This is just another case of Goodell trying to fix something that's not broken.
American football does not have a global appeal and the NFL is largely responsible for that. Their thing has always been to market the team/league and not the individual.
The average UK citizen probably doesn't give a damn about the average NFL team. They may know of the elite franchises like Dallas, NE, and Pittsburgh; but I doubt they know what an Atlanta Falcon is; and I doubt they could name a single Falcon player.
I look at it like this. The reason the NBA was able to expand globally is because for they longest they've stressed marketing the individual. Plus they were able to put their product on the world stage beginning in the 1992 Olympics.
Unfortunately for Goodell, there is no world stage for his product. He can send a team to London but I seriously doubt league popularity skyrockets across Europe simply because the NFL jettisons some struggling franchise, like the Jaguars, across the pond.
There will be the initial surge and hype, akin to teams that open new stadiums, but once the games start and that new car smell wears off, the fans will lose interest and the franchise will start hemorrhaging money. Then in roughly 6-9 years the team will be relocated back stateside.
IMO, you have to sell the individual when you're breaking into a new market. The NBA sold the best they had to offer; Jordan, Magic, Barkely, etc. To somewhat borrow a phrase from Seinfeld, basically the NFL is trying to market laundry. The only time that works is if an elite franchise is involved and that goes back to the Lakers, Yankees, and Cowboys of the world.
They could round up 22 of us, throw us in some Cowboy gear and sell us to the Brits and they'd lap it up because they're getting to see "The Dallas Cowboys". One of America's premier sports teams.
And I bet the 22 of us dressed in Cowboys gear would outdraw the real San Diego Chargers. The Chargers are a good team. They win 11 or 12 games every year, and have Pro Bowlers up and down the roster. But this is the NFL. And the NFL chose to market the laundry rather than the individual. So the average yahoo from London will be more willing to fork over their hard earned money to come watch me, BrainPaint, DCFanatic, Chocolate Lab, and others, than to watch Rivers, Jackson, Merriman, Castillo, and co.
well said sir. I always wondered too will the NFL help flip the bill for flying a team and their staff to london. Its one thing to fly in the US but to fly your team and staff across the altlantic I couldnt imagine what the cost would be for something like that
