BengalszoneBilly Posted January 18, 2007 Report Share Posted January 18, 2007 Actually I'm surprised it took this long to happen, especially with Japan and Mexico getting games already!London calling: NFL to hold regular-season game in England By PAUL LOGOTHETIS, Associated Press WriterJanuary 16, 2007LONDON (AP) -- London will hold the NFL's first regular-season game outside North America this year, the start of a campaign to take American football to a global audience. "There's great history of NFL football in London, and British fans have been great fans of football over the years," NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said Tuesday. "We're confident that this game is going be a great success in London and will be a great foundation to play more games there going forward." The opponents have yet to be announced, but the Miami Dolphins and New York Giants are believed to be front-runners for the game. The Dolphins, but not the Giants, are one of six NFL teams the league identified as potential home teams; they would give up a home game in Miami to host the contest in London. "They are two of the teams that have expressed an interest and we'll narrow it down to which two teams will generate the most enthusiasm for the fans in London and the broader U.K.," Goodell said. The most likely venue is the new 90,000-seat Wembley Stadium, which will open this spring after years of delays. The other candidate is 82,000-seat Twickenham, home of English rugby. "We're looking at both venues in terms of their readiness," said Marc Waller, vice president of NFL International. "It's important that we understand terms of readiness of both stadiums and then a financial bidding process will also ensue." The game will be held between late September and mid-October. Goodell will announce the teams, venue and date before the Feb. 4 Super Bowl in Miami. NFL owners voted in October to play up to two games outside the United States every season for the next five years. The London game will be the only overseas contest in 2007. Germany, Canada and Mexico have been identified as the other top markets for NFL games outside the United States. "We eliminated Toronto after agreeing with the Canadian Football League that we wouldn't go there because it was already hosting the Grey Cup," Goodell said. "Mexico was discussed, as well as Duesseldorf and Hamburg." The NFL staged its first regular-season game outside the United States in 2005. The Arizona Cardinals played the San Francisco 49ers before a crowd of 103,467 in Mexico City. London hosted several NFL American Bowl preseason games in the 1980s and 1990s. The city also had the London Monarchs in the World League of American Football-- now NFL Europe -- but the team folded. Goodell said fans have reacted positively to the league's overseas plan, even though it means some teams will lose a scheduled home game. "There are fans here that we think will like the idea and respond to it because it puts your city on a global stage and the city will be showed as a world class city itself," he said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwalling Posted January 18, 2007 Report Share Posted January 18, 2007 If only the Bengals can go! I'd definitely try to make the trip and maybe we'd be first team to have someone arrested in England! (quite possibly Bres for imitating a defensive coordinator) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC_Bengals_Fan Posted January 18, 2007 Report Share Posted January 18, 2007 If only the Bengals can go! I'd definitely try to make the trip and maybe we'd be first team to have someone arrested in England! (quite possibly Bres for imitating a defensive coordinator)Ouch, brutal! Poor Bres. Sometimes I think he's the Geico caveman. Partly because of that Neanderthal brow and partly his constantly confused look. It just seems that the NFL moves a little too fast for him. Maybe he can come up with some schemes to really confuse some PeeWee league QBs when his grandkids start playing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Defender Posted January 18, 2007 Report Share Posted January 18, 2007 This is going to become a grease fire. Brits in general have pretty much the same attitude towards American football as Americans have towards soccer (at least that seemed to be the popular opinion when I lived there several years ago; I doubt it's changed). They don't care for it and they think it's inferrior to their own version of football. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonahdsage Posted January 18, 2007 Report Share Posted January 18, 2007 if i'm a season ticket holder i don't want to lose one of my h ome games to LONDON so that the owners can make more bling bling. home games should be at home, in front of your fans, not an overseas marketing ploy. why would a team be excited about giving up a home game? why would fans be excited about getting to see their team play one less time? i don't get it. think there would be a big crowd if arsenal decided to come over and play a few games? : Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spor_tees Posted January 18, 2007 Report Share Posted January 18, 2007 It would be ok for season ticket holders if they got a ticket to the game in London and the team paid for an airplane ticket. Bengal's fans don't have to worry because the game for us would be an away game and not a home game. The only thing that sucks is the effect it would have on what times the game is televised and the affect it would have on the players and their schedules for practicing and days between games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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