You got to love the NFL...

[Zeldas Open Roof]

just as soccer has overtaken hockey here.

lol, yes for 4th place in a race where the top 3 are worlds away in the lead..

 

[upj87]

There's 10 million people in London and 56 million people in England. These are soccer, cricket, and rugby fans first but there are enough people to support an NFL team and grow the game. In 30 years, 50 years, American football could overtake cricket and rugby just as soccer has overtaken hockey here.

just as soccer has overtaken hockey here... how so?... the 20k average in outdoor stadiums in a 34 game season? Only metric I know is tv exposure....Seems like the only thing on is the stuff from Europe competing with Bugs Bunny cartoons on weekend mornings..

 

[Zeldas Open Roof]

just as soccer has overtaken hockey here... how so?... the 20k average in outdoor stadiums? Only metric I know is tv exposure....

both are small niche sports that most American sports fans pay little attention too. lets face it, im a die hard pens fans all my life but if we didnt have the penguins in this city, i wouldnt watch a second of the nhl. I'd bet 95% of penguin fans in this city would say the same..

soccer is almost like this but dont even have a major professional league so they cant even say that.

 

[lilspainishflea]

Yeah, everything you said is what I thought was the answer. But by the same token, you would have thought the NFL would have had a bigger interest in getting some more high profile marquee teams and/or games over there.

The Commissioner is employed by the league owners. They are basically his Board of Directors. He doesn't want to do things which will upset the owners, because they could just decide to not extend his contract.

So if Dallas or Pittsburgh doesn't want to play in London, they most likely won't have to. That's been easy so far because historically there was only 1 game per year abroad. Then we went to 2 and now there are 5. So it's getting to be a harder bullet for teams to dodge. As an alternative, the NFL has encouraged teams to pick a non-US country as their "sister country." If/when games are ever played there, it is likely that the team will play in that country. The Steelers picked Ireland (almost certainly because of the Rooneys) and Mexico.

 

[lilspainishflea]

How did it come about that Jacksonville has played so many games in London. Don’t they have something like twice as many games overseas as any other NFL team?

The Rams signed an 8 game series to play in London and then backed out for some reason. Jacksonville took over all except 1.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

lol, yes for 4th place in a race where the top 3 are worlds away in the lead..

The NFL is world's away. College football is probably also world's away if you count that and the NBA. But the US population is so large that being the #4 pro sport is extremely lucrative as is being #5 as the NHL aint exactly hurting in the US. The English population is smaller but if you can start at #4 in England and possibly eventually pass cricket and rugby that's big big money. Its big enough money right now being #4.

 

[Pitt79]

lol, yes for 4th place in a race where the top 3 are worlds away in the lead..

Both American Football and hockey will never really take hold in most foreign countries, they're both kind of rich people's sports, all the gear you need, helmets, shoulder pads, etc. people in most countries think it's crazy, hockey of course will draw interest in colder countries, they usually like sorts with just a ball and a field. England and Germany have kind of embraced football, but I doubt most of Europe will, they might watch it as a novelty, but I doubt they'll be forming and equipping youth teams.

 

[Zeldas Open Roof]

i just dont see it, nfl expanding teams overseas or even into mexico. NBA should and very easily could go all out, even adopt / create a sister league in europe or asia, do some kind of crazy ass world NBA League, that would be cool as hell.

But nfl, way too many logistical issues. hell, i'd bet they would get a huge fight with the players union even if they tried to start a team in europe. Imagine going from LSU or alabama and then getting drafted by the london Jihadists or whatever their nickname would be? That would suck.

But for hoops, the NBA could have some asian teams in china, 1/2 dozen teams in europe and once or twice a year, play some "inter league" games with the USA teams. that would be a marketing dream. and all those nba players and coaches who've been on their knees in front of china the last decade would finally get their money shot they've been working so hard for (ok, that was gross but you get my point)..

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

i just dont see it, nfl expanding teams overseas or even into mexico. NBA should and very easily could go all out, even adopt / create a sister league in europe or asia, do some kind of crazy ass world NBA League, that would be cool as hell.

But nfl, way too many logistical issues. hell, i'd bet they would get a huge fight with the players union even if they tried to start a team in europe. Imagine going from LSU or alabama and then getting drafted by the london Jihadists or whatever their nickname would be? That would suck.

But for hoops, the NBA could have some asian teams in china, 1/2 dozen teams in europe and once or twice a year, play some "inter league" games with the USA teams. that would be a marketing dream. and all those nba players and coaches who've been on their knees in front of china the last decade would finally get their money shot they've been working so hard for (ok, that was gross but you get my point)..

The NBA should absolutely expand to Europe. London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, Barcelona, Madrid. Have those teams play in the Eastern Conference.

I could see NFL players not wanting to live in London but it is what it is. Pay them enough and they will. London is a great city and I am sure there are players who would prefer it to Nashville, Jacksonville, Buffalo, Cincinnati, etc.

 

[Pitt79]

The NBA should absolutely expand to Europe. London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, Barcelona, Madrid. Have those teams play in the Eastern Conference.

I could see NFL players not wanting to live in London but it is what it is. Pay them enough and they will. London is a great city and I am sure there are players who would prefer it to Nashville, Jacksonville, Buffalo, Cincinnati, etc.

Europe has a lot of good basketball leagues already in Spain, Greece, France, Italy, Turkey, the Euroleague, Eurobasket, which is like UEFA CL in soccer - NOT IN ENGLAND- English basketball is like USL 3RD Division in soccer, again like most of your ideas, it would ruin an already good thing. Where's your Athens team? Greece is better than England in basketball BY A WIDE MARGIN, the way England is better than Gibralter in soccer. So no to all these brainstorms, the world doesn't need to be ruined to be like /America.

 

[Pitt_Boss]

The NBA should absolutely expand to Europe. London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, Barcelona, Madrid. Have those teams play in the Eastern Conference.

I could see NFL players not wanting to live in London but it is what it is. Pay them enough and they will. London is a great city and I am sure there are players who would prefer it to Nashville, Jacksonville, Buffalo, Cincinnati, etc.

How did Nashville , as a city, get dumped in with cincy, jax, and Buffalo?

 

[TD_6082]

How did Nashville , as a city, get dumped in with cincy, jax, and Buffalo?

Haha. I like all of those cities. I could never do Buffalo winters tho.

 

[Burgh15]

For a while, I thought it was inevitable that the NFL would expand internationally, perhaps in the next 10-15 years.

Now, I wouldn’t be surprised if they used the 17th regular season for international exposure, whether that be London, Mexico City, Germany, or Spain.

I could see the NFL using the 17th (and eventually 18th) game to have a full international schedule.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

And that does not apply to the Jaguars and London.... Sure it does.

It absolutely does not. Jacksonville volunteered to play all these games in London, because for years they couldn't come close to selling out their stadium and they made more money, in fact a lot more money, playing a home game in London rather than in Jacksonville.

 

[YourPittDanceTeam]

So then don't ever send the Steelers

I am not a steelers fan and could care less of they ever play a game in Europe.

 

[Pitt79]

I am not a steelers fan and could care less of they ever play a fame in Europe.

I don't ever want them to go either and I'm a fan, but I hate games that start early in the morning, that's why I'm not much of a European soccer fan.