As with most decisions made by NFL executives, the reasoning behind the desire to move the NFL outside the USA revolves around increasing revenue. Europe provides a new market for ticket sales, but also, more importantly, a new area to sell T.V. rights to view games. London makes sense for the ideal expansion site. For one, it's an English speaking country, so announcers and other small aspects of the game could be easily transferred. London also contains Wembley Stadium, which would be an ideal location for games for both capacity and accessibility reasons.
One of the main factors playing into whether to actually permanently move a team to London is whether the team could obtain a consistent fan base. When the NFL plays their annual game in London, the fans come from all over Europe, not necessarily from London or even England for that matter. Also, most of the fans are already die-hard NFL fans who hold devotion to a particular team already. It's difficult to determine whether moving an NFL team to London would create a new fan base at all. It's also difficult to determine whether fans in England would shift their devotion to a new team just because it was in London or whether they would remain faithful to their previous team.
If a team were to become successful in London in terms of marketing and increased revenue, it would also present several problems within the league. Firstly, traveling that distance is hard on the body and NFL players have a tough time keeping their bodies healthy as it is now. Teams from the west coast would have a particularly hard time dealing with jet lag and time change. Regardless of the effects on the body, the travel circumstances would provide a distinct advantage to the team in London. Between extended travel time and adjustment time, the London team would have considerably more time to prepare for the incoming team.
Jake Packman
No comments:
Post a Comment