Tunescribe

I see only one solution to this idiotic idea of international pro football: Other countries need to develop their own players and leagues, just like Japan and Cuba have done with baseball, and Europe has done with basketball. It'll take decades probably, but that's the only way it might approach making any sense. Short term, I think Roger Goodell needs to slip on a banana peeling in front of an oncoming bus in Times Square.

moosekill

The fact that you make traveling to and from Europe 7 or 8 times a season seem like some insurmountable journey shows you have no clue. What is it, an extra two hours in a plane? Basketball players travel to the west coast then play the next day, as do hockey and baseball players, do they not count as world class athletes? Those poor football pwayers might not wike the big wong pwain ride home.

Scouse Patriot

This is true. Getting on the wong flight can never be good.

Patjew

Speaking as someone who flies from one country to another almost every week, you are the one that seems to have no clue. How often do you travel overseas for work? Let me tell you, it can be exhausting. It's not just the extra time in the air. It's all of the customs issues, cultural issues, and especially the jet lag. 5 or 6 hours time difference is alot worse than 2 or 3 hours. And what about a trip from the UK to Dallas or Denver or LA. That's a 9 or 10 hour flight. Is that "nothing" to you?

Edit: yes, it is physically possible. But you're nuts if you think it would put the European-based team at a tremendous disadvantage.

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Tunescribe

Football is MUCH more physically demanding a sport; those extra hours would take their toll. Plus, there's the injury factor to consider: shuttling injured players on long flights might not only be logistically difficult, it could be downright dangerous.

Pats726

This whole "franchise in London" deal totally makes no sense. I can see playing a few games, BUT a franchise? Logistically it makes ZERO sense and teh expense of carting teams back and forth from there is silly..makes ZERO sense... agree develop own leagues or something OR have a European/Pacific travel league as one scribe noted last year...with NFL players who did not make it or who are older and out of the league..THAT makes much more sense than this BS.
And yes, Roger falling on a peel would make my day as well..he's a real idiot who should be concentrating on the CBA not wishing to expand.

TrueBeliever

Probably everything I want to say has already been said, but I'll say it again anyway .

How could this possibly work? Last year you had that big fracas with the west coast teams complaining about having to fly to the east coast and then having to play when their body clocks are still thinking it's 10 in the morning. So now you want to have one team flying across the Atlantic friggin' ocean every week? Course you could do like the old AFL teams used to do and arrange the schedule so that you play on the road three games in a row and then just stay during that span, but that's bush league to do that on a regular basis. Yes, the Pats stayed in California two weeks last year, but that was because the schedule worked out that way, not because Kraft asked for it to be that way to save $$.

Admittedly, the NFL Europe idea is a quagmire. If you start a new one as a farm league, fans there will lose interest because the quality of play is so mediocre. But if you try to do a "separate but equal" league, say a third conference (call it the IFC or the EFC), you're not going to have enough talent to keep it strong. Not to mention the players might insist on a CBA clause allowing guys to void transactions that would send them to Europe, which would likely tick off the Europe fans.

I can understand the league wanting to diversify and all that, but they're raking in so much cash as it is, do they really need to bring in that much more revenue? Maybe instead of sending games overseas, they should try to find a way keep games from being blacked out here, fer cryin' out loud.

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"Let me assure you that there is no cannibalism in the Royal Navy. And when I say that there is none, I mean there is a certain amount." - Monty Python

Wolfpack

London is not "an extra two hours in a plane", it's more like an extra 7 when you consider all factors. But regardless, you're missing the point.

It is a matter of competitive advantage. In basketball and hockey, every team is travelling and playing games every couple of days, so they're all in the same boat.

But if 1 team was stationed in London, with all the rest in the U.S., then that team in London would be at an extreme competitive disadvantage. Travelling to every single road game would be anywhere from a 10 to 15 hour long ordeal, not to mention a 5 to 8 hour time difference.

It would be a physically exhausting and grueling schedule for the players. The coaches would have significantly less time to prepare for every game. Free agents would avoid London like the plague. It would be a joke.

mgteich

So, the extra 4 hours (2 hours each way) on a plane once a year for HALF the teams would be devastating. You've got to be kidding! Half these teams would have byes the next week.

This is a pure money and marketing decision. Now, this doesn't mean that it is an easy decision. The question is whether London would draw more than JAX or the other small market teams. There would need be a revision to the European TV deals. Is there anyone who thinks that a London team wouldn't sell more merchandise than JAX and have a larger local TV audience or have fewer TV veiwers? Would average attendance really be less?

Obviously, the issues for making football INTERNATIONAL are just red herrings. After all, Detroit or Buffalo could become Canadian teams will little real effect. The Toronto TV market is certain larger. For Windsor/Detriot, the TV market wold be the same.

===============

In any case, a Canadian team would likely come before a European team.

Patjew

The problem is for the team based in London or wherever.

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