NFL talks about pulling plug on NFL Europa

[GusFrerotte]

I think it is a colossal waste of time(marketing NFL stateside to Europe). If you can't get the butts in the seats, you aren't going to get the butts in front of the tubes. Why would someone from Munich want to watch a NFL game in Chicago when Bayern Munich is playing a match the same day? The interest is not there and they will lose revenue. Greed is going to take both the NBA and NFL down the tubes eventually. The US market is not fully tapped out yet, damn even LA still needs a team or two. The NFL needs to drop the pursuit of parity and go back to the pre salary cap days where excellent teams were built and dynasties made. Would you rather see a shitty close SB like we have had for the past few seasons or watch a nice oiled machinge ala Montana Rice light up the scoreboard? Games are getting boring as the league interferes too much via the refs, same with the NBA. The greed is killing the leagues.

[KLHJ2]

Originally Posted by GusFrerotte

I think it is a colossal waste of time(marketing NFL stateside to Europe). If you can't get the butts in the seats, you aren't going to get the butts in front of the tubes. Why would someone from Munich want to watch a NFL game in Chicago when Bayern Munich is playing a match the same day? The interest is not there and they will lose revenue. Greed is going to take both the NBA and NFL down the tubes eventually. The US market is not fully tapped out yet, damn even LA still needs a team or two. The NFL needs to drop the pursuit of parity and go back to the pre salary cap days where excellent teams were built and dynasties made. Would you rather see a shitty close SB like we have had for the past few seasons or watch a nice oiled machinge ala Montana Rice light up the scoreboard? Games are getting boring as the league interferes too much via the refs, same with the NBA. The greed is killing the leagues.

While I did enjoy the pre-salary cap days (because we were winning) I do not think that it would be wise to go back to that. Only the teams with alot of money would win. If other teams are not capable of putting a winning product on the field, then fans of that team would lose intrest. Talk about NFL going down the tube. It would be a step backward. If fans lose intrest the league loses money. Not only that, but it would be too easy to predict who goes to the playoffs year in and year out and who gets the first 10 draft picks.

[djnemo65]

Originally Posted by GusFrerotte

I think it is a colossal waste of time(marketing NFL stateside to Europe). If you can't get the butts in the seats, you aren't going to get the butts in front of the tubes. Why would someone from Munich want to watch a NFL game in Chicago when Bayern Munich is playing a match the same day? The interest is not there and they will lose revenue. Greed is going to take both the NBA and NFL down the tubes eventually. The US market is not fully tapped out yet, damn even LA still needs a team or two. The NFL needs to drop the pursuit of parity and go back to the pre salary cap days where excellent teams were built and dynasties made. Would you rather see a shitty close SB like we have had for the past few seasons or watch a nice oiled machinge ala Montana Rice light up the scoreboard? Games are getting boring as the league interferes too much via the refs, same with the NBA. The greed is killing the leagues.

You bring up a lot of points here GF. I think that the NFL is looking to baseball and basketball as two sports that have been able to develop revenue sources overseas through satellite distribution and wants a piece of that. The difference is that both of those sports are played at a high level abroad, while football is unique to the homeland. Still, I do think the potential is there to find a niche market, much like European soccer has in the states. This is a low risk endeavour that I doubt they could lose much money on.

As for your second point, I think parity in the NFL has as much to do with it's soaring popularity as the product on the field. They get it just right. It's the only sport where every single team has a legit shot to make a run every single season. There are websites like this in every NFL city with people predicting honestly and earnestly a 13-3 season. You are certainly entitled to your opinion but I don't know many other Americans who are dissatisfied with the NFL's product. I for one can't get enough.