6 reasons the Super Bowl should not be played in London.

Dear Mr. Goddell,

What in the world are you doing? I understand that you are a business man, and you’re trying to expand the NFL market, which is good, because who doesn’t want to see their business do well? But honestly…the Super Bowl? to London? Has it really come to this?

Goddell told reporters on Monday that “There’s a great deal of interest in holding a Super Bowl in London…So we’ll be looking into that.”

I understand that the NFL is doing well in non-American markets. The Cardinals/49ers game in Mexico in 2005 brought over 100,000 into Azteca Stadium in Mexico City. And this year, over 95,000 tickets have been sold for the October 28th regular season game between the Dolphins and Giants in London.

I understand that even if the NFL isn’t held in the US, people will still watch it on TV (last year’s Super Bowl 42.6% of all U.S. households were tuned into the Super Bowl last year).

But seriously, Mr. Goddell, this is not a good idea. Why? Well, I’m glad you asked.

1. The whole time zone issue. Depending on what time of year it is, London is 4 or 5 hours ahead of the Eastern time zone in America (7 or 8 hours difference between London and the West Coast). What possible time can we play this Super Bowl without alienating one of the time zones? Are we going to have the Super Bowl come on during a non-primetime hour in America, or do we play it in the dead of night in London?

2. The potential to alienate American football fans. True, like I said above, there will be plenty of Americans who will still watch the game, but what about those people who are so Pro-American (I don’t want to put anti-European, but it probably fits as well) that they get upset with the game not being in America? It seems like you would be losing a portion of your fan base unnecessarily, as European fans only know watching the NFL on Television, and they would continue to do so without any problem.

3. Pure Irony. How do you take the championship game of the most popular sport in America…and play it somewhere other than America? If the Premier League Championship was ever played in America…there would be riots in the streets. I’m failing to see how this same logic doesn’t apply to the Super Bowl being held somewhere other than America.

4. NFL Europe. How popular is football over in Europe? Ask NFL Europe…oh wait! The whole league just went under. Granted, its the Super Bowl, so you could probably sell out Wembley Stadium, but is the price (Disgruntled American fans who are the regular season fan base) worth the reward?

5. Weather. There is a reason that Super Bowls are always held in warm weather cities (Miami) or in a Dome (Detroit). People aren’t exactly prone to coming out when its the middle of February and its 30 degrees. Sure, you probably will still sell out the game, but why take that risk (unless London is planning on building a dome? If that’s the case, I would refer you back to point #4, and how popular football is in Europe).

6. The Players. I don’t know for sure what the players think, but something tells me that they would not be overly excited about going all the way over to England for a two week span to play the Super Bowl (although maybe I’m wrong?)

Mr. Goddell, I believe you are honestly trying to do what’s best for the NFL, even though I have disagreed with some of your past decisions (see below), but I truly hope that someone is able to talk some sense into you before this gets past the “looking for something interesting to say to reporters” phase.

(Ed. Note: Don’t misconstrue this article. I am not against NFL football in places other than America. I just don’t see why Goddell went straight for the jugular with the Super Bowl comment. Regular season and pre-season games? sure! But the biggest American sporting event in someplace other than America? It just doesn’t make logical sense to me, regardless of whether or not you’re trying to create a “World Football League” or not.)

ESPN: Goddell says NFL looking to hold Super Bowl in London

CNN Money.com: CBS scores with Super Bowl ratings

Related –

Sports Business Digest: The NFL (NO FUN LEAGUE!)

Sports Business Digest: What Roger Goddell should have done

Category: Football