NFL Regular Season Games Overseas: Good or Bad Idea?

[SantanaMan]

I didn't think I'd be reading such closeminded comments as have been posted - I believe that a lot of the posters here don't a have a clue how popular the NFL is outside of the USA!!!!!!

The NFL is, and has been a global sporting phenomenon for decades - the viewing figures are sky-high (something like a billion people viewing in over 225 countries worldwide!).
Sure, it involves losing ONE home game every 16 years - but in NFL business terms it opens the games to a much bigger viewing audience, which in turn will increase revenue when more fans become interested which in turn benefits the league and indvidual teams.
I believe the talk has been about having it coincide with bye weeks etc, and each team I'm sure will know well in advance (maybe even a few seasons in advance) that they will be taking part.

I am very shocked at the "its ours, go away" attitude, but unfortunately I find that a lot - many US based sports fans feel, that as europeans/foriegners that we cannot possibly be as fervent or diehard supporters as them and that they must know more as its "their" sport.

I played college soccer (and won a national champioship) in the states, some of the most knowledgable soccer fans i met were amercians (but, how, surely its not THEIR sport? :-p ).
Heck, don't let USA host the World Cup, what do they know about soccer (again sarcasm for those that may misread it).
The WC opened soccer up more to USA, as will this venture by the NFL, don't be a hater, embrace it.

Again, I as a european, bleed burgundy and gold, I live for football each and every day - I stay up to stupid hours to watch the games live (MNF kicks off at 1.30am here, so can be up till 5 or later on a Tuesday morning!), I haven't missed a Skins game in years due to paying to watch each and every game,I watch all 3 games sunday, MNF and then replays of others when available, ESPN, NFL Network are contants on in my house - I hate basically every european sport (I played soccer, but not a fan per se).
Does someone, just because they live in VA, or MI or whereever make them a better fan due to where they live, HELL NO!

Yes, it may be the "National" football league, but you play for the "World" championship ;-)

[SmootSmack]

Originally Posted by SantanaMan

I didn't think I'd be reading such closeminded comments as have been posted - I believe that a lot of the posters here don't a have a clue how popular the NFL is outside of the USA!!!!!!

The NFL is, and has been a global sporting phenomenon for decades - the viewing figures are sky-high (something like a billion people viewing in over 225 countries worldwide!).
Sure, it involves losing ONE home game every 16 years - but in NFL business terms it opens the games to a much bigger viewing audience, which in turn will increase revenue when more fans become interested which in turn benefits the league and indvidual teams.
I believe the talk has been about having it coincide with bye weeks etc, and each team I'm sure will know well in advance (maybe even a few seasons in advance) that they will be taking part.

I am very shocked at the "its ours, go away" attitude, but unfortunately I find that a lot - many US based sports fans feel, that as europeans/foriegners that we cannot possibly be as fervent or diehard supporters as them and that they must know more as its "their" sport.

I played college soccer (and won a national champioship) in the states, some of the most knowledgable soccer fans i met were amercians (but, how, surely its not THEIR sport? :-p ).
Heck, don't let USA host the World Cup, what do they know about soccer (again sarcasm for those that may misread it).
The WC opened soccer up more to USA, as will this venture by the NFL, don't be a hater, embrace it.

Again, I as a european, bleed burgundy and gold, I live for football each and every day - I stay up to stupid hours to watch the games live (MNF kicks off at 1.30am here, so can be up till 5 or later on a Tuesday morning!), I haven't missed a Skins game in years due to paying to watch each and every game,I watch all 3 games sunday, MNF and then replays of others when available, ESPN, NFL Network are contants on in my house - I hate basically every european sport (I played soccer, but not a fan per se).
Does someone, just because they live in VA, or MI or whereever make them a better fan due to where they live, HELL NO!

Yes, it may be the "National" football league, but you play for the "World" championship ;-)

I agree with all you say. The only issue I have is that fans only get to see their teams a few number of times each year, unlike the 80+ times a baseball fan can see their team. And all I'm saying is if you're going to take that away from the core fan to grow the sport globally, which is understable, then you have to give something back to that fan. Give them a free preseason game for example.

