Instant Rivalry

[PatsFanInVa]

If the NFL does expand and put a team in London, could they put them in the AFCE, and call them the Old England Redcoats? I'd lobby for that.

(Cut me some slack, it's the off-season.)

 

[BritPat]

Cue several pages of awful American puns about Britain.

On a slightly serious note, most NFL fans I know detest the idea of a British Franchise.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

Mentioned it because I heard it discussed on sports radio as I was dropping off my dry cleaning yesterday. Apparently some player was saying he'd quit the league rather than play for a team based in England, and he claimed he knew a bunch of other guys who would too. But he was realistic enough to say he also knew that they'd find plenty of guys who didn't feel that way, so it wasn't like his big civil disobedience moment. He was just a veteran guy who didn't particularly want football season to be his semester abroad every year.

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

Mentioned it because I heard it discussed on sports radio as I was dropping off my dry cleaning yesterday. Apparently some player was saying he'd quit the league rather than play for a team based in England, and he claimed he knew a bunch of other guys who would too. .

Yeah because he'd be able to check monster.com for a job that paid just as well...........
I can understand them saying that they wouldn't want to play for a London-based team for a host of reasons but threatening to quit/retire over it...Not unless they have megabucks stashed away in savings and are set for life...

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Mentioned it because I heard it discussed on sports radio as I was dropping off my dry cleaning yesterday. Apparently some player was saying he'd quit the league rather than play for a team based in England, and he claimed he knew a bunch of other guys who would too. But he was realistic enough to say he also knew that they'd find plenty of guys who didn't feel that way, so it wasn't like his big civil disobedience moment. He was just a veteran guy who didn't particularly want football season to be his semester abroad every year.

Guy would be missing an educational and fun opportunity for living abroad for a few years. Easy access to continental Europe for vacations. After all, for centuries Brits found it easy to invade France, etc.

 

[Pewsterbaby]

Mentioned it because I heard it discussed on sports radio as I was dropping off my dry cleaning yesterday. Apparently some player was saying he'd quit the league rather than play for a team based in England, and he claimed he knew a bunch of other guys who would too. But he was realistic enough to say he also knew that they'd find plenty of guys who didn't feel that way, so it wasn't like his big civil disobedience moment. He was just a veteran guy who didn't particularly want football season to be his semester abroad every year.

Ahh, a nice summation of The American Male Jock Mentality in a nutshell. The world begins and ends at the borders of the continental United States.

 

[Lifer]

Fox News demands Americans are told the truth about the Obama Administrations role in letting foreigners into the NFL. "This was his plan all along" -Sean Hannity

 

[blackglass3]

Guy would be missing an educational and fun opportunity for living abroad for a few years. Easy access to continental Europe for vacations. After all, for centuries Brits found it easy to invade France, etc.

I agree with this for younger single guys; but anyone with an established family would most likely want very little to do with signing for London United (or whatever the team gets called). Plus, I think the travel grind would be too much. Let's assume it's Jacksonville that goes to England, and they realign the divisions so London ends up in the AFC East (which makes sense to me, travel wise). It's 7 hours from NY and Boston to London and 8 from Buffalo. So the London team would have to do that 3 times a year plus whatever other away games they play. 10 hour flights to most West teams; they would either have to constantly travel there long flights or have a US based practice facility for 2 week road trips. Also, because of the time difference they have no options for Sunday/Monday/Thursday night home games.

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

Is there enough interest in other Euro cities besides London to have a 4 team Euro division?

This ultimately makes the most sense, if you want to have teams over there at all. Though adding a new division is logistically challenging- which conference, and how can teams be re-aligned? Is it a 4 team expansion, do 4 teams move, or a combination?

Schedule-wise the Euro division teams would stay home to play each other 6 times, host US teams 5 games in the middle of the year, before byes for those visiting teams, and they would have 5 road games in the US, divided between the beginning and end of the season. This seems much more doable than one team in London playing in a US-based division.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

The guy was a family guy, a veteran... he said it in the context of "I know a lot of other veterans, maybe not these young guys..."

I guess maybe if you're just very good (good enough to be on the radio) but you're not breaking any records... and you have a few million in the bank... and you're thinking life after football comes sooner or later...

Then it's just a matter of when something "stops being fun."

(BTW, he wasn't making any kind of moral statement or hating on England... it was sort of in tandem w/the discussion of the "Dance recital vs. voluntary OTA" conversation. )

::Shrug:: You can't make that money off Monster.com. Problem is, if you don't waste it all making it rain, maybe it doesn't matter anymore.

 

[Big-T]

Why would anyone want a high paid job over here unless you have a clever accountant?

If you earn over £150,000 (~$228,570 according to Google) you get taxed at 45% and on top of that there's 20% VAT on the majority of goods purchased as well as other taxes on houses etc!

Not to mention I doubt people would switch teams to support a London team, not everyone in the Country associates with London and a lot of places don't even like the City!

