Roger Goodell's latest acid trip: a team in London

[Prison Bitch]

He is trying hard to replace Bud Selig as the craziest man in pro sports. And Clark weighs in at the end:


Hype Machine in Overdrive, N.F.L. Pops Back to London

The Jacksonville Jaguars have committed to play a game here each of the next four seasons, giving rise to talk that they or another team will one day move to London and become the N.F.L.’s first franchise overseas.

“We are going to be aggressive because we see the fans’ reactions to football and we want to be there on a more regular basis,” N.F.L. Commissioner Roger Goodell said in May.

“Roger has a vision for a permanent team in London, but he’s one of the very few that does,” said Marc Ganis, the president of SportsCorp, a sports advisory company that works with N.F.L. teams. “Commissioners get pie-eyed about international. What he got was an agreement to put on two games, maybe three, but he didn’t get a timeline” to establish a team in London.


Goodell has said that he hopes to turn the N.F.L. into a $25 billion business by 2027, from $10 billion now. To do that, the league would need fresh sources of income, including from overseas.

“Certainly, the league has grown substantially here in the United States and continues to do so,” said Clark Hunt, the chairman of the Kansas City Chiefs and the head of the league’s international committee. “But at some point, to keep that growth rate up, the international opportunity for the league is very important.”

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/09/29...to-london.html

[|Zach|]

Originally Posted by Discuss Thrower

To build support of the Premiership in the USA, teams send their scrubs and reserves to play meaningless exhibition games against MLS teams.

So Goodell ups the ante by having MEANINGFUL regular season games and wants to establish a franchise in a country that doesn't give a shit about the games they've been given anyway.

Yes and no the teams are usually a mix of backups and the premier players.

[|Zach|]

Originally Posted by Prison Bitch

Great point. Makes you wonder why the EPL isn't putting a team in the States if its such a great idea

The leagues are structured completely differently because of promotion\relegation the idea of "expansion" doesn't fit at all the same and it isn't needed. Also the EPL has a perfect balance with its number of teams...each team plays each other once home and away.

[UK_Chief]

Originally Posted by |Zach|

Yea, Manchester City is throwing a team in NY and there are some rumors about Manchester United doing the same with an MLS Expansion team.

For what it is worth most people...players, media, and fans who I have talked to personally that have had experience in both leagues compare MLS to the Championship League in England talent wise.

I've watched a lot of both and I would say bottom of the championship-top of league 1 is the standard. Clubs of that standard would get about 8-12,000 fans watching on average (depends on the size of the city/town) over here.

If Man Utd were suddenly based in New York and had regular season games against Chelsea and Liverpool etc there would be massive demand from people in the States. People always want to see global superstars and the top sportsmen perform. 2nd/3rd tier players not so much...

[UK_Chief]

Originally Posted by |Zach|

Yes and no the teams are usually a mix of backups and the premier players.

It's preseason though. They are only there for fitness and a vacation

[UK_Chief]

Originally Posted by |Zach|

The leagues are structured completely differently because of promotion\relegation the idea of "expansion" doesn't fit at all the same and it isn't needed. Also the EPL has a perfect balance with its number of teams...each team plays each other once home and away.

A premier league team would never be based in the states - there is too much power owned by the lower league clubs.

What is much more likely is a European super league (Similar to the Champions league, but they wouldn't play domestically), where the top teams break away from FIFA/UEFA and start their own league. The likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid, Man Utd, Chelsea, Milan, Bayern Munich etc all playing each other every week would have huge global appeal and would make someone a big pile of cash. I think it will happen in the next 20 years...

[HMc]

Originally Posted by BWillie

It can work, I just think it would need to be a totally differwnt league. You cant expect players to do that much travel on a whim. The logistics just mak we it difficult. And they need to stop calling it American football over there. Theres too much anti amercanism over there and having american in the name will give many a bad taste in their mouth. Id just call it Full contact football or something

http://www.rfu.com/twickenhamstadium

[UK_Chief]

There is a lot of anti-American feeling toward politics, particularly foreign policy, but not necessarily anti-American way of life and culture. You just have to look round the cities and see basketball and hockey jerseys. Rarely if ever see an NFL jersey. Brits watch a lot of American TV shows so the culture is well known, especially for teenagers...

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by L.A. Chieffan

Why not? Might suck for a west coast team but shouldn't be that big of a deal just give them a bye before or after. There's this new thing called first class air travel.

Plus it would be a good excuse to travel to Europe and see your favorite football team. I think it's a great idea.

It's not the air travel. It's the time zone difference. West coast teams would be playing 8 hours off schedule. That would early **** with their practice schedule and unless you play every London game as a night game, it means a 4pm game would be like 8 am pacific time. And that's what time they play, not what time they show up to the stadium.

[vailpass]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

It's not the air travel. It's the time zone difference. West coast teams would be playing 8 hours off schedule. That would early **** with their practice schedule and unless you play every London game as a night game, it means a 4pm game would be like 8 am pacific time. And that's what time they play, not what time they show up to the stadium.

Yep. It takes at least a day to adjust to that big a time change. And that's just mentally, don't know what physically would be like...

[UK_Chief]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

It's not the air travel. It's the time zone difference. West coast teams would be playing 8 hours off schedule. That would early **** with their practice schedule and unless you play every London game as a night game, it means a 4pm game would be like 8 am pacific time. And that's what time they play, not what time they show up to the stadium.

I think they would have to be night games, say 8 or 9 pm UK time.

[Gonzo]

They need to get a team (and make it work) in this countries' second largest market... Then talk to me about London.

Oh and if you really want to know if the fix is in, move the Jags there next year.
If they win a playoff game in their first year of existence, we'll have our answer.

[splatbass]

Originally Posted by vailpass

Yep. It takes at least a day to adjust to that big a time change. And that's just mentally, don't know what physically would be like...

As I said earlier in the thread, the University of Hawaii and the teams it plays do this kind of thing all the time. We play both Army and Navy this year, both east coast teams. It can be done. Unless you think NFL players are pussies compared to college players.

[vailpass]

Originally Posted by splatbass

As I said earlier in the thread, the University of Hawaii and the teams it plays do this kind of thing all the time. We play both Army and Navy this year, both east coast teams. It can be done. Unless you think NFL players are pussies compared to college players.

NFL is a whole different thing.
And Hawaii football sucks

[splatbass]

Originally Posted by vailpass

NFL is a whole different thing.
And Hawaii football sucks

Hawaii football does suck. But so does some of the NFL, like Jacksonville. What was your point again?

Hawaii home games are at 6 pm local time. That is midnight east coast time when games start here. East coast teams come in here and do fine (and usually win).

I travel to Korea a lot, and to the mainland US a lot. I've gone from Missouri to Hawaii to Japan then back to Hawaii in just a few days. I understand time zones, as does anyone who lives here. Trust me, a professional athlete can deal with different time zones if a 52 year old man can.

[vailpass]

Originally Posted by splatbass

Hawaii football does suck. But so does some of the NFL, like Jacksonville. What was your point again?

Hawaii home games are at 6 pm local time. That is midnight east coast time when games start here. East coast teams come in here and do fine (and usually win).

I travel to Korea a lot, and to the mainland US a lot. I've gone from Missouri to Hawaii to Japan then back to Hawaii in just a few days. I understand time zones, as does anyone who lives here. Trust me, a professional athlete can deal with different time zones if a 52 year old man can.

Point taken. Don't let this haole piss you off, I'm just talkin...