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Consecutive Games Next Step For NFL In London With Potential Expansion Still In Sight

The NFL's movement toward placing a franchise in London, "perhaps by the end of this decade, continues to gain momentum within the league office and is championed by many of the game's most influential owners," according to Jason La Canfora of CBSSPORTS.com. NFL Exec VP/Int'l Mark Waller said that the next step in the eventual placement of a franchise in England is to "evaluate how London responds to hosting games on consecutive weeks." He added that the goal as soon as next year will be to see how Wembley Stadium's infrastructure "could handle games on consecutive weekends and possibly even three in a row at some point." La Canfora reported should an NFL team eventually move to London, the schedule "would likely feature clusters of home games (homes stands of 2-4 four weeks) and then a group of 2-3 road games in a row" in the U.S. The experiment with consecutive Int'l Series games "would mimic that process and also provide a more accurate gauge on fan interest and ticket sales if the games were all occurring in a short period of time, rather than giving UK fans a chance to cherry pick a game to attend over a period of three months." The NFL is "already working with British officials about trying to schedule next year's games, which is complicated by the fact that Wembley is hosting contests that conflict with the NFL season" as part of the '15 Rugby World Cup. Waller said that the league has "built up a very strong relationship with the management of Wembley as well as its field and grounds crews, reaching a point where this kind of experiment seems realistic." NFL owners "have continued to study the feasibility of the league possibly purchasing land and building its own stadium in London as well, a project that Waller said is ongoing, but very complicated, and ultimately moving ahead with Wembley as the full-time home of an NFL franchise -- at least for the short term -- may end up making the most sense" (CBSSPORTS.com, 9/28).

SOONER THAN LATER: NFL.com's Albert Breer reported if things "go according to Waller's forecast, the London (fill-in-the-blanks) will be (likely) kicking off in Wembley Stadium" in '22. The next CBA "will be in place" at the outset of that season, and the television contracts "will be expiring (providing opportunity)." Waller said that since the start, he and the league "have subtly been testing London -- and the competing teams -- in different ways, with an eye on putting a franchise there full-time." Waller: "It's not about the number anymore. ... We're at a place now where if we continue to do the job with the fans, the fan base will grow, and we'll be able to have a team (in London). The questions now are logistical." Travel, and the effect that a (minimum) five-hour time difference has on teams, "is front-and-center" in terms of logistics. Not far behind is "how the stadium -- and, again, it's likely it'd be Wembley for an NFL team -- works as an American football facility." Breer reported Waller hopes London is "just a jumping-off point for the league's pursuit of international growth." He said that the hope is to eventually "use the London template elsewhere in Europe or in Latin America." Germany "would be a natural next step." Waller specifically mentioned that Brazil is "another place to look." The possibility of "doing more to partner with" the EPL in the more immediate future is there, "given mutual goals that exist, and the presence of cross-platform owners Stan Kroenke (Rams/Arsenal), Joel Glazer (Buccaneers/Manchester United) and Shad Khan (Jaguars/Fulham)" (NFL.com, 9/26).

READY OR NOT? In London, Sean Ingle wrote with rumors suggesting there "could be five games in Britain soon," a permanent NFL team in London "no longer seems preposterous." However, it still "feels deeply premature." Even the NFL "didn’t expect the International Series in London to be this successful, or to sharply accelerate in popularity" from a solitary mid-season visit between '07 and '12 to three games this season. But the crowds "continue to grow" despite matchups like Dolphins-Raiders yesterday not being "the American football equivalent of Chelsea v Manchester City." Ingle: "Can you imagine any other sport -- apart from British-bred football -- filling Wembley three times in short succession with middle or lower-tier sides?" A London-based NFL team "could play a block of two or three matches at home, then base themselves in the US for a similar chunk of time." But "would a player want to spend weeks away from his family -- rather than the odd night or two?" For a London team to have a greater chance of success, it "might require a larger salary cap, which would not be universally popular among the other 31 NFL owners." The alternative, which is small crowds at Wembley, would be "even more damaging to the game’s expansion" (THEGUARDIAN.com, 9/28).

NO PLACE LIKE HOME: THE MMQB's Jenny Vrentas writes team owners and execs "know how committed the NFL is to building its presence internationally, and that they’ll play a central role in where it goes from here." The league’s "current resolution to play regular-season games in the U.K., as voted on by the owners," runs through the '16 season, and Waller "hopes to have a new resolution in place before that one expires." The NFL’s int'l committee "discussed plans" for '15 about two weeks ago. The Jaguars, "who made a four-year commitment to the international series, will be one of the 'home' teams in London each season" through '16. Cardinals President Michael Bidwill told a panel of fans his team "would love to play another game [in London] -- as the visiting team." Vrentas: "That’s the challenge for the NFL, finding more volunteers each year to give up a home game" (MMQB.SI.com, 9/29). NBC’s Tony Dungy said when he was coaching the Colts, they would get a call every year "from the league office" about playing in England. Dungy: "Bill Polian would come into my office and say, ‘Do we want to give up a home game to go play in London?’ I'd say, ‘Are you nuts?’ That was the end of the conversation” (“Football Night In America,” NBC, 9/28).

FAN SUPPORT
: The BBC's Matt Slater noted a quarter of a million tickets "have been sold for this year's games, with more than 33,000 people buying a mini-season ticket for all three." Nine out of 10 tickets "have been bought by people who live within three hours' travel of London" (BBC.co.uk, 9/27). NFL.com's Henry Hodgson noted thousands of fans Saturday attended the NFL's fan rally at Regent Street, which was "closed off for the event." The "main draw for the fans was the NFL stage, which featured interviews" with a handful of Pro Football HOFers, including Rod Woodson, Bob Griese, Fred Biletnikoff and Dan Marino, as well as several current Dolphins and Raiders players (NFL.com, 9/27). But in S.F., Vic Tafur noted in the week leading up to the game, there had been "no talk about Sunday’s Raiders-Dolphins game in London, not a word in the handful of local newspapers and absolutely no buzz." That changed when "hundreds of thousands hit the streets for the NFL Fan Rally on Regent Street." Norway resident Raymond Olsen, who traveled to London for the game, said, "It’s like Roger Goodell beamed these people in. I don’t know where they all came from all of a sudden" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 9/28). In Ft. Lauderdale, Dave Hyde cites several people he spoke with in London as saying that they "don't think the NFL is more than a big-event idea." But the NFL "wants it to work" for a permanent franchise (South Florida SUN-SENTINEL, 9/29).

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