[SantanaMan]

Originally Posted by TAFKAS

I agree with all you say. The only issue I have is that fans only get to see their teams a few number of times each year, unlike the 80+ times a baseball fan can see their team. And all I'm saying is if you're going to take that away from the core fan to grow the sport globally, which is understable, then you have to give something back to that fan. Give them a free preseason game for example.

The core fan, as you put it, loses ONE home game in 16 years - surely thats worth it when you take into account the potential benefits both to teams (fanbase, revenue) and league - the NFL isn't a silly league, its the best at promotion, marketing, you name it - so it wouldn't be doing it on a whim.
As for what teams could do to reimburse fans who would have had that game at the home stadium I'm sure its something that has/is being worked on.

[SantanaMan]

Now after getting that off my chest I will give my personal thoughts on this venture.

NFL, if it comes to Ireland/UK - count me there with bells on, I'm saving already as soon as I heard the news of the possability.
If its the Skins even better, but the chance to see an NFL regular season game without having the travel/hotel costs seems very appealing to me, regardless of if its the Cowboys vs Browns I'll still be going and I'm sure almost each and every NFL fan in the UK would feel the same way (meaning there will be FAR more demand for tickets than could be available).
Even casual fans or people without much knowledge of the sport may be interested as it'll be a once in a decade event possibly and so it will also draw people that way, the interest drawn via media and people talking about it long after will also go a long way to boosting the sport.

[SantanaMan]

Travelling east if I remember correctly is a lot easier than the return journey (as it would be for NFL players), east coast teams would notice a time difference of 5 hours (and hence are likely to be placed to playing in europe), the return journey is harder and more likely to have jet-lag (hence the bye week after it).
I would also think that these games would/could be best suited for MNF (or like has happened this season a MNF doubleheader), giving these teams extra time to rest, etc after the travel (they may even have the euro games played on MNF the week after say an NFL Network Thu game , thus giving even more time).
The NFL has been involved in grass roots programs in the UK for many years (not sure if you are aware of this), obviously the schooling system is set up differently and would take time to evolve towards the same kind of system in america, but it is happening, college teams have been formed, there are leagues - like my earlier analogy to USA soccer, it wil take a while for these "seeds" to grow, but with the right exposure to games/coaching it can only be a good thing wordwide.

Yes, Germany is possibly the biggest country to embrace NFL (followed VERY close 2nd to UK may I add), this is due to the US armed forces based there and many ex-pats in these countries that generated the intial interest 20-odd years ago.

Indeed in my very early days as an NFL fan there was little TV coverage here (originally a 1 hour show), so I used to have to try and get radio reception from Armed Force Radio to try and listen to coverage of games(which involves moving about my room lots with the radio to pick up the signal) - since then coverage has boomed to what we have now which is the ability to watch each and every game each and every week, ability to watch all the shows such as PTI, Around the Horn, Sportcenter, you name it, we can pretty much watch it too. Add to that the internet and NFL is sitting at everyones fingertips.

Who's to say the players won't embrace the new games? Many NFLEurope players and current NFLers have only positive things to say about their time in europe.
The NFL is leagues ahead of every other sporting league in the world in organisation/planning, I am sure they will not only think/plan this through thoroughly, but it will also be better than what we as fans think.

I don't wish to argue with anyone about this, as we are all fans of the same sport (and team) - I can only see positive things coming from this.

I guess I can just see this akin to what I heard from staunch soccer fans in the UK when they heard about the WC being played in the USA ...
all the "they will ruin it, they know nothing about it, blah, blah", I personally didnt feel this way and was pleased when USA put on what I feel has been the best WC in a long time and would willingly let them host again.

[ArtMonkDrillz]

Originally Posted by SouperMeister

Am I missing something here? Why does everyone (including so-called experts) assume that this plan implies a home game is lost on the schedule? Let's assume that the NFL has one game overseas per season. I would think that the two participating teams would have a schedule of 8 home games, 7 road games, and the overseas game at an obviously neutral site. Is this such a horrible thing? I would gladly trade one of my road games for a neutral site game, particularly against a tough opponent.

That's actually a good idea, and I guess I wouldn't be against it 100%. Obviously one team would have to be designated the "home team" for the sake of the coin toss and all that, but that doesn't mean they have to lose a real home game back in their own stadium.
Maybe you should work for the NFL.

