There has been a lot of talk about more and more NFL events happening outside of the U.S.A, especially in London.
There have been a lot of reports from the other side of the pond (America), that a franchise in London is entirely possible. Another thought is the NFL Draft being held in London, or even the Super Bowl. This would be very exciting for Londoners but is it the best thing for the NFL?
The NFL Draft being held in London, would probably be very easy to do and would not be much of a problem, one would have to ask how much interest it would generate though. It would be very easy for it to be held at Earls Court, which is also right outside a Tube Station. But again the question remains, how much interest would it generate? Unlike the Wembley game, an NFL draft in London would only have hardcore NFL fans going, it wouldn’t generate much interest from the general public. The NFL Draft being in London would be entirely possible, but probably not worth the expenses.
More regular season NFL games being held anywhere in Europe is almost certain. The next location that is most likely to receive an NFL game is Berlin. This generates a lot of attention and interest; it is a real money maker. The NFL will look to keep a regular season game outside of America each season.
But what of this new suggestion from Roger Goodell? Well the NFL commissioner has had a thought, this thought is for each team to play 17 games instead of 16, the extra game will be held outside of America. What a mistake this would be. Can you imagine a team needing a win to make the playoffs, but struggling from jet lag in the final game? Imagine a California based team having to fly 12 hours to get to Rome. Also would this not take away from the tradition of the game?
So what about a Pro Bowl in Wembley? American reporters have said it is possible. Here is the question that completely kills that idea, where would you prefer, London in February or Honolulu in February?
The second craziest idea out there has been having the Super Bowl being in held in Wembley or Munich Stadium. Taking the Super Bowl away from America would be the same as putting a 50MPH speed limit on the German motorway, or taking the Eiffel Tower away from France, or taking the Himalayas away from Nepal, or even taking bad weather away from England. It wouldn’t seem right if the Super Bowl was played somewhere else. It would ruin the history and tradition of the game.
The craziest idea is having an NFL franchise in London, which has become a bigger possibility every day. This would be a terrible idea for obvious reasons, the travelling is one. Does this mean that an NFL team would move or a new team would be created? How would the league even deal with 33 teams?
Expansion is usually a good thing and the NFL has expanded. There are more NFL games being shown in England than there is in America it’s self. That means the interest has grown and therefore the NFL has expanded. Extra expansion will only cause the NFL problems.
Please Roger Goodell, don’t make this the International Football League, keep it in America where it belongs, or else you would be taking something away from the game.