Fansided

NFL plans UK based franchise in ‘six years’

By Andrew Dowdeswell

Oct 4, 2015; London, United Kingdom; General view of the British and United States flags on the field during the playing of the national anthem before Game 12 of the NFL International Series between the New York Jets against the Miami Dolphins at Wembley Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 4, 2015; London, United Kingdom; General view of the British and United States flags on the field during the playing of the national anthem before Game 12 of the NFL International Series between the New York Jets against the Miami Dolphins at Wembley Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /
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The NFL has plans for a permanent UK based franchise within the next six years.

In England, the sport that we have all grown love known as American football will soon become more commonplace. American football is set to global.

There have been musings about an expansion franchise in the UK for many years. With the success of the annual London-based games, the sport has grown exponentially in England, and now some in the NFL hierarchy believe that there is a big enough fan base to support a permanent team.

Speaking to BBC Sport, NFL’s executive vice chairman international Paul Weller stated:

"“The fan base is big enough and passionate enough that it can support a franchise. “We are in a unique position as a sport because of the way our season is structured – we only play one game a week. It’s not something other American sports could do.”"

The possibilty of a foreign franchise has been rumored for many years. However, there have many obstacles for such a move. For one, would you expand the league to 33 teams or move one of the existing organizations? Either choice poses significant issues that are very difficult to solve. Furthermore, if a team was to be based in England, would they be getting an unfair home advantage due to the distance traveled. And the most important question: Is there a viable market across the pond?

All these things have been a thorn in the side of many advocating for such an expansion by the NFL. Whatever the case, it looks as though this is something that is set to happen, and it will be intriguing to see the road to expansion.

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