eball Posted January 22, 2019 Posted January 22, 2019 41 minutes ago, Mountain Man said: The commonly held view in the UK is actually it will be the Chargers not the Jags who move to London. It solves both the NFL's aspiration for a London team, whilst also solving the issue of the Chargers lacking support in LA. Interesting, I had not heard that. Seems like the Jacksonville owner has invested a lot in the London market.
Mountain Man Posted January 22, 2019 Posted January 22, 2019 (edited) 26 minutes ago, eball said: Interesting, I had not heard that. Seems like the Jacksonville owner has invested a lot in the London market. He has, and he hasn't. They've spent a lot of time, and there is a lot of social media stuff / events etc. But in terms of actual money, probably not that much, and little physical infrastructure and stuff. They could shut it all down tomorrow at little cost you suspect. Furthermore the Jags support seems to have peaked in London. They went from being in the bottom 25% in terms of supported teams in London, now they are in the 2nd 25% and if anything, last year and this year their support had fallen at Wembley. A lot of UK fans are sick of the endless Jags media attention in the UK Edited January 22, 2019 by Mountain Man
Doc Brown Posted January 22, 2019 Posted January 22, 2019 3 hours ago, 416BillsFan said: My bad, meant to write the rule was changed to teams who made the playoffs in the past 2 years aren't forced to participate. I did not know that. I thought it was just one year. Sweet.
416BillsFan Posted January 22, 2019 Posted January 22, 2019 1 hour ago, Mountain Man said: You're about 7 years too late. They have been franchise testing year on year. For example, there is no longer a major event on Saturday, teams coming over to London and not having bye weeks after, different stadiums to Wembley, games on back to back weekends (and in the case of last year 3 back to back weekends), no pre game entertainment. They have been normalising the London game experience for a number of years. Far from being the 1st step, we are a long way down the road. I don't think most people in the US realise how far down the road the NFL has gone to a London franchise The commonly held view in the UK is actually it will be the Chargers not the Jags who move to London. It solves both the NFL's aspiration for a London team, whilst also solving the issue of the Chargers lacking support in LA. Anyone else get the sinking feeling in their stomachs that the Chargers move to London the season after Brady retires and we are realigned out of the division?
Mountain Man Posted January 22, 2019 Posted January 22, 2019 (edited) 8 minutes ago, 416BillsFan said: Anyone else get the sinking feeling in their stomachs that the Chargers move to London the season after Brady retires and we are realigned out of the division? I don't see them touching the East divisions. They are too well established. The AFC South makes sense, and push the Texans into the AFC West. Edited January 22, 2019 by Mountain Man
416BillsFan Posted January 22, 2019 Posted January 22, 2019 2 minutes ago, Mountain Man said: I don't see them touching the East divisions. They are too well established. The AFC South makes sense, and push the Texans into the AFC West. Interesting - in the AFC I see the North as the only division approaching untouchable. Moving the Texans to the West makes sense, but with the Dolphins moving to the South, & London Chargers to the East.
Mountain Man Posted January 22, 2019 Posted January 22, 2019 13 minutes ago, 416BillsFan said: Interesting - in the AFC I see the North as the only division approaching untouchable. Moving the Texans to the West makes sense, but with the Dolphins moving to the South, & London Chargers to the East. That's probably the logical route if they want them in the East. If it were the Jags, I suspect they would just do a simple swap 1
bladiebla Posted January 23, 2019 Posted January 23, 2019 On 1/21/2019 at 8:01 PM, Mark Vader said: Do you believe that the London Monarchs becoming an NFL franchise is imminent? Be they an expansion team or the Jacksonville Jaguars? Yes, I reckon it's imminent but it may still be 10 years away. The NFL really does seem to be playing the long term game here. There is a very big practical issue at hand too; I can see players having some objections to be forced to move to Europe because they got drafted by the Monarchs for instance... Relocating/renaming an existing franchise seems to be the way the NFL prefers to deal with adding teams, it is where I would put my money if forced to bet. However they may well have some sort of big expansion scheme up their sleeves combined with a division reshuffle.
Mountain Man Posted January 23, 2019 Posted January 23, 2019 (edited) 1 hour ago, bladiebla said: Yes, I reckon it's imminent but it may still be 10 years away. The NFL really does seem to be playing the long term game here. There is a very big practical issue at hand too; I can see players having some objections to be forced to move to Europe because they got drafted by the Monarchs for instance... But equally, it'll be a big attraction to some players. Look at other sports, like soccer and rugby, players relocate all over the world for long periods. The reality is now sport is a global industry, relocation is normal. I'm not saying it won't be an issue for some players, but undoubtedly it's being blown completely out of proportion. It's remarkable how perceptions of London change. A lot of players and journalists who come over comment on how much better it is than they expected. Edited January 23, 2019 by Mountain Man 1
Mark Vader Posted January 23, 2019 Posted January 23, 2019 1 hour ago, bladiebla said: Yes, I reckon it's imminent but it may still be 10 years away. The NFL really does seem to be playing the long term game here. There is a very big practical issue at hand too; I can see players having some objections to be forced to move to Europe because they got drafted by the Monarchs for instance... Relocating/renaming an existing franchise seems to be the way the NFL prefers to deal with adding teams, it is where I would put my money if forced to bet. However they may well have some sort of big expansion scheme up their sleeves combined with a division reshuffle. I definitely see the long term approach the NFL is taking with this and taking a step back by coming at this slowly. Goodell made a big mistake by throwing the idea of having the Super Bowl in London. Way too early for that to happen. Thank you for pointing out that the attention these games bring to not only the people in England, but from other countries as well. I'm fully aware of how popular American Football is in Germany. We all remember how many German teams were in NFL Europe. I could see a team eventually moving to London, though I agree with you that it may not happen for awhile. The idea of another big expansion from the NFL makes me cringe. The talent level in the league is depleted enough as is. Another thing to keep an eye on is the amount of European football players that are getting recruited by Power 5 college football teams. Here is an article about that....https://247sports.com/Article/Power-5-programs-looking-to-Europe-in-college-football-recruiting-122518257/ With so many players from other countries getting a real shot at playing in the USA, it seems as if this is the future for football. From the article the popularity and talent level is growing more so, and it will only get bigger. 1
bladiebla Posted January 24, 2019 Posted January 24, 2019 20 hours ago, Mark Vader said: Another thing to keep an eye on is the amount of European football players that are getting recruited by Power 5 college football teams. Here is an article about that....https://247sports.com/Article/Power-5-programs-looking-to-Europe-in-college-football-recruiting-122518257/ With so many players from other countries getting a real shot at playing in the USA, it seems as if this is the future for football. From the article the popularity and talent level is growing more so, and it will only get bigger. Nice article. The amount of Swedish and German players makes sense as those countries also have the strongest amateur competitions in Europe. It surprises me to see the French absent from that list as they have been dominating the European fields for over a decade now. Might be a language thing; Omelette du Fromage! 1
PetermansRedemption Posted January 24, 2019 Posted January 24, 2019 On 1/22/2019 at 11:31 AM, Joe in Winslow said: Excellent point, my friend. And as an east coaster, I love the idea of breakfast football. Those darned west-coasters have enjoyed this for years. I’ll third this sentiment. I love the London Games and wish there was one on every Sunday of the regular season. Can’t beat a Sunday that goes 9AM London Game, 11:30-ish buffalo kick off live, 12-1 nfl today, 1-4 Bills, 4-8 red zone, 8-11 Sunday night game.
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