NFL Expansion

[the commander]

The NFL has been turning its sites on Europe in the last few years. It recently shut down NFL Europa, but that leaves me asking one question...do you think they shut it down so they could add some of the European teams to the regular NFL league?

If it does expand into Europe, which cities do you think will get teams? Which American cities do you think are most likely to get an expansion team?

The Commander
DIA

[blckhaze]

Doubt it. simply on Logistics. the constat travel between europe and the states would give east coast teams a large advantage. Think if teams like San fran and seattle had to go to say germany or italy. Then having a home game the week after. not fun at all for the players.

The most logical option is that a pro bowl or a few preseason games, in turn we get a few more soccer games. thats about it.

[PghTGrlLvr]

Ditto that.
I think NFL Europe was more interesting to US fans. American football just isn't an important part of the old country's diet. They'd rather watch the maddeningly fast pace of soccer I guess. ;)

[affidavit]

I think Los Angeles should be the next city to get an NFL team. Then Las Vegas, Louisville, Portland, Albuquerque, and Okalahoma City. Screw the other countries, this is an American sport. No but seriously, they need their own league in Europe.

[the commander]

I think the idea that American Football wasn't popular is a misnomer. If you look at certain teams, like the Frankfurt Galaxy and the Rhein Fire, they were routinely getting 20 - 30k people attending each game. The World Bowl routinely got over 40k attendance. Then when you consider that the 90k seat Wembley Stadium sold out for a regular season game in less than 30 minutes, I think it is feasible for European teams to do well and for the NFL to make money.

I do think the distance is a bit of a problem for the west coast in particular, but the fact that there is a week in between games mitigates that a bit.

I doubt LA will get a team anytime soon. Of the top ten cities by population, San Antonio and Las Angeles are the only two without an NFL franchise. I bet San Antonio gets a team before any other US cities.

[PghTGrlLvr]

Commander,
You are correct that yes NFL Europe did have a decent following (basically in Germany), I used to watch Rhein Fire games on occasion. Also, anytime there is an NFL event in whatever country it is packed to the gills. The Steelers have played overseas and in Mexico I believe. But, 20, 30, or even 40K people is modest in number compared to over here. The Steelers get 10-20 thousand people daily at training camp in Latrobe.

As for more expansion teams here? Don't know. Possible, though I really don't see it anytime soon. LA had The Rams now their in St Louis. Granted, Baltimore lost the Colts back when and Art Model moved the Browns there (The Ravens). I thought when The Raiders went back to Oakland that LA might acquire another franchise but it didn't happen, now I doubt that it will. The league has talked about further expansion but I don't see any action taking place.
Besides, the way the sports media talks, pretty soon we'll only need, The Pats & Colts, and The Cryboys & Giants. They've already crowned them the only important teams you need to watch.

[blckhaze]

i mean its possible money and popularity wise, but not distance wise. Even with a week in between, its still hard to adjust to a 8-10 hour time chance on week then play a game, then get on a plane and readjust another 8-10 hours. add to that the chances of short weeks with monday or thursday night games and you have major player issues. the owner prolly wont have a problem with it, but the players will be highly against it, and even though Gene upshaw is a dick, he'll have almost every player and a few former players screaming at him to block it.
NFL europe should be brought back. it was fairly marketable, and allows more college players to live out their dreams of playing pro ball.

[bob85]

LA first needs to find a stadium to play at
i mean they have had the Raiders, Chargers, and Rams and couldnt hold onto any of them

i wish we could get an NFL team here, but its just not possible
the former Athletic Director for UNM was very anti-pro athletics coming into Albuquerque
the only way we were able to get our AAA baseball team back was if they agreed to let the Lobos play at the Isotopes stadium

I think San Antonio, Las Vegas, or Oklahoma City will be the first to get any pro football team

[the commander]

You would think LA would be a great place for a team considering its size, but I just don't see it happening. I could see OKC getting a team, but not before San Antonio does.

I wish there was more news from the corporate heads about the next expansion, but they have been pretty vague about it.

The Commander
DIA

[blckhaze]

Eh three texas teams maybe to much. las vegas wont get a team for a while especially with all the gambling scandals popping up. OK city is a good spot, especially after they hosted the hornets so well. LA isnt a great lover of football. it wil take a great lookin stadium for it to be a success there again. I tip OK City as they would have a midwestern market on lock, in a very football centric area.

