American football league(NFL) may locate a team in London (home, transfer)

[PT 3000]

The NFL is considering locating a NFL American Football team in London in the future(date to be determined), Do you Londoners think it would survive or fold after one season, The NFL has started hosting a game in London that usually sells out, and at one time I read where a group was trying to get the Super Bowl to be played in London, It seems as if some of you like American football but would you support a team if one were awarded to your city, the only 2 drawbacks it would have would be the big time differences which would make it hard for you all to watch an away game being played over here in the U.S. at a reasonable hour in the U.K. and the miles that your team would have to travel for eight away games that would be some serious jet lag but you would have eight home games to enjoy.

[Jaggy001]

Originally Posted by PT 3000

The NFL is considering locating a NFL American Football team in London in the future(date to be determined), Do you Londoners think it would survive or fold after one season, The NFL has started hosting a game in London that usually sells out, and at one time I read where a group was trying to get the Super Bowl to be played in London, It seems as if some of you like American football but would you support a team if one were awarded to your city, the only 2 drawbacks it would have would be the big time differences which would make it hard for you all to watch an away game being played over here in the U.S. at a reasonable hour in the U.K. and the miles that your team would have to travel for eight away games that would be some serious jet lag but you would have eight home games to enjoy.

I think it could work.

There is a time difference but it is only 5 hours to the east coast. And NFL teams today are already dealing with 3 hours between east and west coasts. You just need to get smart with the scheduling.

So, for example. a London team playing away on the east coast might have a 1pm kick off which would be 6pm in the UK. A London team playing at home would have an 6pm kickoff which would be 1pm on the east coast. West coast would be trickier but not insurmountable.

As to traveling, it really isn't that horrible flying from the US to the UK. The worst is 10 hours from the west coast. But the 6 hours from the east coast isn't that much worse than the Patriots traveling to San Diego or Seattle.

[Hengist]

I think the London Monarchs used to get good crowds in the failed European league. There is a certain type of person who likes to go along and wear a great big foam finger and chant American slogans while drinking a bud. I doubt you will ever crack the grass roots problem the same way soccer has done in the USA, as American Football is definitely a cult minority sport. But best of luck to them if they try, I won't be transferring allegiance from the sport I grew up with.

[grmasterb]

Originally Posted by Hengist

But best of luck to them if they try, I won't be transferring allegiance from the sport I grew up with.

Why would you have to transfer allegiance? Couldn't you enjoy both?

The same argument seems to happen over here -- you either like soccer or American football, not both. I've never understand that way of thinking.

[Hengist]

I'm happy to try Chinese or Indian food once in a while, but it's exactly that; once in a while. Sporting allegiance is something that is drummed into you from an early age. I like soccer because I played it at school. I support my hometown club because they are my hometown club, and my dad took me there from the age of six. You don't suddenly change clubs or sports in middle age. Like I said, I wish them well and might even read match reports, but it will always be something of a curiosity rather than a passion.

[Jaggy001]

I like both!

I still support my hometown football team and, like Hengist, was going there from an early age. Now, living in the USA, I pay $240/year to get the games live over the internet.

But I also like American football and subscribe to Sunday Ticket so I can get all the games.

Best of both worlds.

[ian6479]

I hope so - for me, the NFL is the world's most exciting sports league. I went to Wembley last year and will be again this year.

What the NFL are proposing is a franchise in London, so that we wouldn't necessarily have our own home grown players, but a new NFL team of players based in London. As somebody above pointed out - teams in the NFL already travel several hours to play other teams and cross several time zones, so I think the issues would be more of the normal challenges of operating an international business than those of logistics or timezones.

[Yorkie Bar]

Originally Posted by Jaggy001

I like both!

I still support my hometown football team and, like Hengist, was going there from an early age. Now, living in the USA, I pay $240/year to get the games live over the internet.

But I also like American football and subscribe to Sunday Ticket so I can get all the games.

Best of both worlds.

Celtic or Rangers Jaggy?

[Jaggy001]

Originally Posted by Yorkie Bar

Celtic or Rangers Jaggy?

The champions

[censusdata]

Does American football have that much of a fan base in England??

The NFL should consider adding a team in America's 2nd largest metro (or expanding to Toronto) before moving to England IMO