RSSNFL Games Go International
Oct 24
Business, Sports Football, NFL Comments Off
The National Football League has approved one or two regular seasons games to be played outside the United States each season beginning next year.
The NFL offered a trial game in Mexico City during the 2005 season, a game that featured the Arizona Cardinals and the San Francisco 49ers. In part because both teams were facing losing seasons, staging the game out of the country was seen to have minimal impact on the teams’ standings.
The concern has always been the possible disadvantage to the team who has to give up a regular season home game. The hometown crowd is considered a distinct advantage for most teams in terms of emotional support and certainly in terms of overall revenue for the season.
The current proposal calls for each team in the league to play outside the country twice in a 16 year period, once as the home team and once as the visiting team. Additionally, the NFL will continue to schedule pre-season games overseas.
