NFL 2015 Expansion News: League Wants to Grow Internationally
The NFL wants to expand its presence internationally. It is already playing three games a year in London, England and by all reports making serious inroads there. Now there are reports that the NFL would like to play regular season games in Germany and in Mexico, along with a proposal to play the Pro Bowl in Brazil. There are also efforts to play games in Canada and China.
This is certainly smart business as most of the large U.S. markets are part of the NFL money-making machine already.
The best way to judge if foreign markets are good for the league or not are to play regular season games there. The NFL tried to play preseason games in London and Toronto, Canada and that effort was largely unsuccessful. Over 103,000 fans showed up for a regular season game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Phoenix Cardinals in 2003 in Mexico City, but the league has not returned there since.
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If the league is going to play games that matter in foreign markets those games have to come from somewhere. Some NFL teams have not been as willing to give up one of their eight regular season home games. However, the NFL is enacting rules that will force teams into giving up a date. For teams to host a Super Bowl, they must give up a home date, and now there is word of teams who don't play in a permanent stadium being forced to as well.
With as many as two teams set to relocate to Los Angels that would give the NFL two more games it could export to a foreign market. Which markets are deserving of that and will embrace the NFL is a larger question.
