The NFL apparently is quite keen on the possibility of a 17-game schedule in the future, where every team would play one neutral-site game at an international location. Word out of the NFL offices is that the Kansas City Chiefs will be the next team to host an international game, and club president Carl Peterson says, "We're going to Deutschland." Germany for you non-deutschesprechers.
The international idea for the NFL is something that cannot be ignored for long because frankly, outside of expanding into high school or college football hotbeds like Alabama, Texas, or Nebraska, (LA?) and short of annexing the CFL, the NFL simply cannot get much bigger than it is in North America.
Last September, I had some concerns about this international experiment, but was happily proven wrong by how quickly the tickets went for the Dolphins-Giants game at Wembley. If they're going to Germany, it would be a good idea. NFL Europa/NFL Europe/World League of American Football has relatively succeeded in Germany where it has failed in Scotland, England, and Spain. Some attribute the cause to a relative lack of German interest for Rugby (aka: Football with no pads and no stopping).
Personally, I'd like to see some info if possible as to how many of the Wembley tickets were purchased by American citizens to see if the real NFL (Not the
Yo Murphy experience) brought out the expats. The article cites Frankfurt's attendance in the 30k range, but doesn't mention that Frankfurt is within a 2-hour shot down the autobahn from two U.S. Air Force Bases.
I guess time will tell as to whether the NFL through NFL Europa or International Regular Season games is making profitable inroads with an international audience, or if it's catering to fans it already had that previously couldn't attend games because of service, work, or family commitments abroad. Either way, the NFL seems to be going about this the right way, testing the waters slowly and gradually, whetting the appetite for more instead of plunging headstrong into an ocean-spanning disaster (cough World League of American Football cough).
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2 comments:
I think they should annex the CFL. It would be a key step in the inevitable annexation of Canada itself.
At least then we'd have a team named the Lions** that could actually win something.
**Weak CFL joke. The BC Lions won the Grey Cup last year.
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