NFL talks about pulling plug on NFL Europa

I don't see why it has lasted this long. I dont really think everyone follows it like that.

If Goodell's plan is to truly make football into a global sport, this makes me very nervous if he intends to cut NFL Europa. It makes me wonder if he's thinking about having an NFL team in England (as Tagliabue had hinted). I don't like this idea one bit, I don't like the thought of sending guys over to play a team in London, or anywhere in Europe.

However, I wouldn't mind having NFL Europa become a more serious league and having some form of "World Championship" or something like that, after the Super Bowl. It would be interesting to see a format for football similar to what we see in soccer.

P.S. This is all just brainstorming and the feasibility is probably not there, just a pipe dream

Not totally dissatisfied with the product DJ, but I think it has been tainted because of the push for parity. I rather see a top echelon of teams with some decent teams in the middle then ones that are horrible. I have to disagree. Pre cap football was more exciting as you did have at least half a dozen teams in each conference that had a legitimate shot at the big dance. Depending on how old you are , which playoff rivalries were more exciting to watch The NE vs Indy rivalry or the Denver vs Cleveland rivalry of the early to mid 80's? The officials have effectively become a part of the game much more so than the pre cap days and the gazillion $$$$$$$ TV contracts, etc. The big money and push for parity will eventually take its toll on the game.

NFL.com - NFL News (http://www.nfl.com/news/story/10240829)

looks like the plugs pulled

Not totally dissatisfied with the product DJ, but I think it has been tainted because of the push for parity. I rather see a top echelon of teams with some decent teams in the middle then ones that are horrible. I have to disagree. Pre cap football was more exciting as you did have at least half a dozen teams in each conference that had a legitimate shot at the big dance. Depending on how old you are , which playoff rivalries were more exciting to watch The NE vs Indy rivalry or the Denver vs Cleveland rivalry of the early to mid 80's? The officials have effectively become a part of the game much more so than the pre cap days and the gazillion $$$$$$$ TV contracts, etc. The big money and push for parity will eventually take its toll on the game.

I think it depends on your perspective. If your only benchmark is quality of play, then yes, the salary cap has lowered the overall quality of the teams because units simply cannot stay together long enough with the same personnel to reach their maximum potential. No longer do you have the same O'line for example jelling together for a 6-8 year run of excellence, or QB/Reciever combos developing the long-term chemistry of Montana-Rice. The drop off is not, contrary to popular sentiment, huge from the previous era since players are stronger, faster, and better conditioned today that they used to be.

On the other hand, the quality of overall league competitiveness is much better today. In the pre-salary cap era, turn-around took years and sometimes never (tampa bay or new orleans come to mind). Today's league allows a good coach and a few key acquisitions really make a difference in overall competitiveness, which is what keeps seats in Cleveland, Buffalo, Arizona, New Orleans, Tennessee and other small market teams filled.

I think there has been a trade-off, but I think long-term viability is based on both competitiveness and play quality. A small drop off in play quality has resulted in a huge advancement in competitiveness, so the net is a better, healthier league. The results are hard to argue with...look at Hockey, Basketball, and Baseball. Their respective ratings have tumbled, while the highly competitive sports (NFL/Nascar) have not.

It's official. They folded. Here's the link:

ESPN - Passport expires: NFL Europa folds after 16 years - NFL (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2920738)

they should be glad that they got 16 years out of it. the quality was really bad

Seems to me like this is the right opportunity for Mark Cuban to swoop in with his proposed football league and go to the owners and say "Look, I've got the money. I'll bankroll a developmental league in the springtime here in the US for you guys"

Yeah, spring football in the US would probably work. The USFL was making a game of it until they tried to directly compete with the NFL. If the NFL actually encouraged rather than fight a new spring league - I bet it would flourish.

HI Guys,

I
Hi Guys,

I stay in Scotland and attended many a games in Scotland and Europe (okay Germany) It is fair to say that the crowds were bigger in Germany than Scotland or Spain but if you look at the population of Scotland, we have 5 million (give or take a few) we are big in soccer (american terms) the two top team in Scotland average 50-60 thousand the next in attendance in soccer is 13 Claymores were 10 thousand which is not to bad. What killed us of was the travel expenses.
I was born and bred in Scotland brought up playing football all through my youth and teens (scottish terms) MSL has just got David Beckam (LA Galaxy) surly you don't spend $120 million on something that will be gone in 5-10 years. BTW I was watching the tv some 25 years ago when our local tv station showed an american football game (redskins dolphins), since then i have been hooked and i would say that i prefer it to soccer


All they had was basically Germany in terms of teams and fans, and a lot of those fans probably were US servicemen/women who missed seeing AMerican football. I watched some games when it was still the WFL with Barcelona and the Scotland Monarchs still around. It was OK, but nothing too spectacular. The NFL has to be taking a real hit also paying out NFL contracts with only half filled soccer stadiums. FIFA is king in Europe anyway, just like the NFL is king here in the States, which is why MSL is probably going to fade away within 5-10 years.