yeah same here but like you said,if they decide money is where it is at for the NFL over SD,then we both know thats where they will be.
Jaguars owner Shad Khan withdraws bid to buy Wembley Stadium
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yeah same here but like you said,if they decide money is where it is at for the NFL over SD,then we both know thats where they will be.
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https://www.si.com/nfl/2018/10/14/w...rs-dalvin-cook-cowboys-offense-jameis-winston
London Is Just About Ready for an NFL Team
By ALBERT BREER
The NFL doesn’t have a team in London yet. But the league’s executive vice president of international, Mark Waller, believes the UK is ready for one now. Today’s Seahawks-Raiders game kicks off a run of three straight NFL Sundays at Wembley Stadium, and the 12th season of the league’s International Series.
As Waller sees it, the growth is to the point where the pieces for a London team are in place. “With the one proviso that we’ve always referenced, which is that the travel component week-in, week-out is not tested,” Waller said from London, on Monday. “We feel the fan demand is here, we feel the stadium infrastructure and optionality is here, we feel the government support is here. We feel the logistics and training side of it are here. We feel very good. Like I’ve always said, the one we can never test for is how does it work week-in and week-out.”
That logistical part of it is a big one, of course. But checking off the rest of the boxes has been no small feat—the idea in the first place was to get a team to London 15 years after launching the project. And while there are four years left on that clock, and it’ll take a team moving or expansion (the former would be more likely than the latter) for the league to actually pull it off, Waller feels good about where the NFL is over there.
“It feels great, and that’s why it’s taken 12 years, and that’s why we’ve always stayed focused on playing the games in London, because you need the games to grow the awareness, and grow the fan base,” Waller says. “And we didn’t move the games around, even within the UK, let alone playing in Germany or anywhere else, with exception of the recent addition of Mexico.
And yeah, it does feel great. It feels great to be a legitimate part of a great sporting calendar.” We’ll have more with Waller in Monday’s column, including where the league stands on the Jaguars and owner Shad Khan moving to buy Wembley.
London Is Just About Ready for an NFL Team
By ALBERT BREER
The NFL doesn’t have a team in London yet. But the league’s executive vice president of international, Mark Waller, believes the UK is ready for one now. Today’s Seahawks-Raiders game kicks off a run of three straight NFL Sundays at Wembley Stadium, and the 12th season of the league’s International Series.
As Waller sees it, the growth is to the point where the pieces for a London team are in place. “With the one proviso that we’ve always referenced, which is that the travel component week-in, week-out is not tested,” Waller said from London, on Monday. “We feel the fan demand is here, we feel the stadium infrastructure and optionality is here, we feel the government support is here. We feel the logistics and training side of it are here. We feel very good. Like I’ve always said, the one we can never test for is how does it work week-in and week-out.”
That logistical part of it is a big one, of course. But checking off the rest of the boxes has been no small feat—the idea in the first place was to get a team to London 15 years after launching the project. And while there are four years left on that clock, and it’ll take a team moving or expansion (the former would be more likely than the latter) for the league to actually pull it off, Waller feels good about where the NFL is over there.
“It feels great, and that’s why it’s taken 12 years, and that’s why we’ve always stayed focused on playing the games in London, because you need the games to grow the awareness, and grow the fan base,” Waller says. “And we didn’t move the games around, even within the UK, let alone playing in Germany or anywhere else, with exception of the recent addition of Mexico.
And yeah, it does feel great. It feels great to be a legitimate part of a great sporting calendar.” We’ll have more with Waller in Monday’s column, including where the league stands on the Jaguars and owner Shad Khan moving to buy Wembley.
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https://www.si.com/nfl/2018/10/15/week-6-patriots-chiefs-tom-brady-patrick-mahomes-mmqb
Tim Ireland/AP/REX/Shutterstock
LONDON CALLING, LOUDER THAN EVER
By Albert Breer
The Seahawks beat the Raiders 27-3 at Wembley on Sunday, the first of three straight Sundays the NFL will be playing in the London venue, with 9:30 a.m. ET kickoffs coming in Weeks 7 (Titans/Chargers) and 8 (Eagles/Jaguars). As we detailed in the Sunday Rundown this week, the league’s EVP of international, Mark Waller, is bullish on the city’s readiness to have its own team.
And while he did leave a caveat—“Like I’ve always said, the one we can never test for is how does it work week-in and week-out,” he said—Waller’s confidence is built off of 12 years of testing of the market. What he couldn’t tell me was which team it might be that relocates, something he made clear when I asked specifically about the reports out of London indicating the Jaguars are lining things up for a move.
