NFL looking to make London a home for a NFL team.

[muy_thaiguy]

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nfl--nfl-w ... 36840.html

And quite possibly other countries as well. Thoughts?

[Serbia]

Oh cool, Quick Reply has made a return.

Anyway, I hate it. Logistically, it doesn't seem feasible. I mean, could you really have London play a Monday night game, then the next week travel to San Diego? I also read a different story that suggested they'd play blocks of games, with a suggestion for 8 home games to start the year, then an off week, then 8 road games during which they just stayed in the US and traveled. Traveling for 2 straight months would put any team at a disadvantage. Going into Canada or even Mexico would be one thing, but expanding to another continent just seems ridiculous.

Bollocks.

[warmonger1981]

Stupid as all hell. National Footbal League not World League. I think there was a World League once before. The Minnesota Vikings have already sold out to play their home opener in London fucking the local fans who have agreed to corporate welfare by buying Zigi his new field to make him millions. Just another idea to bring us all together as one world not individual nations. Utter crap.

[thegreekdog]

I've wondered about this on the reverse as well. When non-US soccer/football/futbol teams come to the US, they are warmly received and games sell out. But the MLS is not a big draw. I think the same about football/futbol americano.

[greenoaks]

other football codes have a huge headstart on the NFL.

the AFL is spreading into New Zealand and South Africa. they are both cricket nations and will make use of the pitches in the winter. Rugby League & Union are played in dozens of countries.

however i think Canada & Mexico would be a better place to start.

[Army of GOD]

British people suck at sports though

[DoomYoshi]

That would suck. We would all have to fly to see the Packers win the Superbowl over there, and since we still can't bring knives or bats onto planes (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/23/us/us-delays-ending-a-ban-on-knives-on-airplanes.html?ref=politics), I don't know how I would cope with the other team's fans.

EDIT: Actually, that legislation has been cancelled.

“This is a victory for every single person who sets foot on a plane, and a reaffirmation that the government listens to the people,” said Rep. Markey.

Markey clearly wants a zombie apocalypse as every person who ever died in plane crashes through history gets resurrected.

[AndyDufresne]

I don't know if we want Football hooligans.


--Andy

[dcowboys055]

Another big problem with this proposal is that it would be very interesting for free agency. I'm thinking it would be a really difficult sell to get players to want to play for a London team and move to London, but then again maybe some guys would find that appealing.

I forget who it was but on espn.com they had a quote from a Bengals player who said he would quit before he'd play for a London based team.

Overall it doesn't seem very practical.

[waauw]

seriously?? american football in Britain? No chance in hell they gonna get popular there with soccer being almost a religion and american football being considered as the weaker brother of rugby.

keep in mind that even rugby, tennis, basketball, cycling and many other sports have trouble expanding in europe due to the immense popularity of soccer.

[saxitoxin]

agree with @wauuw, Britain seems a weird place

I remember watching the Notre Dame-Navy game a few years ago on TV when they played it in Ireland and they got a huge crowd but Jack Arute interviewed some of the locals and, apparently, half of them thought they were watching the Super Bowl and the other half were just going to see the marching bands.

But what about other places in Europe? One of the German teams, like the Galaxy or something, used to get 40,000 per game IIRC, and that was watching a bunch of crap players. If they put a legitimate NFL team there surely they could double that? Germans are more likely to enjoy activities involving very slow, methodical, well-organized violence with lots and lots of complex rules, so it's a better cultural fit.

Also, someone suggested Canada for expansion which seems a lot smarter. The U.S. teams in the Canadian Football League folded but there were probably other factors than lack of interest. (And didn't Baltimore or Sacramento or someone win the Gray Cup at one point?)

[waauw]

agree with @wauuw, Britain seems a weird place

I remember watching the Notre Dame-Navy game a few years ago on TV when they played it in Ireland and they got a huge crowd but Jack Arute (world's greatest sideline reporter) interviewed some of the locals and, apparently, half of them thought they were watching the Super Bowl and the other half were just going to see the marching bands.

But what about other places in Europe? One of the German teams, like the Galaxy or something, used to get 40,000 per game IIRC, and that was watching a bunch of crap players. If they put a legitimate NFL team there surely they could double that?

Also, someone suggested Canada for expansion which seems a lot smarter. The U.S. teams in the Canadian Football League folded but there were probably other factors than lack of interest. (And didn't Baltimore or Sacramento or someone win the Gray Cup at one point?)

I agree Canada might be a better choice, even asia is a better choice. Sports in europe are very much based on tradition. A lot of teams here with former glories still get a lot of attention purely because of their history. Starting from scratch in europe is very hard.

[tzor]

I've wondered about this on the reverse as well. When non-US soccer/football/futbol teams come to the US, they are warmly received and games sell out.

Yes but they are exhibition games, for the most part, not games that actually mean anything. Having one NFL game in per year in London is one thing (although a football pitch wasn't designed for football cleats and it really does mess up the field from what I have been told).

[DoomYoshi]

For all you Britain-haters: didn't the LFL successfully transition to Europe?

[Dukasaur]

For all you Britain-haters: didn't the LFL successfully transition to Europe?

Low-Flying Lizards?

[Phatscotty]

Stupid as all hell. National Footbal League not World League. I think there was a World League once before. The Minnesota Vikings have already sold out to play their home opener in London fucking the local fans who have agreed to corporate welfare by buying Zigi his new field to make him millions. Just another idea to bring us all together as one world not individual nations. Utter crap.

Wow. I'm from Minnesota and I didn't even know that. That is a bunch of crap. We have the brand new Gophers stadium I thought they could use just fine? and is the Metrodome really too bad to play one more game in?

[greenoaks]

For all you Britain-haters: didn't the LFL successfully transition to Europe?

Low-Flying Lizards?

no, Lesbian Football League.

we call it Soccer.

[Dukasaur]

For all you Britain-haters: didn't the LFL successfully transition to Europe?

Low-Flying Lizards?

no, Lesbian Football League.

we call it Soccer.

Good sports, then? They don't complain when they get licked?

[keiths31]

Canada might seem like a logical choice, but the CFL is pretty strong up here. (All joking aside from our American friends) The Buffalo Bills in Toronto series has been a flop. And the thought that if there was an NFL team in Toronto that the rest of the country would get behind it is naive. The rest of the country hates Toronto (Raptors are the only NBA team and they barely produce a blip on the screen elsewhere in the country) and they would stick with their CFL teams.

I'd be willing to bet Mexico gets a team before Toronto/Canada. Right now the NFL makes a truck load of money from it's NFL Canada division without even having to put a team up here.