 

[ctpatsfan77]

I agree with this for younger single guys; but anyone with an established family would most likely want very little to do with signing for London United (or whatever the team gets called). Plus, I think the travel grind would be too much. Let's assume it's Jacksonville that goes to England, and they realign the divisions so London ends up in the AFC East (which makes sense to me, travel wise). It's 7 hours from NY and Boston to London and 8 from Buffalo. So the London team would have to do that 3 times a year plus whatever other away games they play. 10 hour flights to most West teams; they would either have to constantly travel there long flights or have a US based practice facility for 2 week road trips. Also, because of the time difference they have no options for Sunday/Monday/Thursday night home games.

Well Monday and Thursday, yes.

But remember, Sunday Night Football airs on NB "let's pretend stuff 18 hours old is airing live" C.

 

[Froob]

Fox News demands Americans are told the truth about the Obama Administrations role in letting foreigners into the NFL. "This was his plan all along" -Sean Hannity

lol not a liberal but this is hilarious.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Why would anyone want a high paid job over here unless you have a clever accountant?

If you earn over £150,000 (~$228,570 according to Google) you get taxed at 45% and on top of that there's 20% VAT on the majority of goods purchased as well as other taxes on houses etc!

FWIW, I imagine that the NFL in such a scenario would negotiate some sort of mechanism to effectively "rebate" the additional taxes paid compared to the US (e.g., a special program that would give them an extra 10% pay that doesn't count against the London team's salary cap).

 

[PatsFanInVa]

Don't you just choose to pay U.S. taxes, especially if you have a U.S. mailbox as well as a British one? Or could you claim to be an Irish holding company and not pay U.S. taxes and get some sort of Irish sweetheart rate, and just take "side-trips" to England to "play games"? (Oh, and practice?)

 

[Big-T]

Don't you just choose to pay U.S. taxes, especially if you have a U.S. mailbox as well as a British one? Or could you claim to be an Irish holding company and not pay U.S. taxes and get some sort of Irish sweetheart rate, and just take "side-trips" to England to "play games"? (Oh, and practice?)

Working for a company in the UK tax is taken off by HR of said company and it's shown on your pay slip so I don't think that would work.

The franchise itself could get away with paying minimal/no corporation Tax like Amazon (+ other) companies do by being based in Ireland or some tiny Eastern European country but employees still have to pay tax as normal.

So in theory though a team could be based on the East Coast of America, practice there and then play "home" games at Wembley to avoid the ridiculous tax over here.

That way players wouldn't have to live outside of the USA too.

Although all that is very basic things, there are accountants that make it so individuals pay minimal tax which I'm sure an NFL franchise would use to lower the 45% rate.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

So in theory though a team could be based on the East Coast of America, practice there and then play "home" games at Wembley to avoid the ridiculous tax over here.

That way players wouldn't have to live outside of the USA too.

That would mean that the team is, effectively, playing ALL away games, and I don't think they'd enjoy it.

 

[lurker1965]

I'm stealing this idea from Mike Florio (so don't blame me )

Have four teams each play two "home" games in London. If a team like Jaxksonville can't sell out their supply of seats for eight games, what about six games? Also let's fans of teams other than the four stay fans of their team without suddenly getting a team they are supposed to like.

Doesn't solve the tax problems, except where 2 of 8 is better than 8 of 8.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

I agree with this for younger single guys; but anyone with an established family would most likely want very little to do with signing for London United (or whatever the team gets called). Plus, I think the travel grind would be too much. Let's assume it's Jacksonville that goes to England, and they realign the divisions so London ends up in the AFC East (which makes sense to me, travel wise). It's 7 hours from NY and Boston to London and 8 from Buffalo. So the London team would have to do that 3 times a year plus whatever other away games they play. 10 hour flights to most West teams; they would either have to constantly travel there long flights or have a US based practice facility for 2 week road trips. Also, because of the time difference they have no options for Sunday/Monday/Thursday night home games.

Families. I know folks who moved their families to Germany for a few years when we were bought by a German firm in the 80s. Decades later those kids have grown up and done well as adults, benefiting from the experiences few if any of their US school mates had. And AFAIK England speaks a language not too different from ours.

I as a fan do not like the idea. I'm simply contesting the insular view of the cited player.

 

[Joker]

what is so wrong with the way the league is set up RIGHT NOW??????

there are four major sports leagues in North America...

is MLB going beserk trying to sell us on a team in the U.K.?

the NBA????

the NHL???

why is such a continuous blather of drum beating emanating from NFL headquarters...constant nutbaggery on the same issues over and over..."18 game season and London!~!!!!! ...18 game season and London!!!!!!!!!.. you know you all WANT IT!!!!!!"

WHO wants this? what percentage of the overall fanbase of the NFL wants this??? what are the figures??? ....work on and improve safety and equipment for the players of the sport....standardize the referee architecture...educate, test and work on ways to improve the decision making of the game officials...focus on the youth of America, giving opportunity to all young football players to learn and improve their football skills under an umbrella program run by the NFL.

Stop this grandstanding insanity by the NFL trying to cram garbage ideas like 18 game schedules and London teams down our throats.