I bet Fisher's mullet could block better than that line.

rickythepenguin: what always fascinates me about the overseas matchups is, what if a player (or coach) had some kind of criminal case that for whatever reason, he couldn't get a passport or the other nation basically said, "yeah, you can't come here".....would the NFL get like, the State Dept involved?

i mean, apples and oranges, but didn't Paris Hilton or some other socialite get banned from entering Japan recently, due to a cocaine possession conviction? and had to cancel some ad campaign? something like that.

Well, I've heard that Canada is very harsh on DUI and sports players have had issues trying to enter (I think technically if you've been convicted of DUI in the US, you cannot enter Canada or something like that.)

I don't have a specific story, I'll look it up once I get some more caffeine in me.

rickythepenguin: i mean, apples and oranges, but didn't Paris Hilton or some other socialite get banned from entering Japan recently, due to a cocaine possession conviction? and had to cancel some ad campaign? something like that.

Ironic since Paris has so few restrictions on entering her.

rickythepenguin: what always fascinates me about the overseas matchups is, what if a player (or coach) had some kind of criminal case that for whatever reason, he couldn't get a passport or the other nation basically said, "yeah, you can't come here".....would the NFL get like, the State Dept involved?

Red Bull New York has a player in the US on asylum and when the team plays in Toronto he stays home. But the NFL may hold more sway with the State Dept.

Why the hell would a team volunteer to lose a home game? Every other home team in London has been pissed. I know the Saints and their fans were a few years ago.

downstairs: Why the hell would a team volunteer to lose a home game? Every other home team in London has been pissed. I know the Saints and their fans were a few years ago.

It's all part of Goodell trying to save face on this stupid idea of his. It's like he doesn't understand that the early game in America is the late game in London, and no matter how hard you push it, you're not getting people to watch 11pm and 3AM games on a regular basis

The Big 4 commissioners right now are a farking joke. None of them have anything but dollar signs in their best interests.

\ya, ya, it's their job
\\doesn't make it right for the game, no matter what league it is

FriarReb98: downstairs: Why the hell would a team volunteer to lose a home game? Every other home team in London has been pissed. I know the Saints and their fans were a few years ago.

It's all part of Goodell trying to save face on this stupid idea of his. It's like he doesn't understand that the early game in America is the late game in London, and no matter how hard you push it, you're not getting people to watch 11pm and 3AM games on a regular basis

The Big 4 commissioners right now are a farking joke. None of them have anything but dollar signs in their best interests.

\ya, ya, it's their job
\\doesn't make it right for the game, no matter what league it is

The early games are 1pm Central, which is 6pm UK time. And the sheer majority of games are Sunday 1pm.

I still think its a dumb idea, but just sayin'

FriarReb98: It's like he doesn't understand that the early game in America is the late game in London, and no matter how hard you push it, you're not getting people to watch 11pm and 3AM games on a regular basis

You're point is correct, but it's 5 hours from London to NY. It's another 4 from NY to LA. They could very realistically play an 9pm London game (4pm NY, noon NY). The problem with getting new European fans is that the NFL takes way too long and has too many commercials. Unfortunately, that's not going to change.

But 1PM London, wtf? Oh, right. Asia.

Cajnik: (4pm NY, noon NY)

Noon LA. My bad

downstairs: The early games are 1pm Central, which is 6pm UK time. And the sheer majority of games are Sunday 1pm.

I still think its a dumb idea, but just sayin'

My bad. For some reason it's stuck in my head that we're 7 hours ahead instead of 5, no idea why. Not that it stops an 8pm matinee game from getting over right around sunrise in the UK (especially with all of Goodell's rules changes...).

Cajnik: FriarReb98: It's like he doesn't understand that the early game in America is the late game in London, and no matter how hard you push it, you're not getting people to watch 11pm and 3AM games on a regular basis

You're point is correct, but it's 5 hours from London to NY. It's another 4 3 from NY to LA. They could very realistically play an 9pm London game (4pm NY, noon NY 1pm L.A.). The problem with getting new European fans is that the NFL takes way too long and has too many commercials. Unfortunately, that's not going to change.

Time zones are not your forte.

downstairs: The early games are 1pm Central, which is 6pm UK time. And the sheer majority of games are Sunday 1pm.

not 1pm Eastern Standard Time?

Also: Rams worried they can't fill their own stadium? I am sure they would at least do it for the Pats.