[That Guy]

Originally Posted by ArtMonkDrillz

That's actually a good idea, and I guess I wouldn't be against it 100%. Obviously one team would have to be designated the "home team" for the sake of the coin toss and all that, but that doesn't mean they have to lose a real home game back in their own stadium.
Maybe you should work for the NFL.

do the math, it doesn't work.

[ArtMonkDrillz]

Originally Posted by That Guy

do the math, it doesn't work.

I'm not familiar with "math." But I suppose you're right, so, back to my original opinion of 'this is a bad idea.'

[GTripp0012]

Bad idea. Too difficult, its not a good storyline, and there is no stadium in the NFL anymore which doesnt sell out every week.

[Daseal]

Am I missing something here? Why does everyone (including so-called experts) assume that this plan implies a home game is lost on the schedule? Let's assume that the NFL has one game overseas per season. I would think that the two participating teams would have a schedule of 8 home games, 7 road games, and the overseas game at an obviously neutral site. Is this such a horrible thing? I would gladly trade one of my road games for a neutral site game, particularly against a tough opponent.

You just made my study prep a bit happier. That was a good laugh!

[Daseal]

SantanaMan -- While the prospect of losing a home game isn't something I want. I'm worried about traveling and traveling time. I want football to become more of a universal sport, but I don't think one game a year in Europe would do that. I feel you must start by bringing youth football into select European countries. Germany seems to really embrace it.

I know a lot of people, including myself came off as it being a "we don't want to share" type of attitude. But I feel that's a bit off. It's more a we don't want to dillute the quality of the game by having teams travel a ton, giving them less time to prepare, and home games are nice for not only us fans, but for the players.

[dmek25]

santanaman, if the nfl is so popular overseas, why is it anytime you watch an nfl europe game, the stands are over half empty?

[Redskin]

Originally Posted by dmek25

santanaman, if the nfl is so popular overseas, why is it anytime you watch an nfl europe game, the stands are over half empty?

Bahahaha you watch NFLE, thats worse then college

[SantanaMan]

Originally Posted by Redskin

Bahahaha you watch NFLE, thats worse then college

I agree the quality is poor, I haven't watched it in years due to the increased availablity of NFL coverage here.
Increase the quality of players and people will get interested in it again.

The following is a list of players who have played in NFLE and went on to have pretty decent careers in NFL - see how many of them you knew had played in NFLE ... (there are more, but this is just an example)

Jake Delhomme, Kurt Warner, Brad Johnson, Lawrence Phillips, Dante Hall, Marcus Robinson, Brian Waters, Marco Rivera, LaRoi Glover, Keith Traylor, Brandon Noble, Nick Ferguson, Adam Vinatieri, David Akers

[SantanaMan]

Originally Posted by dmek25

santanaman, if the nfl is so popular overseas, why is it anytime you watch an nfl europe game, the stands are over half empty?

Because the fans know its a poor product being put out - like people have said in this thread the teams need more homegrown talent, something to have a real connection with. Right now the teams are made from cast offs that are highly unlikely to remain on NFL rosters, theres been a few great stories (such as Kurt Warner, etc), but on the whole its not as big a "developmental league" as it had been touted as.
A higher quality of players from stateside would also help as NFL teams pretty much send players it think CAN'T play and asks them to be proven wrong, rather than players that they think can play and want to watch develop. NFLE would have been perfect for Tayor Jacobs to work in gametime stuff to try and improve.
Even NFL practice squads at times have better players!
I have held a long time thought that NFLE could and should be used by players who have fallen out fo favor in the NFL (or lost their roster spot but feel they can still play in the NFL) to use it as a spring board back, say a Trung Canidate/Ryan Leaf (bad examples, but you get the idea) or whatever to say "hey I still got it", maybe get noticed and get a job back in the bigs. The added name recognition alone of these players would boost the league let alone their ability above and beyond what was already available.
However, would the NFL take what stats these players make serious given the lower standard of play, would a ex-NFLer who's lost his job swallow his pride enough to drop down in an attempt to get back up or would he rather just walk away without "lowering himself". There are a few who have, Eric Crouch and Akili Smith - names fans can recognise rather than joe schmoe from A&B college - but on the whole not enough to make a huge difference.