“This process for me, we’re building a marketplace, and the ownership, as it always does, will decide if they want a team over here, and then there’d be a process for who that team might be,” Waller said. “I don’t believe we’re in the narrowing down phase where it’ll be this team or that team. The phase we’re in, the market looks like it’s in great shape.”
With that in mind, here are five things I took from my conversation with Waller on the future of the NFL in London. …
1. This year has inadvertently turned into a new way to test the market for the league. With the Tottenham stadium the NFL has invested in not completed on time, the NFL had to move yesterday’s game to Wembley, meaning it would get to test the field in playing three consecutive games on it. That also opens a window into plans for the team—with said team likely to play home and away games in blocks.
“That’ll be a good test,” Waller said of playing three straight at Wembley. “And a very valuable one, because we’ve always talked about how. in the event we were ever scheduling a team over here, they’d be playing three or four games here, and then three or four games in the U.S. So it’s ultimately turned into a great opportunity to test that, at Wembley at least.”
2. As for Jaguars owner Shad Khan potentially buying Wembley, Waller said this: “It confirms Shad’s belief in the opportunity in the marketplace for NFL football, and his belief that there is a great business opportunity in owning Wembley. We already have the impact of the optionality of stadiums. That was a strategic goal from 2013 onward, the realization that we needed more than one stadium option.
That fact that you would have an NFL owner owning a stadium that works really well for us is obviously great. But I don’t think it’s logical to say, ‘Oh, since Shad owns it, then if there’s a team to go to London it’ll be the Jags.’ ” Waller also mentioned the possibility that a London team could have multiple home stadiums—with the league having made an eight-figure investment in Tottenham (which will be configured for football and soccer) and Khan considering an even more significant financial plunge.
3. The biggest difference coming in 2019? That the London games will be announced at the same time as the rest of the schedule, not ahead of time as had been the custom. It’s another step in an effort to “normalize” these games, and prepare for the possibility that a team will be playing some or all of its home schedule there.
“Remember that we have that guarantee that you can have your bye if you want it,” Waller said. “There has been talk about, ‘Hey, there are a couple teams every year that know in advance when their bye week is going to be, if they want it.’ So we want to make it as normal and standard as possible.” As for the 2019 schedule itself, there will be four games, two at Wembley and two at Tottenham.
4. For right now, the idea of going somewhere other than London or Mexico City in 2019 is off the table. It’ll be four in the former and one in the latter, in all likelihood. “There’s no obvious stadium options in Canada. I don’t think at the moment that seems like an option,” said Waller. “So we don’t really have a next frontier at the moment. We’d love to do Germany. We don’t have an endless bucket of inventory of games to play. Five is a lot.”
5. I did bring up the idea of a “London team” playing four home games there and four home games in a U.S. city—a Daily Mail report said Khan was exploring the tax implications of such a plan—and Waller said that’s one that’s been looked at. “I definitely think that would be a feasible option,” Waller said. “We’ve not spent any time with any club talking about that or planning that or thinking it through. So it’s not something that had a plan for. But it seems like it’d be feasible.”
Also out there in the rumor mill has been the idea that league might buy the Falcons’ Flowery Branch, Ga., facility—with the Falcons moving closer to their downtown Atlanta stadium—to create a U.S. base for a London team should it play all eight games in the U.K.
“That’s definitely going to be a requirement, that there’s a center, a base the team would have in the U.S., and to your point it’d make sense that it was East Coast,” said Waller. “And it’d make sense that it’d be more southern than northern, from a weather and climate perspective. That definitely makes sense.”
So where is this going? It’s hard to say. But what’s clear is that the goal of putting a team in London that Waller and company set in 2007 has never been closer. And if you don’t believe it, go ahead and see how the league draws attention to its progress in the U.K. over the next couple weeks.
Tim Ireland/AP/REX/Shutterstock
LONDON CALLING, LOUDER THAN EVER
By Albert Breer
The Seahawks beat the Raiders 27-3 at Wembley on Sunday, the first of three straight Sundays the NFL will be playing in the London venue, with 9:30 a.m. ET kickoffs coming in Weeks 7 (Titans/Chargers) and 8 (Eagles/Jaguars). As we detailed in the Sunday Rundown this week, the league’s EVP of international, Mark Waller, is bullish on the city’s readiness to have its own team.