Also: re legal issues entering foreign countries: good thing NFL players are not known for having legal and criminal issues. cough.

I wonder how long he had to mullet over?

Harv72b: Time zones are not your forte.

I realized that. I should have really just stopped posting and never looked back

SlothB77: downstairs: The early games are 1pm Central, which is 6pm UK time. And the sheer majority of games are Sunday 1pm.

not 1pm Eastern Standard Time?

Woops. I wrote Noon Central (because that's where I live) then corrected it for some reason. Yes... 1pm eastern.

I'm British, and have been a Lions fan for 21 years. So with that out of the way...

1 - yeah, a lot of fans felt a little bad about stealing a Saints game away so soon after Katrina, and I think deep down we don't like the idea of teams losing a home game to fly 4,000 miles to play at Wembley. It's not fair on the fan base in those teams. I mean, when the idea was floated of playing an extra game in the Premier League and playing them overseas, the outcry was absolutely overwhelming and the plan was shelved 24 hours later. Having said that...

2 - there's a growing fan base for the game over here. We want to see actual games that mean a damn, not a pre-season game where all the stars are out by the end of the first quarter and having them over here is a hell of a lot easier than flying to america. Not that I have anything against America, after all, I flew over in June to watch 6 Detroit Tigers games last year. It was great! But getting back to the NFL, the appreciation for the game is growing. In the 80s it was the only live sport we could see as the wall to wall coverage we now see for the Premier League was practically non-existent. I read more columns and sportswriters about the NFL than I do soccer. There are people who appreciate a jumbo set, a cover two, can tell the difference between a 3-4 and a 4-3, hate the shotgun spread, etc. And it's growing.

3 - You are all absolutely right - it IS about money. The TV money available in the States isn't going to continually grow, and there's a whole WORLD out there with TV money just waiting to be exploited. If the NFL can grow its ratings everywhere else, they can charge more for broadcasting then everyone makes money. If making a commitment to play in England brings a couple of million extra a year, and that extends to Europe... well, everyone gets richer, from the league to the owners to the players.

4 - However, this talk of a UK based team is, I fear, a REALLY bad idea. It's been ingrained in our culture that when you support a team, you support them for life, whether you move away or whatever. A lot of fans in England have supported teams for 20-30 years and while they may go and see a UK based team, they won't ever get behind them completely. I'm not going to stop supporting Detroit just because London gets a team. I might go see Detroit vs London, or London vs New England, but I'd never go to 8 London team games. I feel a lot of people may feel the same way.

In short, there are lots of people who like your game and it's growing and expansion world wide is inevitable.

sloughtown4ever: 4 - However, this talk of a UK based team is, I fear, a REALLY bad idea. It's been ingrained in our culture that when you support a team, you support them for life, whether you move away or whatever. A lot of fans in England have supported teams for 20-30 years and while they may go and see a UK based team, they won't ever get behind them completely. I'm not going to stop supporting Detroit just because London gets a team. I might go see Detroit vs London, or London vs New England, but I'd never go to 8 London team games. I feel a lot of people may feel the same way.

Very good post, thanks for taking the time.

There's more to it than that in regards to point four--having one or two teams based in Europe means that those teams would have a disproportionately high travel budget, they'd be at an even greater than normal disadvantage for away games with the time zone differences, and of course the currency exchanges would likely make an overseas team less profitable than one based in the U.S. (as league revenue sharing on tv deals etc are based in dollars). Basically the same problems that other American sports leagues have had in basing/keeping teams in Canada, but exaggerated even further. The only way I could see it work in a long-term way would be to embark on a massive expansion to create a whole new conference based in Europe...which is not likely to happen any time soon for a multitude of rather obvious reasons.

But you are dead on in regards to the money...the NFL realizes that if they can more effectively market the league overseas, it would mean a cash windfall. Not to mention the benefits they would reap should increased exposure now lead to a larger international presence among the players somewhere down the road. Hell, if that wound up being the case it could also mean increased profits for American universities, as well as the opportunity to get a higher education for players who might actually appreciate and take advantage of it.

Cajnik: FriarReb98: It's like he doesn't understand that the early game in America is the late game in London, and no matter how hard you push it, you're not getting people to watch 11pm and 3AM games on a regular basis

You're point is correct, but it's 5 hours from London to NY. It's another 4 from NY to LA. They could very realistically play an 9pm London game (4pm NY, noon NY). The problem with getting new European fans is that the NFL takes way too long and has too many commercials. Unfortunately, that's not going to change.

