August 04, 2021

Are You Ready for Some... Football?


Are You Ready for Some... Football?
An unlikely football jersey. Ruslan Tokhtiev at https://vk.com/rt_photo

Amerikansky futbol is alive and well in Russia, believe it or not. You probably missed the Russian Super Bowl this past weekend, with the Moscow Spartans beating the Moscow Patriots 13-3.

The professional league is called the Eastern European Super League (EESL), and about 95 percent of the players are Russian. A smattering of foreigners also play, hailing from (of course) the United States, China, Kenya, and a few other countries. The EESL has 40 teams across Russia and Belarus.

The championship-winning Moscow Spartans have three Americans on staff, including head coach Keary Iarussi.

Most of the equipment for American football has to be ordered from the United States. But the sport has been around in Russia long enough now that players can often find what they need secondhand.

The first football games were played in the Soviet Union in 1989, when high school all-star teams came to Moscow. A college Glasnost Bowl was slated for 1989 in Moscow, but apparently there was not enough openness. The game was canceled. By 2002, after the trauma of the post-Soviet transition had diminished, Russian American football was well established.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, games would attract about 100-200 spectators. American football in Russia has a small but loyal fanbase and is growing in popularity. Check out the cool culture-mashing Super Bowl photographs here.

Football reporters
Russian American football has media too. / Ruslan Tokhtiev, https://vk.com/rt_photo

 

You Might Also Like

An Animating Genius
  • September 01, 2007

An Animating Genius

A look back at the life of Alexander Tatarsky, a genius of Russian animation who passed away this summer.
New Life Breathed into the Museum of Hockey
  • February 28, 2021

New Life Breathed into the Museum of Hockey

Moscow's stunning Museum of Hockey and Hockey Hall of Fame is a hidden gem with new investors ready to keep it going – hopefully for a long time to come.
KHL Victor Crowned
  • May 23, 2021

KHL Victor Crowned

Omsk Avangard clinches Russian hockey's Gagarin Cup with some famous NHL faces.
Russia Goes Running
  • June 04, 2021

Russia Goes Running

Russia hosted the world's largest synchronized footrace at the end of May.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The fables of Ivan Krylov are rich fonts of Russian cultural wisdom and experience – reading and understanding them is vital to grasping the Russian worldview. This new edition of 62 of Krylov’s tales presents them side-by-side in English and Russian. The wonderfully lyrical translations by Lydia Razran Stone are accompanied by original, whimsical color illustrations by Katya Korobkina.
Tolstoy Bilingual

Tolstoy Bilingual

This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 
Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.
The Moscow Eccentric

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.
The Samovar Murders

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
The Latchkey Murders

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...
Driving Down Russia's Spine

Driving Down Russia's Spine

The story of the epic Spine of Russia trip, intertwining fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia. 
A Taste of Chekhov

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.
Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955