Expansion talks in the NFL are always on the table in the league’s front offices. Whether it is the league and owners discussing expanding the playoffs or adding more teams, the NFL is always thinking bigger than before.
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One of the echoing sentiments across the NFL is that London should have an NFL franchise. Falcons owner Arthur Blank mentioned over a month ago that the international expansion into London is just the beginning, and the city deserves at least one team.
Just yesterday, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft stated that the NFL “should work very hard” to start a London franchise before the decade ends.
With speculation and talks of an expansion team in London, the NFL had to come out with some sort of statement on the situation. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell recently appeared on the NFL Network and discussed the league’s success and growing fanbase in London (Courtesy of Pro Football Talk):
"We couldn’t be happier with what we’re seeing. We actually couldn’t be more surprised by the tremendous demand for NFL football in London, in the UK in general, and frankly in Europe. So it’s not something that I think is 15 or 20 years away. It could be five or 10 years away."
The NFL’s international expansion is somewhat new. Although the NFL began playing preseason games across the pond in 1986, fans in London clamored to see the meaningful games. In 2007, the NFL answered the call by adding regular season games in London and have been slowly building from there.
"The fans want to see more NFL football, and they want to see the real thing. They don’t want to see the ‘friendlies’ as they call them over there, which is preseason games. So we changed our strategy eight years ago and said, ‘Let’s play regular season games.’ And our clubs have responded very favorably. They’ve enjoyed the experience. So we’re anxious to do more of it. I see us continuing to play more games there, to focus on our television coverage there and expanding that, our other business efforts including licensing and sponsorship."
It seems that within a few years the NFL could potentially have a new team in London. Although the idea is exciting in spirit, there are a ton of questions left to be answered.