Since the 2007 season, the NFL has played 11 of its regular season games at Wembley Stadium, a rugby and soccer venue, in London, England. Gridiron football's popularity in the UK was reflected immediately in 40,000 tickets selling in the first 90 minutes of sale and over 81,000 fans in the stands on gameday for the very first game in October 2007. Estimates show that there are over 11 million UK-based fans and television numbers are on a constant and rapid rise. For the moment, Commissioner Roger Goodell and the NFL are reluctant to make a risky commitment to an overseas team, especially after the failure of NFL Europe, a separate football league based entirely in Europe. From the opposite perspective -- England's top tier soccer league, the English Premier League -- has taken a page out of the NFL's book and begun to give international tours for their top teams, such as Manchester United and Chelsea. The EPL has seen tremendous success in the states in recent years, enough so to inspire some team owners to invest in current American soccer teams and even start new franchises. International interest in both leagues is obviously strong and should be acted upon but the U.S. has their own domestic soccer league, taking the possibility of an EPL team off the table. The NFL, on the other hand, has no overseas competition and can take advantage of a tremendous potential in European interest. Travel details aside, there is a market across the pond and, with the money troubles of teams like the Jacksonville Jaguars and Oakland Raiders, an international move or franchise expansion should be considered.
I think it would be very cool to make the NFL an international league. It would increase popularity in the sport itself around the world and more people will start playing it, giving football a much wider audience and pool of talent to choose from. I love the international aspect of soccer and how its top leagues can choose the best athletes from around the planet. For example, top German club Bayern Munich has a team consisting of Dutch, Spanish, Brazilian, Polish, Moroccan, Swiss, Peruvian, Danish, American, and German players. The NFL is comprised predominantly of Americans and doesn't have a strong international presence. By expanding, the NFL will not inly have a new market to rake in the cash but the sport of football itself will see an increase in international appeal and become more competitive than it has ever been. I think an expansion to other countries, in the right situation and at the right time, would be extremely exciting for the NFL as a business and its massive fan base.
NFL in London
There is no doubt that there is a market for an overseas NFL team. However, landing a team over seas would be an extremely large commitment. It would be very difficult logistically, considering every week one team will be traveling halfway around the world. Also, with trades, free-agents, signing and cutting players during the pre-season, individual players will also frequently need to travel overseas. College players in the draft who wish to stay in the country would hate to be drafted by the overseas team, as well. There are many complexities and difficulties involved in this decision, so it will be interesting to see if the league decides tapping into a new market will be worth it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kevin. In theory, the idea of having an international franchise would help expand the sport of American football. There has been a consistent intrigue from other parts of the world about American football, but the other aspects of having a permanent team would cause major questions. The European soccer/football clubs do play internationally, however they don't play across oceans on a regular basis. The use of American and world tours by the top clubs of Europe are great but they don't interfere with the regular season. A permanent team would face the challenges of a regular season plus internationally travel.
ReplyDeleteI see the potential in how much money the NFL could make off of this, but if you were a player you would hate it. The London team would have to consistently fly overseas for away games. Then every visitor would also have to travel over seas for the away games. while it is great to see the sport grow, it would just make a lot of players unhappy.
ReplyDeleteI think a permanent franchise overseas would not be beneficial for the NFL given the travel and willingness from players to live across the ocean. Looking at another professional league that has players from all around the world, the National Hockey League, players come to play in the NHL and leave their home countries for it, which brings great diversification to each team. If this is what the NFL is looking for, I think they would need to grow the game first across Europe if diversity is what they're after. This would be hard to do given the popularity of soccer, however if it's money they're after, I think making NFL games more accessible to watch for Europeans would be a great start for the NFL in growing the game.
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