NFL: London Calling?

For the past five years, the NFL has brought its brand of football to the shores of England in the month of October. These games have witnessed sell-outs, aside from the lockout-affected 2011 affair, which still pulled in c.60,000 people for the Bucs and Bears. Not that it helped either side in the second half of the season!

This has introduced a regular NFL circus to the British media, bringing an increase in volume and clamour each year. We (and by "we", I mean NFL fans) are exposed to Commissioner Roger Goodall discussing whether the UK could support a franchise. Various factors are considered: the distance between the US and UK, time difference, sell outs at Wembley and the fact that American Football is "the fastest growing sport in the UK". This all paints a relative persuasive picture for a franchise located in Europe.

However, would it actually work? There are a limited number of teams which would consider moving. Let's be frank - the franchise system has never been afraid of moving teams across a city, state, or timezone! Before we get into that argument, many English teams have moved - Manchester United (not actually in Manchester), Milton Keynes Dons and Arsenal, to name but three.

Each NFL team currently plays 16 games per season, which would mean 8 home games in the UK. It would make sense to play the games at the same time as the East Coast teams, giving a 5pm kick-off (2pm PST). Any earlier, and this wouldn't work for the viewing public in the US who the NFL would be crazy to alienate.

Where would the games be played? Early September through to November is a key team for Wembley to maximise revenue for concerts and England football games. Wembley could easily secure eight dates, but it could be difficult to ensure that these are synchronised with the FIFA calendar. Mind you, with the amount of debt still weighing heavily on the developers of the stadium, the opportunity to put people in the ground would clearly negate the inevitable 'poor quality grass' debate the Association Football media would love to debate.

However, I'm not convinced that a regular season would encourage sufficient people to watch to justify the use of Wembley. The Office for National Statistics, in 2009, estimated that there were 189,000 people born in the US who were currently living in the UK. Many teams who have come over to the UK include the stronger sides in the 1980s and 1990s (49ers, Dolphins, Broncos). Would a team be able to generate a regular support from day one?

Without stating the obvious, the city best placed to hold a franchise would be London. But where? Which stadium would be free during September through to (potentially) late January, on a combination of Thursday, Sunday and Monday evenings? Immediately, it wouldn't work for a Premier League football ground due to the television schedules holding sway at the Emirates, Stamford Bridge and White Hart Lane. I'm not sure a smaller stadium would make sense, unless a rotation system was in place, and this wouldn't exactly encourage regular fans.

Although the Bucs practised at Lord's, that would never be allowed to happen. Twickenham's key period is November during the Autumn internationals, and that has the same issues as Wembley (as well as appalling transport links for a Sunday evening).

What about the Olympic Stadium?  Just one side potentially considering playing there, and without intending on disrespecting West Ham, regular European football is unlikely. The ground would hold sufficient people, and has decent transport links. I will keep that at "decent" until August 2012 has passed.

So, here is how it will work:

• Continue playing a regular season game at Wembley each year, potentially increasing to two games by 2014. This should be at Wembley.
• Concentrate on bringing over sides who don't sell out their home stadia, with the Bengals or the Bucs being the favourites. These are the most likely to make a move. See ESPN's Attendance Summary, or the Bengals 101 Website.
• Continue working at grass-roots level with Universities and London clubs, as there is a massively-expanding popularity with younger fans.
• Use the popularity of relatively "famous" fans. This might be the first time I advocate Vernon Kay being used more on television, but surely a magazine-style show on Sky Sports would be popular? Especially if the 'Polocrosse World Cup' can make it onto television!
• Bring some of the NFL articles and analysis over. By this I mean the library of books, and quality productions from the NFL team. Anything to accompany the excellent 'America's Team' series on Sky would be appreciated.

I'm here for the phone call, Roger Goodall, if you need some advice!

cp