NFL Rumors: Cincinnati Bengals may play in London twice over next five seasons
By Josh Hill
It’s o secret that the NFL is trying to make itself even more global than it already is, but unlike the NBA and NHL — two vastly inferior leagues — the NFL doesn’t have a strong foothold in Europe and that’s something it’s be rapidly changing. The International Series in London has seen the NFL take teams to Wembley Stadium since 2007 and that first trip has grown into possible international expansion talk.
But before we get there, all of the teams in the NFL need to have played overseas first and one of the handful of teams to have not yet been given game in London are the Cincinnati Bengals. As Coley Harvey from ESPN.com pointed out, an agreement in the Bengals new stadium deal with Hamilton County allows for as many as two international home games to be played over the next five years.
"It’s a detail from Thursday’s deal that could be easy to overlook because it’s the one part of the deal that doesn’t immediately impact the Bengals at home, but the county commission agreed to allow the team to play two international “home” games within a five-year stretch."
One of the downsides to playing in London is you may end up losing a home game because of it. That, of course, is countered by the international exposure which could be more valuable than one lost home game in the long run.
Either way, it appears that the Bengals have moved a step closer to crossing their names off the list of teams who haven’t yet played in London.