With the popularity of the annual NFL games held at Wembley Stadium, the league is now looking into the option of basing a team in the UK full time. Given the logistical implications and the obvious financial costs it would be a really bold move for the sport to take, but could it work? And how could US fans fill the half time break if the English entertainment doesn’t live up to expectations?
UK Move a Genuine Possibility
NFL bosses have been looking at options to increase the reach of their game beyond North America for a number of years now and, with smart marketing and international TV contracts, have gone about turning the NFL into a global phenomenon. In order to continue to extend the global appeal of the game still further the next logical step is to look to set up a franchise outside of the US. Current favourite location for this team appears to be London, but could a UK franchise work and, more importantly, could the English put on the kind of show that NFL fans crave throughout this season?
I would say that the answer to both of these questions is yes, but those fans who were not satisfied with the half time entertainment offerings could always keep the excitement going by accessing their favourite games through a mobile casino like the My Casino Room mobile version, an All Slots Casino powered site.
The History of NFL in Europe
American Football is still a minority sport in the UK but its popularity is growing fast. The stats, the draft system and the special teams all appeal to sports fans who have been fed a diet of soccer, rugby and cricket for too long. The NFL previously ran a league called NFL Europa which took place between 1991 and 2007 and featured teams from major European cities including London, Edinburgh and Barcelona but the league lacked backing and was not, for the most part, commercially successful. NFL Europe was seen as a poor man’s NFL and the standard never lived up to the expectations of its fans.
NFL at Wembley
More recently the NFL have taken to staging regular season games at Wembley stadium, London and these have really captured the public imagination. Initially just one game per season was scheduled in the UK but this has now grown to three games a year, and they will all sell out. Results of the games since the international series began are shown below;
2007 New York Giants 13, Miami Dolphins 10
2008 San Diego Chargers 32, New Orleans Saints 37
2009 New England Patriots 35, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 7
2010 Denver Broncos 16, San Francisco 49ers 24
2011 Chicago Bears 24, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 18
2012 New England Patriots 45, St. Louis Rams 7
2013 Pittsburgh Steelers 27, Minnesota Vikings 34 San Francisco 49ers 42, Jacksonville Jaguars 10
2014 Miami Dolphins 38, Oakland Raiders 14 Detroit Lions vs Atlanta Falcons Dallas Cowboys vs Jacksonville Jaguars
The Need to Pay for Wembley
Wembley stadium was completed in 2007 at a cost of nearly £800m and, ever since then, its owners have sought to ensure that it is used as often as possible so as to cover its costs. As well as the NFL International Series, the stadium also hosts Rugby Union and Rugby League matches as well as concerts but its primary purpose remains as the home of English soccer.
In recent years, however, owing to disappointing on-the-field performances, a lack of competitive fixtures and high ticket prices, attendances at England internationals have been falling and Wembley needs to find more ways to increase its revenues- playing a host to an NFL franchise could be a great opportunity to achieve that. As for the razzmatazz, the Wembley stadium fixtures have become a real event in the NFL calendar in their own right and whilst the off-the-field entertainment may be a little more reserved than NFL fans might expect, they have never failed to provide excitement.
NFL is growing in popularity in the UK, the next step is to give the English fans a team that they can unite behind.