Pats726

Interesting concept for an additional league by Pat Kirwan

A worldwide barnstorming tour could be a win-win for everyone


These are the links to the Pat Kirwin idea of a barnstorming team....The top one Ian's post about it with some good discussion..the other Kirwin's article...
I really think it's a win-win idea..BUT I think a few parts of that have to be expanded upon...

JR4

How can this poll be unbiased? Every season holder who pays big bucks
has a lot to loose.
If Mr Kraft wants his team to play overseas one home game then he should
be willing to reimburse every season ticket holder the cost for that season
ticket for that week.
Then it is a good idea. Get NFL in Europe would only make the NFL stronger
I believe.
Scheduling is also something that should and could be worked out.
For example, a team only plays overseas the week before it has a bye.

Tunescribe

In my OP I stated I was posting the poll to make a point which is: American NFL fans don't like regular-season games shipped overseas. So of course it's biased. And being reimbursed for the one game sent to Timbuktu isn't what I'm after either. With only eight home games to look forward to out of 52 weeks a year, cutting it down to seven is pretty damn drastic in my opinion. I haven't heard anything about how Tampa Bay fans felt losing a game this year, but I imagine if the Bucs were good there would've been quite an uproar about it. Imagine if they were undefeated going into the game vs. New England and were robbed of the chance to see it live because of Roger Goodell's "bright idea." Or what if one of their players had a spectacular record-setting performance? If Goodell keeps monkeying around with things with the owners' blessing, eventually something will happen to REALLY piss off U.S. fans.

PatsDeb

No. Home field advantage is too crucial, and giving away a home game, plus scheduling a big week of travel on top of that (suppose we didn't have a bye this week and had to recover from a weekend in Europe?) is too much to give away. Badell and Krafty should put the kibosh on this idea.

Pats726

I think all fans of a team have a LOT to lose when their home game is hijacked and moved to an international location..NOT FAIR at all.
I think Goodell wants expansion..spreading the NFL...THAT has a lot of monetary value...which is WHY I wanted to mention Kirwin's idea of barnstorming teams...I will quote a bit from that piece as I THINK it has merit in that 1) Those outside the US will have a chance to see some top notch players and 2) It does NOT interfere with the US NFL schedule..in other words, it's a win-win situation.
"Build two teams that become the ambassadors of the NFL and sell the game around the world...My plan solves those issues as well as providing players employment opportunities, developing the minority coaching program, keeping some high-profile coaches in the game and building a talent pool the NFL can tap into in the second half of the season..."
I think two teams playing each other gets tired quickly...I would make it four teams so that they can play each other twice...and then have a two game playoff for champion.
"Offer the top 100 out-of-work players the opportunity to join one of the two 50-men rosters that will play an eight-game schedule against each other around the world. While some players will respectfully decline to participate, there are another 100 waiting for the chance. Wait until you see the players who could join these teams."......Again..make that 200 four teams with some good coaches so that they all can be ambassadors of the game..Is that such a bad idea??
Start off on a European tour of 4 games..maybe two at Wembley..or games the same day in different venues...Paris..Germany...and then Scandanavia or Italy..a week off and then start things up in North America..with Canada..Tokyo..Hawaii..Final games there or maybe back in Europe. If a location can only have one game, split between two near places so more can see the NFL players.
"The players are home by Nov. 9 and NFL teams would be free to sign them for the second half of their season and the playoffs.."

I think it's an interesting concept that pleases BadL and those that wish to expand...and also pleases fans who wish that their NFL is not tampered with.
It's a novel idea and really serves much thought....

Synovia

I dunno.


A >16 game season would clearly have to mean an expanded roster, which the NFLPA would love. The cap percentage would have to go up to accommodate bigger rosters.

One of the big problems in the NFL is that you can only carry 45 guys, and roughly 30 of them are "starters", so its almost impossible to get everyone out of the game in a blowout. (22 starters, 2 K+P, 3 or 4 special teams guys, WR3 who is kind of a starter, 3 down Back, etc).

PatsWickedPissah

While I am usually pro business, pro capatalism, I think I'll pass on overseas home games for the NFL. I'm a fan and those games benefit the billionaire boys club at the expense of the home fans. The only fans for this understandably would be those living overseas.

Business wise the NFL faces a problem. Their domestic market is approaching saturation. New franchises in LA and maybe Toronto are stopgaps at best. They're desperate for new revenues to continue their rapid growth.

__________________
Kraft 2010: "It's definitely not a doomsday scenario, it might have to happen to get things right. I hope it's the vehicle to get us a deal. I hope it's the ultimate hammer.''

jmt57

Obviously fans are not going to like the idea. If you attend games live, you miss out on up to 12.5% of your team's meaningful games. And even if you only watch on television, your favorite team loses home field advantage in that game.

But the NFL is not a charity being run for the sake of the fans. It is a commercial business seeking avenues to maximize profits for its investors. They are looking to increase revenue streams, and two ways of doing that are by increasing the size of their fan base (i.e., the amount of customers for their product) and by increasing merchandise sales (more sales to those additional customers.)

While I as a fan/customer may not like it, I do understand the business reasons for doing this. The number of fans/customers that the NFL is going to lose with this decision is negligible. If anyone actually did decide to not renew their season tickets based on one game being played in Europe, there most likely is another person in line ready to take their place - so no net loss there. Meanwhile more fans are added every time the NFL plays a game overseas. In other words the risk (of losing customers) is worth the reward (additional customers and increasing revenue) to the business.

The reality is that though we fans may not like the idea, I can't imagine there being a huge backlash. NFL fans in the USA are still going to attend games, watch them on tv, and buy team merchandise.

Nonentity

Don't turn the NFL into a squad game, which English football has turned into. Whether it's Week 1 or Week 15/16/17, you want to see the best players playing at their position in the team. Injuries ruin seasons and absolutely murder playoff runs.

Tunescribe

What does this mean?