NFL going International

[Tarlam!]

I know there have been comments on other threads e.g. Toronto Vikings and SB in another city.

Even though Wembly is just over the Channel, I aint going. I know MMMDK (from Denmark) has tickets.

To me, this is all wrong. If I were a season ticketholder, I would want my team to play 8 home games in my team's stadium. I don't want to share with Euro-Pukes, Latam-Lunies or even Canuks!

I think the NFL dropped the ball with its Europa league; it was just starting to become really popular. They had 5 German teams and the games were extremely well visited. Frankfurt and Düsseldorf games were always sell out and they were the oldest teams.

To add insult to injury, the Giants/ Phins game will be played in a country where that league was NEVER accepted and the German fans have been ignored.

I say, keep the games in North America. Stop proclaiming the SB winner to be "World Champs". Grow the domestic market, there's plenty to be had still!

[the_idle_threat]

Great topic ... I agree that the international angle is unnecessary for the NFL. Stick to the states, I say.

Baseball and Basketball are far more international than American football, at least when it comes to the origin of its players, and you don't see them playing a baseball series in Guatemala or a basketball game in Shanghai.

And I agree they should stop using "World Champions"---and replace it with "Champions of the Known Universe."

[]{ilr]3]

I dont like it either. There is even talk about playing a Super Bowl outside the US. What the hell? We cant have one in Green Bay because of the open air stadium and we are one of the longest leagues in existance and you want to play one in London!

Greedy bastards owners= fans loose. Bob Kraft said it best. "Fans a chance to watch a home game on TV in a way they don't (normally) get."
What a douchebag! And then on top of that the pile of crap says he doeesnt want the Patriots to loose a home game. He and Jerry Jones will try and spin the angle they are just trying to protect thier fans, but they are just trying to protect thier revenue.

[BallHawk]

The only city I think the NFL could rightfully consider is Toronto. They're culturally more similar than Mexico City, not to mention closer. Buffalo has already considered having some games in Toronto, considering the two cities are only about 2 hours from each other.

Toronto is a fantastic city and they are certainly capable of supporting an NFL franchise.

The NFL talking about expanding to Europe is just insane. That's just a complete mess (scheduling, jet lag, fan support, etc.) So if a European team lands a home wild card game you are basically guaranteeing that the European team gets their stadium completely packed with their fans.

The bottom line is, and I hope Goodell understands this, football is an American sport. It's not baseball or basketball with roots around the world.

Remember, it's the "National" Football League. This league is having great success and expanding to another continent wouldn't seem like a good move to me.

[MadtownPacker]

The only city I think the NFL could rightfully consider is Toronto. They're culturally more similar than Mexico City, not to mention closer. Buffalo has already considered having some games in Toronto, considering the two cities are only about 2 hours from each other.

Would the Canadaians even fill up the stadium? You DO know that the last game (49ers/Cardinals right?) played in Mexico city had over 100,000 in attendance? Sorry but while the game isnt consider like soccer it is popular and at least has great attendance. I doubt toronto could match it.

I dont like the idea of regular or postseason games being played outside the US though.

[Bretsky]

Play a couple preseason games there a year

Other than that I say hell with the rest of the world

And don't even think of taking a GB home game away

[]{ilr]3]

Play a couple preseason games there a year

Other than that I say hell with the rest of the world

And don't even think of taking a GB home game away

I really liked Roger Goodel, now... Not So Much!

SUPER BOWL IN LONDON IN 5-8 YEARS?

Chris Mortensen of ESPN reports that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell would like to play the Super Bowl in London at some point over the next five to eight years.

But Mort explains that some of the owners have concerns about such an approach, given that those with new stadiums would like to host a Super Bowl of their own. The enormous economic benefit that goes with hosting the game is a major boost for any city that brings the Super Bowl to town, and the promise of a Super Bowl can be great leverage in connection with efforts to get public money to build new NFL venues.

So we think it's going to take some careful tact and delicate diplomacy from Goodell to make this one happen. Then again, he might be floating the 5-to-8 year window in order to help the owners -- and the American NFL fans -- better come to grips with the notion that, sooner or later, the biggest game in U.S. sports will be exported to another land

[Joemailman]

Play a couple preseason games there a year

Other than that I say hell with the rest of the world

And don't even think of taking a GB home game away

I would be okay with taking a Packer home game north to Canada if it is played on frozen tundra.

