NFL expected to push for 4 team Euro Division?

[Flamma]

Some thoughts.

The travel is not an issue - a handful of long trips per year. Other sports travel more e.g. various European club soccer competitions have teams in western Europe playing teams in central Asia. South African rugby teams now play in European leagues.

Taxes are not an issue. Many European countries have special laws where athletes pay zero tax!

The demand is there. A friend of mine was trying to buy tickets for a London game last week - there were 500k people ahead of him.in the ticketmaster Q. Tickets for the Dublin game going on sale in a few days - expected to sell all 80k tickets instantly.

Expect the NFL to balance the Conferences with a central/ south American division in the other conference to the European one.

Besides Mexico, what other countries would support an NFL team? Brazil? Maybe Argentina.

 

[csirl]

Brazil.could easily support 2 teams - Rio & Sao Paulo. Huge population, modern stadiums and a big growth area for the sport - Brazil has its own domestic pro league with quite a good standard of football.

Mexico could also support 2 x teams. Argentina would also be a candidate - the sport is starting to take off there.

 

[KingCorcoran]

Besides Mexico, what other countries would support an NFL team? Brazil? Maybe Argentina.

Professional wrestling is a profitable entertainment venture in Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Spain. Japan, as well. Slightly different style, but a similar show. Not Olympic style wrestling. The WWE has had success promoting themselves in England and Germany.

If there are people in those nations with income to spend on that kind of entertainment do you think the NFL couldn’t capture some of it? NFL teams would play about a third the number of games their soccer teams do. It would be a spectacle. NFL in the US competes with countless college games and the loyalty to those teams. In Europe the NFL would be the only American football to see. (there are low level leagues in some countries). And Europeans do watch TV. A bonafide effort to establish actual NFL in Europe is not an if, but a when.

The other obvious country is Canada. While they protect their CFL by prohibiting NFL entry, many of those franchises struggle financially. Toronto averages 15,000 fans per home game. Vancouver 26,000. Montreal 21,000. The NFL is already popular in Canada. Some wealthy, enterprising, and politically dialed in Canadians will get it done at some point.

 

[Flamma]

Professional wrestling is a profitable entertainment venture in Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Spain. Japan, as well. Slightly different style, but a similar show. Not Olympic style wrestling. The WWE has had success promoting themselves in England and Germany.

If there are people in those nations with income to spend on that kind of entertainment do you think the NFL couldn’t capture some of it? NFL teams would play about a third the number of games their soccer teams do. It would be a spectacle. NFL in the US competes with countless college games and the loyalty to those teams. In Europe the NFL would be the only American football to see. (there are low level leagues in some countries). And Europeans do watch TV. A bonafide effort to establish actual NFL in Europe is not an if, but a when.

The other obvious country is Canada. While they protect their CFL by prohibiting NFL entry, many of those franchises struggle financially. Toronto averages 15,000 fans per home game. Vancouver 26,000. Montreal 21,000. The NFL is already popular in Canada. Some wealthy, enterprising, and politically dialed in Canadians will get it done at some point.

I absolutely believe the NFL will go to Europe if they think it will make them more money. Jet lag isn't going to stop them. They won't care. But I can see teams having to pay much more in free agency to players that don't want to move to Europe.