A jolly old Super Bowl? NFL considers a Super Bowl in London
Oh dear. This is not going to go over well. A BBC article this morning outlined the very real possibility that a Super Bowl could take place in London sometime over the next five or 10 years. Here's a snippet:
"We've spoken on what it would take to host and for us to bring it over," said events vice-president Frank Supovitz.
"The city has all the facilities needed, and in great quantity."
Supovitz was talking in New York City where the NFL Draft will take place this weekend.
"We have had very substantive conversations with the city of London. We've got to the point of exploring the bid document," he added.
Visit London, the capital's official visitor organisation, confirmed that it was pursuing a long-term ambition to bring the Super Bowl to the city.
"Ever since the NFL began playing games in London we have been in discussions with the NFL about what is involved in staging Super Bowl from the host city perspective," said commercial director David Hornby.
And somewhere, Roger Goodell puts his fist through a wall and screams, "Dang it, guys, that was supposed to be a SECRET."
Why? Because Goodell probably doesn't want to deal with people calling him a pinko commie and questioning his patriotism, particularly on draft weekend. Here's a selection of comments from the folks at ProFootballTalk.com:
"If the Super Bowl is ever played outside this country, i?ll never watch the NFL again." - FireAndyReid21So there's that. There are also other, non-jingoistic concerns expressed, such as the weather in London in February, the further pricing out of normal fans for the NFL's biggest game, whether or not the game could be played in primetime and taking revenue away from an American city and handing it to an English city, especially in this economy (though by the time this would actually take place, our economy will look completely different).
"While we?re at it, how about we move the Washington Monument to someplace in France or Germany?" - Ulysses
"That?s our game?and yeah, I am selfish. Go kick a soccer ball." - killwithme
"Maybe the following November they can elect our next president for us too." - I Aint No Tatum Bell
"I will boycot the NFL if they do something this stupid. I can?t believe we even waste one game out there. Keep it where it belongs. What a freakin joke. USA!! USA!! USA!! USA!! USA!!" - stallan54
Personally, I don't see any point in railing against it, because business is going to do what business is going to do: chase the money. They want to expand the game, they want to expand the number of people willing to give them cash, and if they think they can do that by putting the Super Bowl in London, then that's exactly what they'll do.
And people might complain, but the NFL knows they have people so hooked that no one's really going to stop watching. You're an addict. They know it. You know it. They could play the game in Korea and let Kim Jong-il serve as the back judge, and you're still going to watch. This is the power of the NFL.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/A-jolly-old-Super-Bowl-NFL-considers-a-Super-Bo?urn=nfl,158834