[oregonpackfan]

Like several other posters, I have no problem with preseason games being played in foreign countries. I would not want, however, one of the regular home games being played outside the USA.

Like Ballhawk, I think Toronto could support an NFL franchise. That is a huge Metro area and they already play football up there.(As many of you know, Canadian Football has a larger field, just 3 downs, etc.). I really believe Toronto could fill up their stadium on a regular basis.

[Tarlam!]

I am watching this stupid game and I wonder why I don't get a life!

The "turf" won't hold 300 lb players, it is disintegrating.

The crowd has little idea, they only cheer on passing plays.

I am thoroughly disgusted by this.

[BallHawk]

I am watching this stupid game and I wonder why I don't get a life!

The "turf" won't hold 300 lb players, it is disintegrating.

The crowd has little idea, they only cheer on passing plays.

I am thoroughly disgusted by this.

The atmosphere is creepy. Half of the time it's dead silent.

If they're going to play a game in Europe why not make it in a place like Berlin or Frankfurt, places that hosted football teams and the fans enjoyed going to those games?

[BallHawk]

In the unfortunate event that the NFL did expand to London, they'd have to find an indoor venue. There's no way they could be playing in this weather every Sunday.

The Millennium Dome is vacant...

[]{ilr]3]

Pro Football Talk = Sell outs!

These guys used to sound off for the little guy, the fans. Now that they are officially sponsored by the NFL, they are all for selling out american NFL fans in support of greater revenue for them

Loosing more and more respect for them every day.

INTERNET IS A KEY COMPONENT OF "NFL GLOBAL"

We like what the NFL is doing with this whole international football initiative. Not because we're now "company men," but because we realize that more NFL fans in other countries means, in time, more passionate NFL fans in other countries means, in time, more folks scouring the Internet for information about the NFL means, in time, a lot more readers for us means, hopefully soon, more cash for PFT.

Recent remarks from Commissioner Roger Goodell recognize the importance of the Internet to the expansion of the popularity of the NFL beyond the borders of the United States.

"We will connect with more fans globally through digital media," Goodell said this week at a sports business conference in London. "Digital media expands the potential for communicating about our game and with our fans. The Internet is the new town square, a place for fans across the globe to gather and enjoy the NFL."

Amen.

Making the NFL as beloved in other countries as it is in the U.S. will take time. Though Goodell's remarks included an assertion that the NFL didn't become the most popular sport in the United States until 1965, we think that pro football didn't fully complete the climb over baseball until the mid-1990s, thanks to the NFL's version of the hot-stove league that was spawned by free agency, the compression of the talent levels among the teams due to the salary cap, and the disastrous 1994 baseball strike.

And 1994 was also the year that soccer was supposed to become a big deal in the U.S., thanks to our hosting of the World Cup. Though it spawned a U.S. pro soccer league that has somehow survived for more than a decade, the MLS still "feels" like a second-tier enterprise, somewhere between the WNBA and the Arena Football League. Meanwhile, more and more little kids play soccer before any other sport, but have no desire to follow the various professional versions of it.

So while soccer has saturated America without striking a chord, the NFL has been merely sprinkling pro football in other lands. The World League (or whatever it was called at any given moment) was a start, but it wasn't the NFL. Exhibition games help, but it doesn't match the intensity and significance of a regular-season game.

And one regular-season game won't be enough. This is a long-term project. The NFL knows it, and the NFL is willing to spend the time and the money required to make football as globally popular -- and perhaps some day more popular -- than futbol.

"Our goal is to translate America's obsession into the world's passion," Goodell said.

Though Goodell would likely say that the NFL's goal doesn't include cutting into the market share of the sport that inspired the word "gooooaaalllll," the league that became America's modern pastime is aiming high. It might take 100 years, but eventually the NFL will be the dominant pro sports league in the world.

Hopefully when that happens I'll be watching from above, not below.

[the_idle_threat]

"Our goal is to translate America's obsession into the world's passion," Goodell said.

I don't get this. Why fix what ain't broke? I can see making game broadcasts available overseas over the internet, as we're doing now, but playing games? Not only is fan interest an uphill battle, but so are the logistics of travel. Maybe the NFL will bring back the Concorde jet.

[Tarlam!]

What a pathetic experience. Goodell showing up in the booth to gloat was the epitome of bad management.

Just stop this crap immediately.

I never hated football as much as tonight in Europe.

Yankees "go home!"