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CLICK HERE to Register for a free account and login for a smoother ad-free experience. It's easy, and only takes a few moments.London and San Fran are similar length journeys from Boston. I understand that for teams on the west coast its a tough journey.
I don't think it could work having a team in Europe, you would need to move the franchise from city to city for their homes games as I couldn't see one city being able to pull in a crowd for 8 games a year. It would work if they were moving around alright, London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, Madrid, Barcelona, Hamburg and Amsterdam would all fill a stadium for one visit per year. There would be a problem then for the team in having an actual base somewhere.
They tried the NFL Europe and it lasted a couple of years but its gone now. The interest was not there in each city to sustain those teams.
It amazes me how soccer never made it in the USA, three of the four major sports put a lot of emphasis on hands/arms. Then you have hockey which is totally different. There is no true feet skill sport.
I think a team in Toronto would be a good idea, but nobody can go there since it would invade Buffalo's market - unless it were the Bills themselves who made the move, which is certainly in the realm of possibility.London would likely draw more fans for the 8 games than Buffalo or Jacksonville. I actually think that a team in Toronto and/or London would improve the overall profitability of the NFL. I do NOT think that a division in Europe or Canda would be a good idea. There are enough issues supporting 32 teams. We don't need to increase the total.
It would be ridiculously unfair for any team that had to play in Europe and come to the U.S. for about a half dozen road trips. It just isn't feasible.
Such a schedule would destroy a team over the course of a long, grueling season. It's no coincidence that every team who has played in London these past 3 years got a full bye week to recover. Imagine having to do that 4 or 5 times during the season, only without a bye week each time.It wouldn't be ridiculously unfair, although it would be a bit tougher. They would probably end up coming over here for 2 games at a time, staying wherever for the the extra week. Then they would head home and have a couple games at home before heading out again. Tougher, meh a bit, but they are big boys they can handle a little adversity.
Such a schedule would destroy a team over the course of a long, grueling season. It's no coincidence that every team who has played in London these past 3 years got a full bye week to recover. Imagine having to do that 4 or 5 times during the season, only without a bye week each time.
You would need a couple days just to recover from a trip to Boston - imagine how tough a road game in Seattle or San Diego would be.
Players would be miserable, torn between uprooting their entire families to another continent versus being separated from them for months and months at a time. Good luck attracting any free agents.
A football team in London would be a joke.
Yes, I do. And how many of those that travel to Europe every day are world class athletes making the trip to participate in physical exertion against other world class athletes at a level so high most of us can't even dream of what it is like?Lol poor babies, you do know people travel to Europe from the US every day, right?
Until something is able to overcome the travel barrier, the idea of a European team is idiotic.
Then again, since it's all about money and not about the sport itself, it's no surprise that both Goodell and Kraft are pimping it as if it's their hooker on a street corner.
Yes, I do. And how many of those that travel to Europe every day are world class athletes making the trip to participate in physical exertion against other world class athletes at a level so high most of us can't even dream of what it is like?
This is the National Football League, not some medical conference. The fact that you're comparing it to people who "travel to Europe from the US every day" shows you really don't have a clue.
Those poor football pwayers might not wike the big wong pwain ride home.
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.
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.
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.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.
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.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.
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.
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.