NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said “Competitiveness is the key” when it comes to a potential London-based franchise, citing the New York Giants’ Super Bowl success in the first year of the International Series as evidence.
Last Updated: 08/10/22 5:59pm
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell speaks on stage at the NFL UK Live event in London
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has suggested that the league could introduce a European division while London itself could serve as the home to not one but two franchises.
With the return of the annual International Series has come familiar questions about the feasibility and potential of a future UK-based franchise such has been the sport’s growth overseas since the first game in 2007.
On Sunday the Green Bay Packers will become the 32nd and final NFL team to play a regular season game in London when the historic franchise takes on the New York Giants at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the purpose-built ground having emerged as a home away from home for the league.
The Jacksonville Jaguars will also return to Wembley Stadium this month to face the Denver Broncos having been at the forefront of the NFL’s UK operation.
Speaking at an NFL UK fan event on Saturday, Goodell acknowledged the logistical obstacles but reiterated an optimism that an international team remains possible.
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The New Orleans Saints and Minnesota Vikings duke it out at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
“I think there’s no question that London could support not just one franchise, I think two franchises, I really believe that,” said Goodell, speaking on a panel that also included Osi Umenyiora, Victor Cruz and Maurice Jones-Drew.
“That’s from a fan perspective, a commercial standpoint, from a media standpoint, I think you (the UK fans) have all proven that.
“The question I think is going to come down to, not so much the logistics about travel, that’s clearly a challenge, it really comes down to whether you can do it competitively, where the team here or the teams in the States coming over can continue to be competitive and that was the challenge when we did the regular season games.
“There was a lot of concern with ownership when we first introduced it and frankly it took the guts of the Giants and Dolphins that came out here the first time, they had to prove we could do it competitively.
“This is where it turned around (for the Giants) and they went and won the Super Bowl that year, that sent a message to everybody in the league – it’s not going to damage your ability to make it to the postseason. Competitiveness is the key.”
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Jason Bell discusses the growth of the NFL in the UK and the Green Bay Packers coming over to play in London for the first time.
The NFL’s global expansion has reached new heights over the past year, with 18 teams having been granted access to 26 International Home Marketing Areas across eight different countries in December before the league announced that Munich and Frankfurt would host two regular season games each over the next four years.
Next month will see Tom Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers take on the Seattle Seahawks at Bayern Munich’s Allianz Arena in what will mark the first ever game to be played in Germany, which boasts the largest NFL fanbase in Europe.
Sky Sports NFL’s own Neil Reynolds hosted the panel in London, and joked as to whether Europe could have its own division – a suggestion Goodell did not shut down.
“That’s part of what we’re doing, right?” said Goodell. “We’re trying to see ‘could you have multiple locations in Europe where you could have an NFL franchise?’, because it would be easier than a division.”
Earlier this week the NFL International Combine also returned to Tottenham for the second successive year as 44 athletes from 13 countries competed in on-field exercises in view of earning a place on the International Player Pathway program, which previously produced the likes of Efe Obada and Jordan Mailata.
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