Realignment Thread (If some moves happen)

[XLIX]

I'm pretty sure the league is more then capable of making this work, i've laid out the logistics before but i can do so again here.

The team in london would need to be a part of the AFCE. Shortest flights to london for the 3 teams that would play there every year.

The london team's schedule would be broken up into blocks of 4 home games, followed by 4 away games. Shad would maintain a facility, or go halvsies with a team in need of a new stadium here in the us, to provide them a "homebase" for when they are staying stateside.

You've essentially just set up a situation where they players will look at it as playing 16 road games. The players will view their 4 London "home" games as being just another set of road games. Sure, they may not have to physically travel during the 4-week bloc of "home" games but they will still be away from family, living out of hotels, etc, etc. They'll absolutely despise it.

Your suggestion may look good logistically but will never work from a human standpoint.

EDIT: I won't even address the logistical nightmare of a situation where a London team actually makes the playoffs because they'd be lucky to win 3 games with the above scenario.

 

[XLIX]

Every team has to host a Monday night and Thursday night game every 2 years. The logistics of this are too screwed up to work.

While I think a move to London would be an absolute disaster, it's worth noting that the 32 men who would approve such a move are the same 32 men who could grant a waiver to the above Monday/Thursday night requirements if they wanted to. (Not to mention that I don't even think any such requirements exist - just this past week we heard how Buffalo hasn't had MNF in 10 years. I think the only rule they implemented was each team needs to play on Thursday at least once a year)

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

Just an awful idea. The logistics are a nightmare. Like @XLIX said, the day to day personal life of some of these players will be turned upside down in an enormous way.

Who knows. Biggest thing that bothers me is the traveling.

You'll either be fuc king teams going there or favoring Jacksonville w scheduling. And obviously we have no real data to suggest how this will impact a player down the road.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

While I think a move to London would be an absolute disaster, it's worth noting that the 32 men who would approve such a move are the same 32 men who could grant a waiver to the above Monday/Thursday night requirements if they wanted to. (Not to mention that I don't even think any such requirements exist - just this past week we heard how Buffalo hasn't had MNF in 10 years. I think the only rule they implemented was each team needs to play on Thursday at least once a year)

Ok, suppose Jax has to travel to play on a Monday or Thursday night...that means those games will be televised at 2 AM in London. No one there is going to watch. Stupid idea all around.

 

[chasa]

Just an awful idea. The logistics are a nightmare. Like @XLIX said, the day to day personal life of some of these players will be turned upside down in an enormous way.

Who knows. Biggest thing that bothers me is the traveling.

You'll either be fuc king teams going there or favoring Jacksonville w scheduling. And obviously we have no real data to suggest how this will impact a player down the road.

How what will impact them? living in london every other month during the season?

It's not like they are being shipped off to war. They will be in one of the best cities in the world. A city that speaks English as the primary language, has universal health care, and last time i checked made a banging full breakfast.

 

[chasa]

Ok, suppose Jax has to travel to play on a Monday or Thursday night...that means those games will be televised at 2 AM in London. No one there is going to watch. Stupid idea all around.

You mean like when they have monday night double headers at the start of the season and the west coast game doesn't start until 10pm local for us east coasters?

They don't give a **** about the London TV ratings. they care about getting the crowds that fill up 100k person stadiums for soccer tilts to start getting obsessed with american football. they care about physical asses in physical seats. Have you seen the JAX crowds? they are saying they are nearly selling out, but that stadium looks half empty during games, and they were winning recently. maybe one of the Fla fans can chime in, do the jags game legitimately sell out, or is it smoke and mirrors?

 

[patriot1136]

Probably OT but, what would they call the London team?
If you play Madden, you can relocate a team to London. The options for names are the Bulldogs, Monarchs, or Knights.

 

[bresna]

What about London's 45% income tax? That might make some players forego going there in free agency. It's probably why some players go to Florida (no state income tax), so why wouldn't it be why some players don't go to London?

 

[SHOWTIME15]

You mean like when they have monday night double headers at the start of the season and the west coast game doesn't start until 10pm local for us east coasters?

They don't give a **** about the London TV ratings. they care about getting the crowds that fill up 100k person stadiums for soccer tilts to start getting obsessed with american football. they care about physical asses in physical seats. Have you seen the JAX crowds? they are saying they are nearly selling out, but that stadium looks half empty during games, and they were winning recently. maybe one of the Fla fans can chime in, do the jags game legitimately sell out, or is it smoke and mirrors?

the west coast games for the first MNF game are usually two west coast teams. You could have the the London Jags play an AFCE team for those prime time games but the the timing would be screwed up for the fans on the east coast. And don’t tell me they don’t care about US TV ratings.

