Report: Patriots to Play Rams in London for 2012 Season

[Lampshade]

Of course I'll be watching. I'll also be annoyed at how little the crowd, generally speaking, understands. It's no fault of their own....it's not a marquee sport in Europe.

Sorry, I don't like it. I'm sure the Pats Fans in England are thrilled....and good for them.

The crowd knows plenty. Dislike the decision all you like, but British fans are every bit as knowledgeable as anyone else.

Maybe the crowd at the very first London game weren't all NFL fans, and many were more intrigued by the novelty, but by this point, seven years on or whatever it is, just about everyone there will know exactly what is going on.

Heard many an American crowd wrongly cheer penalties/reviews until they realise the ref is pointing in the other direction, and they've misunderstood the entire thing.

 

[resdubwhite]

So Garbanza.


What address shall I send the invite for the patsfans.com party in london?

 

[gomezcat]

Once again the fruits of our Colonial labour continue to be exploited by British Imperialists.
I blame Tories like Bob Kraft.

Do try to write in proper English, old chap. :singing:

 

[Reckedtrek]

It's great for Pats fans on that side of the pond. Living in Massachusetts, I hate it, but as has been said, at least it's not considered a home game. I hope we have the bye week right after. Knowing Goodell, he'll match us up with the 49ers in San Fran the following week.

 

[MOSS]

People care about the NFL in London?

 

[EJ Blitz]

why the hell did they choose the Pats again?! and against the Rams too? the Rams?

Goodell is a troll...

 

[Salva135]

Does anyone know why the Rams are playing over there for the next 3 years? I mean if we're attempting to gain popularity across the world, you'd think the freakin Rams wouldn't be our showcase.

The owner of the Rams, Stan Kroenke, is also the majority shareholder of the London Arsenal. This makes perfect business sense for him. Curiously enough, the Rams' lease on their stadium in St. Louis runs out in 3 years. I wouldn't be totally shocked if this is an attempt to move them there eventually.

 

[Wolfpack]

This is wonderful news, one less away game. Kraft knows best

Um, you do realize that London is a wee bit further away than St. Louis, right? The only difference is the crowd will be neutral, but it ain't like St. Louis' home stadium (whatever they're calling it these days) is known for a rabid fan base.

 

[Wolfpack]

The owner of the Rams, Stan Kroenke, is also the majority shareholder of the London Arsenal. This makes perfect business sense for him. Curiously enough, the Rams' lease on their stadium in St. Louis runs out in 3 years. I wouldn't be totally shocked if this is an attempt to move them there eventually.

Any team based in London would be a catastrophe. The players could never handle the travel, not to mention free agents would avoid it like the plague. Patriots fans complain about the rough schedule if they have to go to the west coast 3 times a year. Imagine your shortest road trip is 3,000 miles and you likely would have a least one road trip 6,000 miles across 8 time zones.

 

[gomezcat]

People care about the NFL in London?

More than you might think (in the UK as a whole). The game became relatively popular in the 80s, fell off due to moving to satellite TV, and has seen a resurgence in the past 5-10 years. It is, and will always be, a minority interest. Soccer is by far and the away the most popular game and everything else is a distant second. However, Football probably has around 70-80,000 hardcore fans here and perhaps double that who are relatively active casual fans.

The Wembley games have definitely generated interest and I have a lot more people asking me about the game than was previously the case (anyone who knows me can't escape the fact that I'm a Football nut). People with no interest in any sport ask, "oh, I see they're playing another game at Wembley again").

For those of you in the UK who have never been, I strongly recommend seeing your local team. The technical standard is probably High School, but it's played by all shapes and sizes, with real, hard-nosed commitment. One thing you don't get from TV, or seeing the Pats at Wembley, is really wincing when the hits go in. You're so much closer to the action and it's a hell of a lot of fun. Ask me if you want to know where your nearest team is.

 

[gomezcat]

Any team based in London would be a catastrophe. The players could never handle the travel, not to mention free agents would avoid it like the plague. Patriots fans complain about the rough schedule if they have to go to the west coast 3 times a year. Imagine your shortest road trip is 3,000 miles and you likely would have a least one road trip 6,000 miles across 8 time zones.

