NFL pondering possibility of playing Super Bowl in London،
As the NFL prepares to play its third consecutive Sunday in London, the league has already discussed the idea of one day playing a Super Bowl in the British capital, according to commissioner Roger Goodell.
A Super Bowl in London won’t happen anytime soon, but the NFL has at least considered the possibility.
It’s not impossible, and it’s something that’s been discussed before,” Goodell said at a fan forum in London last week.
The priority remains playing the Super Bowl in cities with NFL franchises, but the league also wants to develop its brand internationally, as evidenced by Sunday’s Titans-Ravens game, the third London game in as many years. weeks.
The next three Super Bowls are scheduled to be played at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas in February 2024, Caesars Superdome in New Orleans in February 2025 and Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California in February 2026.
There hasn’t yet been any momentum for a Super Bowl in London, but as a league source told ESPN last week: “Absolutely, it would make sense.”
Goodell said on the fan forum: “I think it’s not out of the question. But at the end of the day, I think for now our formula will remain the same regarding the game. [Super Bowls] in cities that have franchises.
A Super Bowl in London would bring a unique set of logistical challenges, including time difference. The game is scheduled to be played at night in London – 8:30 p.m. local time, hypothetically, which would be 3:30 p.m. ET and 12:30 p.m. on the west coast.
Kick-off times for London’s three games this season have been 9:30 a.m. ET, 2:30 p.m. local time.
But as usual, these types of decisions often come down to revenue, and the league wants to keep revenue flowing to the cities that currently support NFL teams.
“I think being able to play in one of our cities is a huge economic boost for those cities,” Goodell said during the fan forum. “Our fans also live in these cities. I think that’s important. Not that we don’t have great fans here. [in London]; We do. So as the international series grows, maybe that will be a possibility as we play more games here. »
Sources around the NFL have speculated in recent weeks that it is only a matter of time before the league shifts its focus to the Super Bowl in London. A league official who has been in London in recent weeks said he felt the league was using these three international games – Falcons-Jaguars, Bills-Jaguars and Titans-Ravens on Sunday – as trial balloons for biggest concepts in London. .
The NFL will play five games in Europe this season – three in London and two in Germany – and is preparing to play future international games in Spain and Brazil, according to NFL executive vice president Peter O’Reilly. The league sent officials last month to explore the possibility of playing the first games of the NFL regular season in Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, Brazil, as soon as next season.
O’Reilly also said the NFL was also exploring the possibility of playing a regular season game in Australia, although the logistics of a game there would be more difficult.
