Games outside the USA?

[GrnBay007]

Give your reasons.

ESPN poll has 61% no and 39% yes.

[Homer Jay]

Fans of each team get 8 home games. Sending one of them out of the country so the league can expand their coffers just seems wrong to me. We are talking about a billion dollar enterprise. Forget about the foreign fan and make it easier for local fans to see a game.

[Tarlam!]

Forget about the foreign fan and make it easier for local fans to see a game.

What pack4 said.

You all know me to be as forreign a fan as can be. I would not want the Pack to give up a home game even if they came to Frankfurt to do it. The Lambeau advantage is more important, the tradition of playing at home etc.

Fine if we talk pre-season, even Pro Bowl. Not regular season games. Do a better job of NFLE and there should be no need for this.

[GrnBay007]

I ran out of room in the poll question area......but they DID specify regular season games.

I thought when this was first being discussed they were only talking about preseason games.

[Tarlam!]

I mean, come on. If I lived in a State of the Union that had no team, like North Dakota, I would be so pissed at hearing about the Packers/ Seattle game being played in Tokyo.

[GrnBay007]

For all the Marketing Gurus out there, what's your take on this? Does the NFL not make enough money on the NFL in the US without looking elsewhere?




Here's an article from USA Today -

NFL looking at playing two regular season games abroad each year

DUESSELDORF, Germany (AP) — The NFL has proposed playing two regular-season games outside the United States starting in 2008, league officials said Saturday.

Mark Waller, head of NFL international development, said the proposal to play abroad was put to team owners Tuesday in Denver. It came after the 49ers and Cardinals played last October before a regular-season record crowd of 103,000 in Mexico City.

The owners will discuss the issue again in October. The games would be played in Mexico, Canada, the United Kingdom and Germany, where five of the six NFL Europe teams play.

"I will say the reception we got from the owners was incredibly positive — all the questions were on the practical issues," Waller said.

Plans were also announced to add two more teams to the six playing in NFL Europe by 2010. Last year, owners gave the league a five-year operating license — ending years of threatening to pull the plug on the operation because of the cost.

"It now gives us a platform to grow the game internationally with a concept of clarity," Waller said.

Outgoing commissioner Paul Tagliabue said developing the game internationally may rank as one of his top five accomplishments during his 16 years in charge.

"I feel the international initiatives we made, along with the owners, may become more significant over time," Tagliabue said.

The league's effort to make an impact internationally began in 1986, when NFL teams began to play preseason games overseas.

The German cities of Hanover and Leipzig are the leading candidates to get NFL Europe expansion clubs as the league concentrates on Germany. The Amsterdam Admirals are the only current NFL Europe team located outside Germany.

NFL Europe would then be split into two four-team divisions with the schedule expanded from 10 to 12 games. The league hopes to develop local stars for NFL Europe, as well as international stars in the NFL.

"It's clearly critical to the future of the game internationally," said Jim Connelly, managing director of NFL Europe.

[Homer Jay]

I don't have as much of a problem with pre- season games, but I still don't like it. Preseason seems long to the fans, but the travel time, jet lag, etc., have to make it tougher for a coach to prepare his team. I don't see the wisdom of flying to Tokyo to have your starters play 2 or 3 series.

Also, if they move a game, does the season ticket holder get a refund for the game they missed.

[Tarlam!]

007, I've been banging this out on the 2 NFLE threads. I was preaching much of this stuff before this article was posted. This is a major waste of a golden opportunity. My list of stuff is on the official Tarlam for NFLE commish thread....

[GrnBay007]

007, I've been banging this out on the 2 NFLE threads. I was preaching much of this stuff before this article was posted. This is a major waste of a golden opportunity. My list of stuff is on the official Tarlam for NFLE commish thread....

sorry, I guess I missed that one. I didn't mean to start a repeat.

I think the decision made here will have a considerable impact....just found the topic interesting.

[Tarlam!]

I think the decision made here will have a considerable impact....just found the topic interesting.

I agree. They are two different topics, but they have been thrown together. I was also considering starting a new thread on thie NFL side, but was a bit rattled cause they threw the "E" stuff in. No harm done, I know how you love thread discipline!

[MJZiggy]

Can I change my vote?

[Tarlam!]

Can I change my vote?

Only if you now wanna vote "No"

[MJZiggy]

I now wanna vote "no."

[RashanGary]

I'm all for it. Anytime you have other countries feeding money into the USA economy, it is good for us. I think the American sports is one of the best things we have going and by reaching out to other countries we are making it a bigger market and in turn, helping our economy by bringing in outside revenue to our country.

It's all good IMHO.

[Tarlam!]

Nick, what you are talking about is cannabilizing income at the expense of USA fans privileges to watch their home teams.

No extra revenue will be developed. The TV rights are already sold. Anybody who wants a Packers shirt will buy one, the Packers don't need to come to Europe for that to happen. Most of the ticket sales will go to cover the costs of holding the event.

What extra income are you talking about hitting your economy?