada, the Super Bowl is also one of the most-watched broadcasts in many years, though football generally lags behind hockey, and sometimes baseball or basketball if the Jays or Raptor make a playoff run. But the NFL has a secret weapon those other sports don't have — there isn't very much of it.

In an NFL season, each team plays 17 games, plus a maximum of four playoff games. Compare that to hockey, with 84 regular season and up to 28 playoffs games. Or baseball with a stunning 162 regular-season games and up to 22 playoff games.

The result is that closely watching your favourite hockey or baseball team is an endeavour that borders on having a second job. The typical fan follows his team, and knows comparatively little about other teams.

However, I can watch every minute the Detroit Lions play in less than 70 hours, spread over about four months. This means I still have time to watch a few other games each week. And that gives me something to talk about with other football fans. (The incessant NFL media machine helps with this, too.)

In Canada, about 46 per cent of adults follow the NFL at least a little bit, according to a 2023 Angus Reid poll. Fandom is unsurprisingly higher among men, with over half of us following it at least casually and more than a quarter following closely or very closely. We may not want to talk about our feelings, but we probably have an opinion on whether the Seahawks should have run the ball from the one-yard line in Super Bowl XLIX.

The other week I learned that my nextdoor neighbour is an Eagles fan, and we proceeded to spend the next hour talking about football. Three years ago I hung up a new Lions flag I'd received for Christmas in my front window and went out to shovel the driveway. Within 20 minutes a neighbour I'd never met wandered by and we talked about football for as long our two-year-old children would let us.

Like millions of Canadians, I also play fantasy football, and office conversations during the week regularly turn to lineup decisions and trash talk.

So if you want more excuses to bond with neighbours and the chance to heckle strangers wearing a Packers jersey, consider becoming a football fan. Get serious about the team you've been casually watching. Or pick the closest team to you, the one your uncle cheered for or just one with nice uniforms. (Just don't pick a team in the middle of a dynasty, we'll judge you for that.)

Talking about football won't save society on its own. But it may help you build relationships with your neighbours, and that's a step towards restoring the communities and institutions that can help us rebuild civil society. As an added benefit, it will give you something to talk to your American friends about besides Donald Trump.

And if you happen to see me in my Detroit jersey or my understated Lions tie, feel free to tell me that Dan Campbell is the greatest coach in history or you think he's a loose cannon. Either way, I'll enjoy the conversation.

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