I will get back to Sooner blog posts soon, but seems its Football off-season, I need to keep busy and blog about other things now and again! So on to this one, it is still Football related!
The NFL International Series in London has been across 5 times now, and with the announcement that the Rams are coming across each of the next 3 years, it looks like it’s here to stay! I hear cheers from the British fans, and moans and groans from the teams that lose a home game. The fans of the away team don’t mind so much, as it’s guaranteed to be on the TV, or a trip to London to catch your team has proved to be popular if you have always fancied coming to England/Europe.
Yes, I do feel for the teams that lose a home game, the fans who pay the money for season tickets and show up through terrible season’s game in, game out. But, up to now, only teams struggling to sell out have being the home team. I also cannot ever see a team like Pittsburgh or Green Bay giving up a home game, I think their fans may really kick off. To places like that, Football is everything.
Onto the reason behind the post, as there is much talk about London getting a NFL Franchise, do we deserve one?? Many British fans seem to think the answer is yes, it’s the next logical step after having the games here and to broaden the appeal of the game. Many British fans say no, keep the sport in America as that’s where it belongs and the logistics behind the move would be horrendous. Me personally, I think no.
I do agree it would be great to have a team I could possibly go and watch 8 times a year. But I live a couple of hours from London, and with price of tickets, travel, food and everything on top, could I afford to pay $3,000 to $4,000 a year for it? The simple answer is no. I could probably make 2-4, but that again may impact Stacie and I being able to get back to Norman and visit all our friends, a much too higher price.
We once had a thing called NFL Europe that ran from 1991 to 2007, but closed due to losing a reported $30 million a year. Average attendance in 2007 was around 20,000, and dominated by German teams. The NBA however has the D- League and NHL has the AHL (withOklahoma’s own Barons). From my point of view, I would much prefer to keep the NFL in America, and have something else like this again. It would be wonderful back in Europe, but for costs and logistics, maybe America (Even though I don’t think this would work due to the expense goes up ten fold for a Football team, and the country is saturated with College and high school Football). Every year hundreds and thousands of Football players graduate and never play the sport again (Unless they come over to Europe to play) who could go to this, and like several from NFL Europe, got their break and played in the NFL.
Now with the expansion of the International Game and selling out year on year, would NFL Europe work better his time and be profitable, or at least break even? This, I do not know. But if the aim of these games here are to just make money, it will never happen. If it is to grow the sport and spread it throughout the World, the feeder league works well.
The other reason for not wanting a franchise here is the feeling of entitlement that has come out in many UK fans. Many UK fans are already boycotting the games as it’s not “their” team playing and they have no interest in others. The Patriots may win the Super Bowl this year, and fans are still complaining the match-up is terrible. They also feel like they should have marquee matchups like Pittsburgh/Baltimore or Green Bay/Chicago, which should never be taken away from America and those fans that grow up on it. It would be like moving the RRS to London, it would not be advised. I guess you cannot please everyone, but after 5 years people feel like we should have it all, it’s too much! There is also that notion that many UK fans have supported teams for 20-30 years and would never swap to a new team, just because it’s in London, and rightly so. Sport brings out the best and worst in us all, and supporting a team and being emerged into that culture is something I would not swap.
I love the NFL coming here every year, I am grateful for it as me and my family all go down every year. I just don’t think we quite deserve a permanent franchise just yet. Maybe one year though, but I would like to raise the standard of the game here first before we have an NFL franchise!
Tom Donlan
January 25, 2012
So true, every single word. Leave the NFL to America, I’m grateful we get the one game and that’s all I want it to be.
They talk about getting more over here but that’ll cause even more issues, not everyone will go to both and some will choose to go to one and not the other.
Personally I see it best as one game and that is it.
A franchise over here. Never. Ever. Going. To. Happen.
Sooner people realise this, the less we’ll have to talk about it every time the IS game is announced and then in the build up to said game.