And while he did leave a caveat—“Like I’ve always said, the one we can never test for is how does it work week-in and week-out,” he said—Waller’s confidence is built off of 12 years of testing of the market. What he couldn’t tell me was which team it might be that relocates, something he made clear when I asked specifically about the reports out of London indicating the Jaguars are lining things up for a move.
“This process for me, we’re building a marketplace, and the ownership, as it always does, will decide if they want a team over here, and then there’d be a process for who that team might be,” Waller said. “I don’t believe we’re in the narrowing down phase where it’ll be this team or that team. The phase we’re in, the market looks like it’s in great shape.”
With that in mind, here are five things I took from my conversation with Waller on the future of the NFL in London. …
1. This year has inadvertently turned into a new way to test the market for the league. With the Tottenham stadium the NFL has invested in not completed on time, the NFL had to move yesterday’s game to Wembley, meaning it would get to test the field in playing three consecutive games on it. That also opens a window into plans for the team—with said team likely to play home and away games in blocks.
“That’ll be a good test,” Waller said of playing three straight at Wembley. “And a very valuable one, because we’ve always talked about how. in the event we were ever scheduling a team over here, they’d be playing three or four games here, and then three or four games in the U.S. So it’s ultimately turned into a great opportunity to test that, at Wembley at least.”
2. As for Jaguars owner Shad Khan potentially buying Wembley, Waller said this: “It confirms Shad’s belief in the opportunity in the marketplace for NFL football, and his belief that there is a great business opportunity in owning Wembley. We already have the impact of the optionality of stadiums. That was a strategic goal from 2013 onward, the realization that we needed more than one stadium option.
That fact that you would have an NFL owner owning a stadium that works really well for us is obviously great. But I don’t think it’s logical to say, ‘Oh, since Shad owns it, then if there’s a team to go to London it’ll be the Jags.’ ” Waller also mentioned the possibility that a London team could have multiple home stadiums—with the league having made an eight-figure investment in Tottenham (which will be configured for football and soccer) and Khan considering an even more significant financial plunge.
3. The biggest difference coming in 2019? That the London games will be announced at the same time as the rest of the schedule, not ahead of time as had been the custom. It’s another step in an effort to “normalize” these games, and prepare for the possibility that a team will be playing some or all of its home schedule there.
“Remember that we have that guarantee that you can have your bye if you want it,” Waller said. “There has been talk about, ‘Hey, there are a couple teams every year that know in advance when their bye week is going to be, if they want it.’ So we want to make it as normal and standard as possible.” As for the 2019 schedule itself, there will be four games, two at Wembley and two at Tottenham.
4. For right now, the idea of going somewhere other than London or Mexico City in 2019 is off the table. It’ll be four in the former and one in the latter, in all likelihood. “There’s no obvious stadium options in Canada. I don’t think at the moment that seems like an option,” said Waller. “So we don’t really have a next frontier at the moment. We’d love to do Germany. We don’t have an endless bucket of inventory of games to play. Five is a lot.”
5. I did bring up the idea of a “London team” playing four home games there and four home games in a U.S. city—a Daily Mail report said Khan was exploring the tax implications of such a plan—and Waller said that’s one that’s been looked at. “I definitely think that would be a feasible option,” Waller said. “We’ve not spent any time with any club talking about that or planning that or thinking it through. So it’s not something that had a plan for. But it seems like it’d be feasible.”
Also out there in the rumor mill has been the idea that league might buy the Falcons’ Flowery Branch, Ga., facility—with the Falcons moving closer to their downtown Atlanta stadium—to create a U.S. base for a London team should it play all eight games in the U.K.
“That’s definitely going to be a requirement, that there’s a center, a base the team would have in the U.S., and to your point it’d make sense that it was East Coast,” said Waller. “And it’d make sense that it’d be more southern than northern, from a weather and climate perspective. That definitely makes sense.”
So where is this going? It’s hard to say. But what’s clear is that the goal of putting a team in London that Waller and company set in 2007 has never been closer. And if you don’t believe it, go ahead and see how the league draws attention to its progress in the U.K. over the next couple weeks.
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LesBaker
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That's a HUGE thing and if anyone has come up with a way around it I haven't heard about it.
And there is still the tax issue, unless the UK has altered their laws.
Any guys over thee want to weigh in on whether or not fans would support a team there? One thing I think the NFL is forgetting is they are showcasing several different teams, not one against several opponents. Is it a novelty situation that will wear off?
The NFL in Europe should be a cautionary tale.
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It could absolutely work and we would absolutely support it. People are flat out scared of change.
The geography is overblown, it's no further from NY to London than it is from NY to the West Coast. It would obviously be a challenge but creative scheduling could make it work.
