London, REALLY? Why not neighboring Mexico City? (Part 1)

  Carolyn's Corner

Para este artículo, en español, da clic aquí.

London, REALLY?  Why not neighboring Mexico City?  (Part 1)

The NFL, in what seemed to begin as a gesture of goodwill to acquaint the rest of the world with American football, initiated pre-season games in several countries, England and Mexico among them, several years ago.  The International Series, as it is called, has been seen as a huge success.

In addition, the NFL, like all successful businesses, wanted to continue to expand.  Logically, one would think that they should look here in their own backyard first as there are many more places with huge numbers of fans who would give anything to have their own team. 

However, oddly enough, about the only major city identified after extensive research as where a pro franchise might be theoretically feasible was Los Angeles-- but the city had already failed twice, with the Rams and the Raiders.  Then again, there were other secondary markets, like Sacramento, CA or Orlando FL, for example, that would love to have a team, but the downside was that they were too close to a city with an already well-established team.  The competition for loyalty and monetary support with the existing team might be too much to sustain the new franchise.  The NFL felt that no truly viable selection was possible.

So precisely because of pro football’s pervasiveness in the US, the League began to think about the possibility of expanding elsewhere with a new team that would play regular-season games and do everything else that NFL membership entailed.  This is one of the reasons the League began looking hard overseas.  And for some time, they have been looking really hard at London.

Nicky Hayes/ NFL UK/ Getty Images

To that end, since 2007, 11 teams have been involved in playing a regular season game in London, to whom the League has given special considerations.  According to Jenny Vrentas of The MMQB, five-star accommodations for the 140-member teams and $600,000 international charter flights were paid for.  The League has also picked up the enormous expenses of shipping the vast amount of equipment required to play a game.  The NFL sees it all as a success.

So what would future look like if London had its own team?  What are some of the unavoidable issues to resolve?

           

  1.  From Google data, estimated that 4% of London population (approx. 400,000) are currently      interested in NFL.  The data says it is likely more interest would grow.  So far so good.

  2.      A sustainable fan base for the long term would have to continue to grow.  It is hoped that NFL football can compete with professional football (soccer).
   3.   The rest of England, and by extension, Great Britain (Scotland, Wales, N. Ireland), with a total population of almost 64,000,000, would have to demonstrate interest.  Right now, the “spectacle” of the game is not quite what Brits are used to, relative to the ambiance of a football (soccer) match.  “Don’t take this the wrong way,” said 26-year-old Simon Burgess, an Arsenal fan, in Vrentas’ article.  “But American football seems very … American.   The spectacle of it all.  It’s over the top.  Thirty, 40 players, each with a specific role.  The blazing music.  Here, all the noise is from fans.  The game is exciting because of the sport.”

   4.  A 16-game season would require 8 teams to travel to London, and the London team have to travel as well, to 8 stadiums on US soil.  Each competition would count as a regular-season win or loss.  The issues of fairness for those 9, in comparison with the 24 who do not travel, would have to be resolved. 

  5.   Concerns about travel and timing logistics would have to be appeased.  As Cardinals’ president Michael Bidwill said, “That’s a competitive issue.  Is it a competitive disadvantage to be in a division where you have to travel that many time zones?  It’s really the time zone issue; your body clock is way off.  We fight it [even] with the three-hour time difference between Arizona and Eastern time [zones].  Travel is going to be a factor, and we have to make sure it doesn’t adversely impact the teams that are competing.”

  6.   Each respective team involved would most likely have to pay all of the costs accrued if scheduled to play in London.

  7.  Shipping logistics of all equipment, etc. would have to be effectively and efficiently handled in the short week between 2 regular season games.

But now louder talk is emerging that it would be much more logical, indeed more efficient and effective on many levels, to look at Mexico City, and by extension, Mexico.  It turns out there is a strong case to be made for Mexico City............. (Conclusion next week in Carolyn’s Corner)

Ken Regan/Camera 5/Sports Illustrated)

Categories: De todo un poco , NFL