The NFL has a big following here. Lots of Americans live in London, and there are a growing number of British fans of "American Football." They've been doing it for the last few years. If it were the Dolphins playing, H and I would totally be there. But we're just kinda meh about the Steelers and Vikings. So we're watching from home.
AND AND? It's a game that's not on in the middle of the night!!!
Post by miniroller on Sept 29, 2013 9:46:02 GMT -5
What Autumn & Villain sd, and I read a report awhile back specifically stating intentions to grow American football popularity in Europe. Interestingly enough, it was comparing the growing popularity of soccer in the states (how much of the younger generation has grown up participating in soccer; therefore, it's exponentially growing in popularity), & that the NFL is trying to combat the soccer popularity growth by expanding it's audience. (Also mentioned how it's reinforcement for the American football addition as an Olympic sport, which kind of invalidated the article for me, a bit, as H &I both think this idea is laughably American self-involved.)
Yeah. They do it every year with different teams. It's cool and all, but I hate it when it is my team (Steelers) because the travel and field ect is a huge disadvantage to the teams playing there.
Post by spindle92 on Sept 29, 2013 10:09:44 GMT -5
They use to travel around to various countries (I was with the NFL when they went to tokyo) once a year but their biggest following is currently london, so they have been going back.
Because it is quite possibly the dumbest idea ever, but the NFL appears to be bound and determined to have a team in London.
There was a blog post about this on yahoo or something where players said they would retire rather than play on a team in London and/or would need to get paid much more than they do to play on a team there. I just don't understand it.
Post by lissaholly on Sept 29, 2013 10:20:13 GMT -5
DH, a Bucs fan and his friend, a Bears fan, went two years ago when they played. He said the atmosphere was great and it was a lot of fun. Do the teams and players not like this? I guess I could see that.
DH, a Bucs fan and his friend, a Bears fan, went two years ago when they played. He said the atmosphere was great and it was a lot of fun. Do the teams and players not like this? I guess I could see that.
It is an awesome atmosphere to play in but it us a long week of lots of press and public appearances and very little practice.
Yeah. They do it every year with different teams. It's cool and all, but I hate it when it is my team (Steelers) because the travel and field ect is a huge disadvantage to the teams playing there.
Yeah. They do it every year with different teams. It's cool and all, but I hate it when it is my team (Steelers) because the travel and field ect is a huge disadvantage to the teams playing there.
They actually offered a ton of discounted tickets to lots of American servicemen and women here. There are several large Air Force bases here, and lots of American service members in London doing diplomatic stuff. There's actually a huge fan base here, and people really love when "their" team comes to play here. I would be sad if they stopped doing it. I know it's a long way for the players to come, but people here really like it, and it's something special that we all kind of look forward to. And it's only once a year.
Heck, I've flown combat missions less than 24 hours after a 3-day slog to Afghanistan. You'd think some NFL players could suck it up to play a game of football.
Post by mrsukyankee on Sept 29, 2013 12:23:19 GMT -5
It's a HUGE deal here in London and you'd have a lot of sad people if it stopped. Honestly, the flight isn't much worse than going across the country itself if you are an east coast team.
Post by expatpumpkin on Sept 29, 2013 16:55:01 GMT -5
I had no idea this was such a controversial game? Some of you passionately "hate it" and "hope they stop it soon"? Geez, it's just (American) football... What's the big freaking deal?
We've never gone to one of the London NFL games, but some friends went tonight and (gasp!) had a really good time! They even "tailgated" in their flat before heading to the stadium. Horrible, just horrible.
Post by Mrs.Rad888 on Sept 29, 2013 17:16:06 GMT -5
I wonder if there are people who are going to get this mad when MLB opens next year in Australia. The Dodgers and Diamondbacks will open the season there in March, and they are regular season games.
People take their (American) football really seriously, just like football (soccer) in Europe.
People would fucking flip out if Arsenal had to use one of their home games to play in the US.
Are they using home games, though? Since this a regular season game (i.e. not contingent on wins-losses), presumably they could use an away game for each team.
People take their (American) football really seriously, just like football (soccer) in Europe.
People would fucking flip out if Arsenal had to use one of their home games to play in the US.
Are they using home games, though? Since this a regular season game (i.e. not contingent on wins-losses), presumably they could use an away game for each team.
Even if they used an away game, people would be pissed.
Are they using home games, though? Since this a regular season game (i.e. not contingent on wins-losses), presumably they could use an away game for each team.
I'm pretty sure one team has to use a home game.
Yes, one of the teams does have to use a home game.
Post by Jalapeñomel on Sept 29, 2013 17:31:51 GMT -5
Plus if you are a season ticket holder for the Steelers (or whomever is the home team), you only get 7 tickets instead of 8. So you get robbed of one of the games. And those tickets are hella expensive.
I hate it because it's stupid. The NFL doesn't play in Europe as a favor to the Americans in London (LOL!) It's all about making money and the NFL's bizarre desire to have a team in Europe, which is completely ridiculous and logisically makes no sense.
I don't begrudge anyone going to have good time while they play in London, at all. I would do the same thing and love it. There are only 16 regular season games, so each game has huge implications (wheras baseball as someone mentioned above has 162 games). There games completely screw up the players' routines, schedules, practices, etc. Plus, the players are awayy from their families all week. (To compare, the Redskins played in Oakland and flew out there on Friday). I mean, there's a reason that the teams play in London get a bye the next week.
American football is an American sport, the NFL trying to make it more international to make more money is dumb. And yes, I hate it.
Plus if you are a season ticket holder for the Steelers (or whomever is the home team), you only get 7 tickets instead of 8. So you get robbed of one of the games. And those tickets are hella expensive.
I'm a season ticket holder. And I pay a lot of money for that "privilege" - I would be pissed if I had 7 instead of 8 because they were playing a "home" game in London (especially since I have to pay for 2 preseason games, full price).
Plus if you are a season ticket holder for the Steelers (or whomever is the home team), you only get 7 tickets instead of 8. So you get robbed of one of the games. And those tickets are hella expensive.
I'm a season ticket holder. And I pay a lot of money for that "privilege" - I would be pissed if I had 7 instead of 8 because they were playing a "home" game in London (especially since I have to pay for 2 preseason games, full price).
I'd be pissed if I lost one of my home games as a season ticket holder. I had season tickets to a baseball team a few years ago, so missing 2 games wouldn't be such a big deal. I hear you on the preseason games, though. When my team went to the playoffs one year, they wanted us to buy tickets to all the possible games, including the World Series, and assumed all series went the full count of games. There was no way we could afford that, so we ended up being able to go to zero playoff games.