There would be several challenges but it's honestly not insurmountable. Cali tax rates are on a par with the UK from what I understand so that's a red herring. EU Labour laws are a serious sticking point (salary cap etc are completely incompatible with current law) but seems like after Brexit we can pretty much tear those up. So yeah, it's doable.
For me the sticking point is the actual idea of it happening and how thats sold - particularly to the American fans who are of course the NFLs life blood - rather than the logistics.
The geography is overblown, it's no further from NY to London than it is from NY to the West Coast. It would obviously be a challenge but creative scheduling could make it work.
There would be several challenges but it's honestly not insurmountable. Cali tax rates are on a par with the UK from what I understand so that's a red herring. EU Labour laws are a serious sticking point (salary cap etc are completely incompatible with current law) but seems like after Brexit we can pretty much tear those up. So yeah, it's doable.
For me the sticking point is the actual idea of it happening and how thats sold - particularly to the American fans who are of course the NFLs life blood - rather than the logistics.
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Hyperloop. London to New York in 30 seconds.
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yrba1
Mild-mannered Rams fan
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Oooops!
https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/...-his-bid-to-purchase-londons-wembley-stadium/
Jaguars owner Shad Khan withdraws his bid to purchase London's Wembley Stadium
by Jared Dubin
Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan has withdrawn his bid to purchase Wembley Stadium, the famous soccer venue in London that has been home to several NFL games over the past few years, including five Jaguars games. The decision to withdraw was announced by Jim Woodcock, a public relations professional who works with Khan.
"I've been clear publicly as well as in my correspondence with the FA Council that it would require a proper partnership, with the full and enthusiastic commitment of all involved, to maximize the benefits to the FA and game of football by way of 100 percent private ownership of Wembley Stadium," Khan wrote.
"At this moment, following, following last week's FA Council hearing, it appears there is no definitive mandate to sell Wembley and my current proposal, subsequently, would earn the backing of only a slim majority of the FA Council, well short of the conclusive margin that the FA Chairman has required.
"The intent of my efforts was, and is, to do right by everyone in a manner that strengthens the English game and brings people together, not divides them. Unfortunately, given where we are today, I've concluded that the outcome of a vote next week would be far from sufficient in expressing the broad support favored by the FA Chairman to sell Wembley Stadium. Until a time when it is evident there is an unmistakable directive from the FA to explore and close a sale, I am respectfully withdrawing my offer to purchase Wembley Stadium."
Khan did leave the door open to revisit the opportunity to purchase Wembley Stadium in the future. Rumors have swirled for years that Khan is interested in moving the Jaguars to London, and the team playing there on an annual basis has been seen as part of those plans. They are scheduled to play the Eagles at Wembley Stadium on Oct. 28, and are also guaranteed to play there in both 2019 and 2020 as well.
https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/...-his-bid-to-purchase-londons-wembley-stadium/
Jaguars owner Shad Khan withdraws his bid to purchase London's Wembley Stadium
by Jared Dubin
Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan has withdrawn his bid to purchase Wembley Stadium, the famous soccer venue in London that has been home to several NFL games over the past few years, including five Jaguars games. The decision to withdraw was announced by Jim Woodcock, a public relations professional who works with Khan.
"I've been clear publicly as well as in my correspondence with the FA Council that it would require a proper partnership, with the full and enthusiastic commitment of all involved, to maximize the benefits to the FA and game of football by way of 100 percent private ownership of Wembley Stadium," Khan wrote.
"At this moment, following, following last week's FA Council hearing, it appears there is no definitive mandate to sell Wembley and my current proposal, subsequently, would earn the backing of only a slim majority of the FA Council, well short of the conclusive margin that the FA Chairman has required.
"The intent of my efforts was, and is, to do right by everyone in a manner that strengthens the English game and brings people together, not divides them. Unfortunately, given where we are today, I've concluded that the outcome of a vote next week would be far from sufficient in expressing the broad support favored by the FA Chairman to sell Wembley Stadium. Until a time when it is evident there is an unmistakable directive from the FA to explore and close a sale, I am respectfully withdrawing my offer to purchase Wembley Stadium."
Khan did leave the door open to revisit the opportunity to purchase Wembley Stadium in the future. Rumors have swirled for years that Khan is interested in moving the Jaguars to London, and the team playing there on an annual basis has been seen as part of those plans. They are scheduled to play the Eagles at Wembley Stadium on Oct. 28, and are also guaranteed to play there in both 2019 and 2020 as well.