 

[chasa]

the west coast games for the first MNF game are usually two west coast teams. You could have the the London Jags play an AFCE team for those prime time games but the the timing would be screwed up for the fans on the east coast. And don’t tell me they don’t care about US TV ratings.

The game would still be played at 8:30 est.

You're inventing an issue where there isn't one.

 

[chasa]

What about London's 45% income tax? That might make some players forego going there in free agency. It's probably why some players go to Florida (no state income tax), so why wouldn't it be why some players don't go to London?

What about the federal/state taxes in the US, which doesn't include health insurance.

 

[Hyped]

I would hate to have to go to London every year...and can you imagine having to go there for one of those stupid Thursday night games?

London is only a 6 hour plane ride....not a deal killer....but yeah it's bad for a team like the Seahawks...

 

[PatsDeb]

No way the NFC lets both NY teams be in the other conference and most of households would be in the new AFC
how about
AFC
Patriots
NY Jets
London Jaguars
Balt Ravens


Pitt
Cle
Cinn
Indy

Miami
Hou
Tenn
Dallas

LA Chargers
KC
Vegas Raiders
Den
------------------
NFC
Philly
Washington
Giants
Toronto Bills

GB
Minn
Chi
Det

TB
New Orleans
Atl
Carolina

SF
LA Rams
Seattle
Arizona

How about just swapping Miami (to AFC South) for the Jags (to AFC East)? That is the most likely to pass muster as it's the least disruptive to everybody else.

 

[Patjew]

You cannot put Pitt and BAL in different divisions. I hate both of those teams but not as much as they hate each other.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

What about the federal/state taxes in the US, which doesn't include health insurance.

What about it? It's still lower than the UK's, and even within the US players factor state income taxes into their decisions on where to play. The health insurance thing is irrelevant since I believe that's an employer-provided benefit for NFL players.

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

Thinking outside of the box...

You could make a 6 team pro football league in Europe, sponsored by the NFL, but unlike NFL Europe, the champion would get a guaranteed slot in the NFL playoffs.

Put teams in (maybe) London, Tottenham, Paris, Milan, Berlin, and Dublin. They play a round-robin 10 game season, home-and-home vs. each of the 5 opponents. Maybe add two random USA opponents for each....Top 2 teams then have a Euro championship. The champion then makes the NFL playoffs as a wild card road team, alternating years, AFC and NFC.

Europeans play against each other, build the brand, no travel issues, and >300 more players play pro football (NFL rules). The players union has to like that, right? Though free agency might be a tough sell. The Euro teams participate in the NFL draft, starting as expansion teams. The champion gets the carrot of playing in the US.

They would get creamed for a few years, like expansion teams do, and then (presumably?) thry would improve over time.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

In any event, you'd also need an act of Parliament to exempt the team from various UK labor protection and anti-restriction laws. For example, as it stands now (at least according to news articles I've read over the years about this) it would be illegal for a London-based team to obey the salary cap limit and a London-based team could not be prevented from signing other teams' draft picks.

 

[XLIX]

How what will impact them? living in london every other month during the season?

It's not like they are being shipped off to war. They will be in one of the best cities in the world. A city that speaks English as the primary language, has universal health care, and last time i checked made a banging full breakfast.

Really? You think universal health care is going to sell the players on playing for London? Really..?!?!

It's a city that is 3,000 - 5,000 miles away from all the rest of the league. These guys aren't exactly working as accountants for the Bank of London. Road trips in the NFL are grueling. Just look at all the weeping and wailing in this forum when we had to play 5 of 6 on the road. The players will see their games in London as just another extended road trip. It won't be 4 home games, it'll be 4 more weeks on the road and dealing with all the hassles that contains.

Like I said before, a 4/4/4/4 schedule just means 16 road games for the players. Good luck finding one who will go along with it.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

Really? You think universal health care is going to sell the players on playing for London? Really..?!?!

That was one of the dumbest things said in this thread so far. For one thing, the cost for a health insurance policy, if NFL players even had to pay for one, is down in the noise. For another, I'm pretty sure they all get health insurance as a standard employee benefit.

 

[PatsDeb]

In any event, you'd also need an act of Parliament to exempt the team from various UK labor protection and anti-restriction laws. For example, as it stands now (at least according to news articles I've read over the years about this) it would be illegal for a London-based team to obey the salary cap limit and a London-based team could not be prevented from signing other teams' draft picks.

Maybe WE should move to London!


(just kidding)