Thoughts on the possibilty of an UK NFL franchise

[R8RMR]

I have been thinking. And whilst I know that may be dangerous, I have nevertheless been poring over a particular topic for a little while. The possibility of an NFL franchise has been the subject of a great deal of speculation recently and though it may be some time before it would come to more than mere conjecture, how will it affect the NFL fans in the UK?

The franchise would almost certainly be given to London and for the majority of us who live some distance away and though the current economic climate will hopefully not be a problem by then, travelling to see more than a couple of games during the regular season would probably not be a viable option.  Would they be able to sell out Wembley, if indeed they would be resident there, for all of the games?

Which brings me to what I was pondering. From where would they draw their support as a totally new team? There are three options that come to mind.

1.   It may attract new fans to the game because of the award of the franchise would involve a great deal of media attention and advertising etc., to bring the punters in to support them.

2.   Current NFL fans who have no real affiliation to any team in particular, or are disheartened, fed up or similarly poorly disposed to their current choice, could be willing to embrace the new team.

3.   Established fans of the NFL teams in the UK may jump ship and choose to support the team because it is based in the UK.

As a long term Raiders fan I know that I personally could never countenance the thought of not being a Raiders fan. But I would probably give tacit support to the “local” team unless they were pitted against the Raiders. Certainly I would attempt to go to some games, but would I go as far as buying their gear to display when I went there? That would be an emphatically NO! So I would therefore go to these games much as I do for the Transatlantic games and wear my Raiders gear. I wonder how that would go down?

So who among us would contemplate swapping our allegiance to the Raiders, for a new team?
Very few if any at all. I would envision this being the same for fans of the other NFL teams.

So where would they get their fan base?
Options 1 and 2 above would seem to be the most likely. 

Who would be willing to fork out a not insubstantial wedge for season tickets?
Not very many I would suspect, based on the fact that the season coincides with the Premier League, SPL and Championship football season. Though tickets to individual games may sell well, would that be enough to satisfy the owner and the NFL?

Who would invest the sort of money needed to buy the franchise in the first place?
There are certainly a number of people in the UK who could possibly afford it. But are they or would they be interested in the NFL or would they just be interested in making money?

I remain undecided about the issue of whether it would really be viable in the long term. I could envision a scenario where, after a few years of not making enough revenue, the owner moves the team to the States where there are cities that have been crying out for a franchise. Or even a situation where someone buys the franchise with the unspoken but explicit intention of moving them from the outset. Too much like conspiracy theory?

Well whatever happens I can’t see them making a decision on this for some time to come. The current set-up is working very well and there are many who will not be in favour of change. So decisions on allegiance etc. will not be required in the short term if at all.

[draft jedi]

The yanks would put the franchise in London, as it is the only city they know. this would then alienate half the population would not afford or want to surport a southern/ london team.

[TIBERIUS]

Let me give you this yanks opinion. The fans don't want to expand past our borders. We don't want a franchise in Euro, Japan or anywhere else. The NFL players and coaches loathe the idea. It's Goodell and his world empire  grandiose idea pushing this. I really feel for you NFL fans over here, that would flat out suck if I had to go through it.

As for your point about it being in London, it wins because of name recognition and potential ability to draw based on population. And I suspect you would embrace that team with your hearts and become as big a fan over time as you are with the Raiders. They will never replace the Raiders, but would someday become just as loved.  I've been a Raider fan since the 60's, and I know that's how i'd feel.

JMHO

Tib's

[BC]

I think that US fans would hate hate hate it for the same reasons they hate ANY long trip their team has to make for a game.  Some fans went nuts over a lousy trip to Mexico! 

Seriously, though.  Imagine the Raiders having to fly from Oakland to London for a game.  Travel is one of the intangibles that can hurt just from the US West Coast to the US East Coast.  People even study who gets hit worst, teams traveling eastward or teams traveling westward.  And fans go bananas if they have too many road games in a row.  And I wonder what kind of havoc that would play for London (just using that city as an example, BTW), who would have to go to hell and back for too many games unless the schedulers gave them all home games or mostly home games and sent the US teams over there, one by one.  For that matter, think of the howling from the teams who had to make the trip while division rivals didn't have to make the trip.

Imagine the difference between the NY Giants flying to London from our east coast vs. the Raiders flying to London from our west coast.  A big difference. 

Time zones, a difference that knocks out the flow of the rythm of the week.

All that said, if there's money to be made, anything can happen.

[Gazzara]

I would piss myself  laughing if the Raiders had to come here for a game.  I bet you would find more Raider fans throwing up their shirts of black and craziness than any London teams attire, lol.

If there was a London team, I wouldn't be supporting them at all.  I am a Raider till I die and the tattoo on me as testament to it

I understand the national sport not being exposed more in this fashion but it always and still does make me laugh when the Superbowl champions are crowned world champions.  Shouldn't it be Superbowl or national champions?  With regards to fans travelling, yes, it would be a problem but I think we could fill Wembley for 8 home games easily.

[TIBERIUS]

Get ready lads, the NFL is but a few short years away.

In order to compete, you Euro teams will need to draft out of the USA college pool. Imaging being a college kid grown up in Compton, being drafted by a Euro team. Culture shock to the MAX. Won't work.

