We are now a week away from the kick off of the 2014 NFL Regular Season, a season in which there will be 3 regular season games played under the banner of the International Series at Wembley Stadium, London.
Since this inception of the International Series, each game has been sold out and a fantastic atmosphere was created as fans of every team from all over Britain and indeed mainland Europe have attended these games, turning the weekend into a party. What started with the Miami Dolphins and New York Giants in the falling rain has spread to 3 games now, and Roger Goodell and several key owners such as Robert Kraft of the Patriots have talked about the aim of establishing a NFL London Franchise
As a British NFL fan born in London, this may be surprising, but respectfully I decline the option. Don’t get me wrong, the International Series has been great, and I would love for that to continue, but I respect the rights of the teams’ home city fan base to feel annoyed about losing a “home” game to a different country, several thousand miles and several time zones away.
I am aware that in many ways wanting a continuation of the international series without wanting a home franchise may be difficult to believe or understand. The NFL is a fast growing sport in the United Kingdom, I feel able to comment on this as I have been a fan since the late 80’s when most people over here thought the NFL “girly rugby” and it was difficult enough to find a newsagent that stocked First Down – the weekly NFL paper, let alone find coverage on TV.
These days thanks to Sky TV and NFLUK, you talk about the NFL and there are a lot more fans and the layman will have an idea of what you are talking about. As this fanbase has grown, people have attached themselves to certain teams, the New England franchise in particular proving very popular, but there are fans now of each and every team, and one look at fans in the English and Scottish Premier Leagues will show you that the British sports fan is very passionate and loyal towards their team once that bond is set. Changing your team is just not an option.
The success of the International Series is that it features different teams so each fan base gets at the least the hope of seeing its team live, but they all turn up to honour their team no matter who is actually playing. It is this mix that creates the atmosphere that the teams and coaches who have visited already have so enthused about, comparing it to a playoff-type atmosphere rather than regular season. If a NFL London franchise was to be formed, it would at best be most local fans’ second team, which we would all have a soft spot for in our hearts behind our established first love.
Again look at the experience in the Premier League as a QPR fan; if I am going to watch a game, I am going to want to see QPR. Now I might have a soft spot for Everton and think of them as my second team, and I will be pleased to see them do well, but I am not going to travel up to Liverpool to go and see them regularly. Now a soccer fan might think differently if there were only a few soccer games, and no matter who was playing the chance to see live action will prove very tempting.
We will feel the same way about the NFL. We are already as individuals fans of Patriots, 49ers, Dolphins, Bears, Giants etc…if there was to be a London Monarchs franchise (or whatever name they would come up with), yes we would like them to do well, but between watching them regularly or staying home at watching our own teams, we will first choose our own team. That is, of course, unless they are due to visit London. The NFL may suffer as a result of it’s own media presence success. The British audience via Sky or viewing the NFL’s own Game Pass can watch any game we choose; we are no longer so shielded from media coverage that we would regularly watch London play, just in order to see a game.
We are also very possessive towards our teams over in Britain, a few years ago when Wimbledon FC wanted to move to Milton Keynes there was great outrage from football fans who had never had the slightest interest in Wimbledon up to that point, and talk of the importance of tradition, loyalty, and respect for the fan base. We couldn’t, therefore, in good conscious be happy to take a team from another City, and deprive that City of it’s team. I know it more accepted and happened more in American Sports, but it would not go down well with the average British sense of injustice.
Of course to overcome this, the league could instead expand and create a brand new team instead, causing itself headaches with how it would fit into the divisional structure etc… This works on one level, but traditionally expansion teams struggle for a while, and the fear would then be the product going out on to the field then would not be great for a while and a few losing seasons would be likely. When you’re trying to wrestle a fan base away from existing teams you can not afford to lose regularly, as fans will instead stay home and watch their own favored team.
There are other player personnel issues that would need to be overcome in a NFL London franchise: if the players were here and paid in this country, their wages would be subject to British law and therefore liable for tax and National Insurance under Britian’s regulations, which would cost the average NFL player much more in wage deductions in London than a player with similar experience in say Miami. Thus recruiting players happy to be based in London could also prove problematic.
Apologies if this sounds like a killjoy. I very much would like to have my cake and eat it too, I want to continue to watch the Rams on NFL media whilst having the opportunity to go and watch the occassional game in this country alongside my fellow NFL fan family, but the likelihood of this depends on what is the end goal for the NFL. If it is a London team, then it will quickly be a team for London rather than the wider United Kingdom, or is it just to grow the awareness of popularility of the Sport.
If it is the latter, long may it continue from a selfish viewpoint, after all I do not see a Premier League team happy to play one of its own league home fixtures in America, say Liverpool v Manchester United for example in New York City. The home fanbase would be indignant at losing the home game, but selfishly I am happy for NFL teams to do exactly the same for British benefit. If the goal is a London franchise and it becomes evident that it won’t work then it would be fair for the league to pull out of staging such important regular season games and revert to more exhibition and preseason games, in the manner that Manchester United did in America.
Should there be a NFL London franchise and it proves successful, then it will get more fans attracted to the game and it would establish a stronger fan base for the NFL. But can the league afford to gamble on a London franchise being successful in order to attract and then maintain its growing fan base? Fans who currently see the games as the British games will feel they are now the London games instead, and will not be prepared to travel to London for each home game and pay London prices 8 times a year to see a team which is probably not their first choice struggle to a losing season. Can the NFL want to gamble on that , when it has the Los Angeles question to answer as well?
I am a Brit, I do love the NFL and I want to see the league thrive, and I want to see my team win the Super Bowl, same as every other fan for their own teams. If a London team is established and is successful then I will be pleased to be wrong and I hope the best for them. But when that team is playing the Rams, I want Rams to win. If I have the choice of travelling to London to watch them play or to stay at home and watch the Rams, then once again I am choosing the Rams. There are many others like me who feel the same about their own teams. We would all join together in wishing a London franchise all the best of fortunes, but our own fandom is not in question and not available for trade or in free agency.
If we could instead come together to watch an important, meaningful game as we do now once or twice a year, then I think we are more likely to make the effort and sell out the stadium.
So thank you to the NFL. We have enjoyed the product you gave provided us, we very much hope your continue to provide this on a continuing basis, but please be advised you don’t need an actual London team to maintain our interest.
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