system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why are mascots a big part of American sports but not so much in Europe?
gpt
The focus on American sports tends to be more about the teams and the team franchise identity, when in Europe the focus is a lot more on locale. This came up a bit on a question a while back when someone was asking about how US teams can so easily change owners or cities compared to European teams. Because most American sports are only maybe 150 years old tops and organized play groups are mostly less than 100 years old, there isn't nearly as much history. The oldest European Football team (Notts County) has been active since 1862. The oldest American Football team, by comparison (The Green Bay Packers) joined the NFL officially in 1921.

The focus on the franchise of the team versus the locale is also impacted by the relative size of the countries. It's easy to find a local team to support in England, where the UK club system can have hundreds of teams across all the various levels. There are 92 teams in the first four levels *alone*, while in the entirety of the NFL there are only 32 teams. Even just going with Level 1 teams, there's approximately 1 team for every 2,500 square miles in England, and in the NFL there's one team for ever **12,000,000** square miles. 

So it's a lot easier to associate with a franchise than a location, especially when that location might be five states over. And part of creating that franchise is by creating a mascot or icon to rally behind.