But 1PM London, wtf? Oh, right. Asia.

The UK turns their clock back two weeks before the US, therefore for two weeks in the fall, the UK is four hours ahead of the East Coast and seven hours ahead of the West Coast. That's why these games are on Halloween weekend, because it's the only time when a 1pm start time is 5pm in London.

That said, they should've kept NFL Europe.

drunk_bouncnbaloruber: The UK turns their clock back two weeks before the US, therefore for two weeks in the fall, the UK is four hours ahead of the East Coast and seven hours ahead of the West Coast. That's why these games are on Halloween weekend, because it's the only time when a 1pm start time is 5pm in London.

FTAThey will kick off an unprecedented new move for NFL on October 28 at 1pm local time with the game being televised live in the United States on CBS.

Which is why I said wtf, but then I figured they wanted to make sure Asia-Pacific could see them at a normal time.

Cajnik: FriarReb98: It's like he doesn't understand that the early game in America is the late game in London, and no matter how hard you push it, you're not getting people to watch 11pm and 3AM games on a regular basis

You're point is correct, but it's 5 hours from London to NY. It's another 4 from NY to LA. They could very realistically play an 9pm London game (4pm NY, noon NY). The problem with getting new European fans is that the NFL takes way too long and has too many commercials. Unfortunately, that's not going to change.

But 1PM London, wtf? Oh, right. Asia.

woah dude. A 9pm London game would mean a midnight finish. I've been to all but one of the London games and have left Wembley dead on the final whistle, leaving at 8pm, and not got home until 11pm. A 9pm start would mean a midnight finish, and that means that the Underground would need to run until at least 1:30am, and the last intercity trains would need to run at 2am/3am. It would be a nightmare. It's 5pm/6pm starts all the way, or like this game, a 1pm local start

more about the above: I've left Wembley at 8 and not got home until 11, and lived 15 miles from Wembley...

Shrugging Atlas: mjohnson71: JoeCowboy: So the Rams comb over to London for a game. Big deal. Kroenke is just teasing the convention center folks trying to get best lease possible.

JC

Tell that to all the bars, restaurants, hotels and parking lot owners downtown.

Exactly, and that's what pisses me off about this. Hell, tell it to the city and the lost tax revenue.

I get Kroenke is a hard-nosed businessman and is going to use every single advantage he can to get the best deal possible for his team. I also understand if he can't get that best deal in St. Louis, he's certainly entitled to move it to a city that will offer that deal.

But all that said, it doesn't mean we have to enjoy it.

Frankly, the people that should be most upset about this are the people in London that want to see NFL football. "Here's our crappiest franchise. Drink it in!!"

Best game we got was Saints-Chargers. At the end, the whole stadium gave both teams a standing ovation, it was brilliant. The rest have been clunkers to be fair, though seeing both Eli Manning score the first touchdown scored outside of the Americas, and Tim Tebow scoring were particular highlights

The Brits are going to be forced to watch the Rams once a year?

When do the riots start?

sloughtown4ever: more about the above: I've left Wembley at 8 and not got home until 11, and lived 15 miles from Wembley...

I used 9PM because I'm used to 8:45 CET kickoffs for the Champions League (So almost 8 BST). As demonstrated up thread, I'm not doing the best with time zones today.

Cajnik: sloughtown4ever: more about the above: I've left Wembley at 8 and not got home until 11, and lived 15 miles from Wembley...

I used 9PM because I'm used to 8:45 CET kickoffs for the Champions League (So almost 8 BST). As demonstrated up thread, I'm not doing the best with time zones today.

no worries, but getting home from Wembley if you don't live in actual London for a late kick-off would be a nightmare.

GimpyNip: If you're trying to promote the NFL in Europe why the hell would you send the Rams there? Last time a Laurenitis had a match in Wembly half his team was drunk.

I LOL'd

kukukupo: NO NO NO. Football in Europe is a bad idea. Why do they keep pushing this garbage?

I'd be pissed as hell if any of my teams ended up playing in Europe instead of at home.

money. Its all about money. If the NFL can get more money from overseas broadcasting rights, they're going to do it. If you have to send teams overseas to do it, then those teams will go. There's a cap on how much TV can be wrung out of TV networks in the States, abroad is where the next big cash cow is