[the commander]

But Texas is HUGE. It's at least 6 hours to go from Dallas or Houston to San Antonio. I used to live in Pittsburgh and there are at least five teams within a 6 hour drive from there. Hell...Cleveland was less than 2 hours away. I'm sure OKC could support a team, but population-wise, San Antonio has the advantage. The greater the population, the more possible income. The NFL would have to get a seriously sweet deal on a stadium before they would go anywhere other than San Antonio.

However...assuming OKC did get a team, what would the name be? The Oklahoma Homesteaders? The Pioneers?

[blckhaze]

hell if i know. but i do thinkOKC having the slight edge in this round because of the support they gave the hornets on short notice and the HUGE colleg football scene, with San an being second. it would just be wierd having three texas pro football teams, three basketball teams, 3-4 Strong college teams, 2 baseball teams, a hockey teams, and two soccer teams (both of which are fighting for staduim space themselves) . OKC just has to many adv IMO long term, but San An is good choice as well.

[the commander]

I see your point. I think it could go either way.

The Commander
DIA

[Red Suede]

I really don't see NFL expansion as a choice in the near future. Right now 32 teams stands to be a pretty good number--an even distribution of divisions with a good amount of rivalry. Perhaps it might be better to consider which teams are destined to move, although that seems unlikely.

Oakland: if LA ever gets a stadium deal, the Raiders need to move back. They have been horrible for the past few years, and putting them back in LA would infuse a better fan base, even though I hear Oakland and LA don't get along well...

[the commander]

The league has talked about expanding pretty openly. The more markets they get into, the more money they make. What I really worry about is a weakening of talent. Those few that stand out now, I wonder if they would stand out as much if they were in a smaller league where overall playing ability was higher. The fewer slots you have open, the greater the competition. With greater competition, the cream of the crop is going to get picked and make the overall level of play higher.

[DJ_Asia]

LA wont get a team unless the Rose Bowl is the stadium....chalk it up to socio economics and logistics....simply put a day @ the game for a family of four is gonna cost you about 500.00 and theres not too many families in LA that can afford that AND desire to travel to S.Central LA to sit in the decrepit Coliseum....its a shithole situated in a shithole.

If the NFL expanded to Europe they would need to place franchise/big name players overseas similar to what the Galaxy did with Beckham.

Logistically the travel could be overcome with creative usage of bye weeks and tuesday and thursday game day scheduling.

[Red Suede]

The league has talked about expanding pretty openly. The more markets they get into, the more money they make. What I really worry about is a weakening of talent. Those few that stand out now, I wonder if they would stand out as much if they were in a smaller league where overall playing ability was higher. The fewer slots you have open, the greater the competition. With greater competition, the cream of the crop is going to get picked and make the overall level of play higher.
Well said. The weakening of talent is why the NHL is so bad nowadays. I would almost argue the same for the NBA, but these are topics for a different sport posting.

And I don't see the NFL in Europe ever being marketable, even with old players moving to Europe. I don't think they would be that excited to lift anchor and go to a new country just to play football.

[Willie Escalade]

Los Angeles won't get a team because we're smart enough not to pay for a stadium rich owners can build themselves.

And yes, there are places in the city where one can be built...including Exposition Park. Keep the peristyle; tear down the rest of the stadium (and the Sports Arena as well). The Rose Bowl wouldn't work because the parking situation sucks. Plus access to the stadium is limited at best. At least the Coliseum has plenty of bus routes, adequate parking downtown, and a new train being built nearby.

The Lakers and Kings got their new arena. The Galaxy got their new stadium (and this is where the football stadium should have been built). The USC basketball team got their new arena (finally!). With the success of USC football over the years, they deserve a new stadium NEAR THE CAMPUS.

The neighborhood really isn't that bad. Hell, USC's been there since the late 1870s...and had plenty of opportunities to move away (like Pepperdine did). What really sucks is the fact USC (LA's pro team) might be playing in said Rose Bowl next year.

I wish O'Malley had built that football stadium up there by Dodger Stadium. Oh, well.

If the Coliseum Commision gave control of the stadium to USC, and they began to turn a profit with luxury suites and such, the NFL would probably be begging to return. But I'm not holding my breath. Twelve years and counting!

[ILuvGurls]

well with expansion you almost need to add 2 teams to make the schedule work else there is one team on bye every week.....this happened from 1999(added cleveland) till 2002(added houston). i remember the players saying they didn't like it. and i remember as a fantasy football player i didn't like it either.:P

think vegas and probably another team from the mid-west, some one said ok. city would be good places.

[Mr_Choc69]

There is not a true market in Europe. Plus teams would complain about the travel delays etc etc. It all would just not work out to be cost effective. They MAY try - but it would most likely fail.