The only way it could work would be with 4 teams based in Europe. Even then, I'm sceptical. Although a lot of people would go initially, it would be really difficult for a London franchise to pick up fans-

1)London is not an easy place to get to every week, if you live anywhere outside the South and it's expensive
2) Anyone into Football already has a team they support. No one I have asked would switch allegiance.
3) Wembley prices are ridiculous. They would have to halve them, at least.

Also, I agree re your comments. Jet travel would have to improve massively for it to have a chance of working.

 

[reflexblue]

I hate it!

Disrupts the flow of the regular season, I understand wanting to make a buck and bringing the game international....but eff that! It's an American sport, keep it in America. Sorry to all the fans abroad.....but that's how I feel. You can keep soccer tho. It's all yours.

Not much of a difference between traveling to London or traveling to San Diego. I don't see it as a big deal. I could see teams in London Toronto, and Mexico city (might need a bullet prof vest for Mexico games though)

 

[UK_Pat37]

Guys, please follow @UKPatriots on twitter if you are on there...we will tweet updates from there. You are of course welcome to register with the forum, but bare with us as we validate all our members whilst we work out a way to minimise Spammers and we have to go through them all!

The site is currently struggling a little with the extra traffic and is down right now.

 

[Lampshade]

Any team based in London would be a catastrophe. The players could never handle the travel, not to mention free agents would avoid it like the plague. Patriots fans complain about the rough schedule if they have to go to the west coast 3 times a year. Imagine your shortest road trip is 3,000 miles and you likely would have a least one road trip 6,000 miles across 8 time zones.

I don't want a London team at all, but I disagree with the notion that "free agents would avoid it like the plague". Players go where the money is, whether that is London, Vegas, San Francisco, or Buffalo.

 

[NinjaZX6R]

More than you might think (in the UK as a whole). The game became relatively popular in the 80s, fell off due to moving to satellite TV, and has seen a resurgence in the past 5-10 years. It is, and will always be, a minority interest. Soccer is by far and the away the most popular game and everything else is a distant second. However, Football probably has around 70-80,000 hardcore fans here and perhaps double that who are relatively active casual fans.

The Wembley games have definitely generated interest and I have a lot more people asking me about the game than was previously the case (anyone who knows me can't escape the fact that I'm a Football nut). People with no interest in any sport ask, "oh, I see they're playing another game at Wembley again").

For those of you in the UK who have never been, I strongly recommend seeing your local team. The technical standard is probably High School, but it's played by all shapes and sizes, with real, hard-nosed commitment. One thing you don't get from TV, or seeing the Pats at Wembley, is really wincing when the hits go in. You're so much closer to the action and it's a hell of a lot of fun. Ask me if you want to know where your nearest team is.

How popular is American Football in comparison to Rugby and Cricket?

 

[Big-T]

How popular is American Football in comparison to Rugby and Cricket?

Rates lower than international Cricket & international Rugby Union, but in terms of leagues only Sky's ratings usually go along the lines of:

1. Premier League (Soccer)
2. NPower Championship (Soccer)
2. Super League (Rugby League)
3. NFL
4. Guinness Premiership (Rugby Union)
5. CB40 (Cricket)

In day to day terms for people talking about it etc American Football is quite down the pecking order.

 

[Wolfpack]

I don't want a London team at all, but I disagree with the notion that "free agents would avoid it like the plague". Players go where the money is, whether that is London, Vegas, San Francisco, or Buffalo.

Yes but it would have to be a significant amount of money above what other teams in the U.S. were offering; in other words they would have to overpay. And unless you gave a London team a higher cap number, they cannot offer significantly more money to anything other than a small handful of positions. A London franchise would always be playing catchup knowing that the only way they could get a free agent would be to overpay - and constantly overpaying for players is a surefire route to failure.

 

[TheGodInAGreyHoodie]

Do try to write in proper English, old chap. :singing:

That is what I hate most about people from the UK. They can't even speak English right.

 

[TruthSeeker]

Isn't October 28 the end of the world according to the Mayans? Interesting.

I hope they get the game in. The early time zone should help.

Actually, I think you missed it. The world ended a couple years ago.

 

[TruthSeeker]

I heard yesterday that the NFL used to be the 19th most popular sport in Great Britain before games went to London and now it's cracking the top 10. So this is definitely making an impact.

I'm not a big fan of London games, but I view this as a positive for the Patriots because the crowd will be split in their loyalties.