NFL Explores Having Teams Play Outside U.S. Yearly (Update1)
By Aaron Kuriloff
<!-- WARNING: #foreach: $wnstory.ATTS: null at /bb/data/web/templates/webmacro_en/20601079.wm:262.19 -->July 12 (Bloomberg) -- Every National Football League team would play one game outside the U.S. each season within five years under a plan the NFL is exploring, said Mark Waller, who leads the league's international effort.
Waller, senior vice president of sales and marketing, also said in an interview that he hopes the league would have teams based in London, Mexico and Canada within 10 years.
The NFL, which shut down its six-team European developmental league in June, is shifting its strategy for overseas growth by bringing audiences regular-season games. Part of that might include adding a game to the schedule and playing it outside the U.S., he said.
``You'd play eight at home, eight away, and one game internationally,'' he said. ``It would be an incredibly powerful way to introduce fans to multiple teams.''
The league's 32-team owners would have to approve such a plan.
The Miami Dolphins and New York Giants will play at London's Wembley Stadium after owners voted to hold one regular- season game outside the U.S. this year and as many as two every year from 2008 to 2011. Commissioner Roger Goodell said at the time the league intended to focus on Mexico, Canada and Europe.
The first 40,000 tickets available for the Wembley game sold in 90 minutes, the league said.
In April, Goodell said that the NFL was considering someday adding a 17th regular-season game to accommodate more international play. He didn't specify any time frame or how many teams would be involved each year.
Waller said that he hopes the league would have teams based outside the U.S. by 2017.
``Ten years from now, I hope we will have a team in London, I hope we'll have a team in Mexico, I hope we'll have one in Toronto, playing within the NFL,'' Waller said.
Super Bowl
The league also must someday play its Super Bowl title game outside the U.S. to be serious about expanding globally, Waller said.
``You have to take the crown jewels and share them around,'' he said. ``I'm sure that will be hotly debated and a number of owners have already pointed out they'd like to see it in their own city before it went somewhere else. But at the end of the day, if you want a global audience, you can't keep everything.''
The league has played one international regular-season game: In 2005, the Arizona Cardinals beat the San Francisco 49ers 31-14 in Mexico City. That game drew a crowd of 103,467 to Azteca Stadium, the biggest crowd to attend a regular-season matchup.
The league has played about 40 preseason games outside the U.S. since 1986. The league also canceled a preseason game between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks scheduled for August in Beijing, saying it needed to focus its efforts on the approaching game in London.
To contact the reporter on this story: Aaron Kuriloff in New York at akuriloff@bloomberg.net .
Last Updated: July 12, 2007 18:14 EDT
By Aaron Kuriloff
<!-- WARNING: #foreach: $wnstory.ATTS: null at /bb/data/web/templates/webmacro_en/20601079.wm:262.19 -->July 12 (Bloomberg) -- Every National Football League team would play one game outside the U.S. each season within five years under a plan the NFL is exploring, said Mark Waller, who leads the league's international effort.
Waller, senior vice president of sales and marketing, also said in an interview that he hopes the league would have teams based in London, Mexico and Canada within 10 years.
The NFL, which shut down its six-team European developmental league in June, is shifting its strategy for overseas growth by bringing audiences regular-season games. Part of that might include adding a game to the schedule and playing it outside the U.S., he said.
``You'd play eight at home, eight away, and one game internationally,'' he said. ``It would be an incredibly powerful way to introduce fans to multiple teams.''
The league's 32-team owners would have to approve such a plan.
The Miami Dolphins and New York Giants will play at London's Wembley Stadium after owners voted to hold one regular- season game outside the U.S. this year and as many as two every year from 2008 to 2011. Commissioner Roger Goodell said at the time the league intended to focus on Mexico, Canada and Europe.
The first 40,000 tickets available for the Wembley game sold in 90 minutes, the league said.
In April, Goodell said that the NFL was considering someday adding a 17th regular-season game to accommodate more international play. He didn't specify any time frame or how many teams would be involved each year.
Waller said that he hopes the league would have teams based outside the U.S. by 2017.
``Ten years from now, I hope we will have a team in London, I hope we'll have a team in Mexico, I hope we'll have one in Toronto, playing within the NFL,'' Waller said.
Super Bowl
The league also must someday play its Super Bowl title game outside the U.S. to be serious about expanding globally, Waller said.
``You have to take the crown jewels and share them around,'' he said. ``I'm sure that will be hotly debated and a number of owners have already pointed out they'd like to see it in their own city before it went somewhere else. But at the end of the day, if you want a global audience, you can't keep everything.''
The league has played one international regular-season game: In 2005, the Arizona Cardinals beat the San Francisco 49ers 31-14 in Mexico City. That game drew a crowd of 103,467 to Azteca Stadium, the biggest crowd to attend a regular-season matchup.
The league has played about 40 preseason games outside the U.S. since 1986. The league also canceled a preseason game between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks scheduled for August in Beijing, saying it needed to focus its efforts on the approaching game in London.
To contact the reporter on this story: Aaron Kuriloff in New York at akuriloff@bloomberg.net .
Last Updated: July 12, 2007 18:14 EDT