[TIBERIUS]

I would piss myself  laughing if the Raiders had to come here for a game.  I bet you would find more Raider fans throwing up their shirts of black and craziness than any London teams attire, lol.

If there was a London team, I wouldn't be supporting them at all.  I am a Raider till I die and the tattoo on me as testament to it

I understand the national sport not being exposed more in this fashion but it always and still does make me laugh when the Superbowl champions are crowned world champions.  Shouldn't it be Superbowl or national champions?  With regards to fans travelling, yes, it would be a problem but I think we could fill Wembley for 8 home games easily.

I gotta call bullshit on this one.  London will be the 1st NFL team outside the USA. Nationalism will prevail. Imagine the London Fog playing the Broncos. You'll be pulling for the Fog no doubt. Hell, I'm betting you'll have season tickets 1st day of sale. 

[Gazzara]

I'd rather get a blowjob from a rabid midget

[draft jedi]

Nationalisam would mean nothing. Just ask LIverpool, Man City or Bolton Wanderers fan did you want Man united or the spainish team to win the champion league. I personally would prefer a part time finnish snow board team win a trophy than any london team. You think there is a north/south devied only in the states.  There just a big a divied in the england and in the UK.
As for population London is on 1/5 of the countries population we are not all from london. Not everyone indentifies with London. A considerable amount of the population don't like London. The same most of the US don't indentify with New York , LA or DC

[R8RMR]

Nationalisam would mean nothing. Just ask LIverpool, Man City or Bolton Wanderers fan did you want Man united or the spainish team to win the champion league. I personally would prefer a part time finnish snow board team win a trophy than any london team. You think there is a north/south devied only in the states.  There just a big a divied in the england and in the UK.
As for population London is on 1/5 of the countries population we are not all from london. Not everyone indentifies with London. A considerable amount of the population don't like London. The same most of the US don't indentify with New York , LA or DC

Amen!

Anyway, I don't see me being anything but a Raiders fan.

[the watchman]

There's only one team that I care about

[Welsh Raider]

I know its an old topic but as Im new around here I thought Id throw my tuppence in the mixer.

Logistically it'd be a nightmare. No player would want to sign for us during free agency, not unless they had no other choice. If it was to work, they have to have a base in the states for Summer Camps OTA's etc and maybe relocate here during the season.

The team would be like any other expansion team, and suck for years before they had any success. And Im sure they novelty would have worn off before then.

Location wise it would make far more sense to base the team in the midlands, say Birmingham or possible even further north say Manchester or maybe Liverpool or Everton would love to share their "new ground" Im sure they need the extra revenue.

If the Franchise was placed in London they would severely be cutting down on the market. If the Franchise would be "London Somethingorother" then Im not sure the Scots or the Welsh would be too keen(I know I wouldnt). They would have a better chance if it was Liverpoolish based and then everyone could access it within a couple of hours, and maybe call the franchise "Britain something generically British".

I honestly cant see it happening though. I mean how the league work with 33 teams? They would have take a Franchise away from somewhere like Jacksonville, and Im not sure that would go down well.

[R8RMR]

There is obviously a great deal of logistics to be worked out but you make a good point about players perhaps being reluctant to be based over here. I for one would not be visiting London for many of the games, though I would be fighting for tickets for a Raiders visit. The cost of travel etc would be prohibitive. And I'm sure that it would apply to many fans.

A more central location would perhaps make it easier on the fan base but that too would be problematic. The teams that have been to Wembley have all agreed that the pitch is not best suited to the NFL games and any other ground would have similar problems. This would also be made worse by sharing a ground with a "soccer" team. The facilities within the stadia are also not suited for NFL teams. The locker rooms would almost all be too small for the standard NFL teams and their equipment. Even Wembley has difficulty in accomodating the needs.

All we seem to see are problems but the NFL see it as an opportunity and appear to want to go ahead with the project. We will have to wait and see.

[psj3809]

I love the NFL, have been a fan since 1985.

As much as i love it i wouldnt want to see a franchise in the UK i hate to say.  Fans are fickle as anything.  They loved preseason games, then wanted more.  They got NFL Europe, loved that for a bit and then went off it.  The Monarchs were 9-1 in 1991, about 60,000 fans a game, 1992 they were 3-6-1 i think it was, about 35,000 a game.

UK fans are fickle, if they had a great team who were 10-6 and playoff bound i'm sure Wembley would be full, go forward 2 years and the teams 4-12 and struggling then fans will stay away from the bucket load.

Playing games late on a sunday wont be good for many people as trying to get back from Manchester at 10pm would be a nightmare for example.

The Raiders are my 1st choice but i would support a London team number 2 whatever.  I loved watching the Monarchs play for many years, really liked that team and it was exciting watching the games on Sky Sports.  Would be the same for a London franchise.

But i cant see it happening and would be embarassing in 5 years time when they have to move the team to Frankfurt.  If anything i think Frankfurt should get a franchise, those fans there are superb , always turn out for their team no matter what and this was NFL Europe.

But yeah with fickle UK fans the novelty would wear off and people would get fed up and wont bother going to games.  To be fair even though i would follow the London franchise, if its a choice of watching Oakland on Gamepass on a sunday night or travelling 250 miles to wembley to see the London team, nahhh, Raiders on gamepass for me.