2008 Woodie Awards
The Sports Pile: Hopping the pond
The NFL makes its jump across international waters
Will Brinson
Issue date: 10/30/07 Section: Sports
If you wondered how there were actually 70,000 Dolphin fans remaining last Sunday when the New York Foosball Giants came to town, just go ahead and stop thinking. That game was actually played in London, England. That's right. Football popped its proverbial cherry on international regular season games this past weekend, as the Dolphins "hosted" the Giants in a "clash" of NFC rivals at Wembley Stadium in London, England.
It says a lot about today's world that not only was this something that was considered, but something that actually happened. And I'm not trying to sound Americanized and absurdly patriotic or whatever, but it will seem weird knowing that the NFL has gone global.
The interesting issue is whether or not this is something that will continue to be popular or whether the novelty of having (real) professional football players bash each others' heads in will wear off should the NFL continue on their planned course for international takeover.
League representatives have indicated that within five years they would like to have every single NFL team play at least one game overseas during the season. That's a lot of traveling for guys who aren't used to it, and/or don't actually live in England, or hail from England, or even care about England.
Even more terrifying, Roger Goodell openly insinuated several times that he is completely in favor of the future possibility of a Super Bowl being played overseas. And by "openly insinuated," I actually mean to imply that he is going to ram it down America's collective football-watching throats. It makes sense from the perspective of the NFL-you pick up more fans which, all ticket sales aside, leads to greater revenue sales and television ratings. Not that the NFL needs help in those two areas, but if the NBA has taught us anything in its quick plummet from national sporting power in the late 1990s, it's that standing pat and assuming your fan base will keep appreciating your product is silly.
It says a lot about today's world that not only was this something that was considered, but something that actually happened. And I'm not trying to sound Americanized and absurdly patriotic or whatever, but it will seem weird knowing that the NFL has gone global.
The interesting issue is whether or not this is something that will continue to be popular or whether the novelty of having (real) professional football players bash each others' heads in will wear off should the NFL continue on their planned course for international takeover.
League representatives have indicated that within five years they would like to have every single NFL team play at least one game overseas during the season. That's a lot of traveling for guys who aren't used to it, and/or don't actually live in England, or hail from England, or even care about England.
Even more terrifying, Roger Goodell openly insinuated several times that he is completely in favor of the future possibility of a Super Bowl being played overseas. And by "openly insinuated," I actually mean to imply that he is going to ram it down America's collective football-watching throats. It makes sense from the perspective of the NFL-you pick up more fans which, all ticket sales aside, leads to greater revenue sales and television ratings. Not that the NFL needs help in those two areas, but if the NBA has taught us anything in its quick plummet from national sporting power in the late 1990s, it's that standing pat and assuming your fan base will keep appreciating your product is silly.
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