Last Friday, a day before the NFL Draft, commissioner Roger Goodell denied reports that the league was considering hosting a future Super Bowl in London. In fact, he stated unequivocally that the NFL "has never looked at London or Mexico City" as potential Super Bowl destinations, adding that "There is not an international city ... Maybe New Orleans is considered an international city." Today rumors surfaced again, this time courtesy of The Guardian. The paper contends that "Talks have been ongoing with the NFL, who have identified London as the outstanding candidate city to host the event outside of the United States," which is vague enough to insinuate that the league is actively seeking to move the Super Bowl overseas while leaving plenty of room for misinterpretation.
And that's exactly what has happened. NFL fans are predictably incensed by the possibility, and the public outcry probably had something to do with the league's swift response. Via the ubiquitous Twitter Machine:
Re: story from UK. We are not pursuing idea of putting a Super Bowl in London or anywhere outside US. Reports last week/today inaccurate.That was Brian McCarthy, Twitter handle "NFLprguy." His comments echo those issued by Goodell nine days ago: the Super Bowl ain't going anywhere.
But maybe, as the Telegraph suggested Saturday, this is a ploy by Goodell "... to persuade the league's franchise owners that any such move would not be rushed – their blue-riband event has until now always been staged in a franchise-owned venue."
Seems unlikely. Goodell has made his share of unpopular decisions, but he's always owned up to them. If he's seriously considering moving the Super Bowl out of the country, I'd expect something other than an outright denial. Goodell's a savvy politician who knows how to control the message. That he can't be bothered to spin the story makes me think there's nothing to it.
Or who knows, maybe somebody in the league office floated the story as a trial balloon, and once it was quickly shot down, that was that. Of course, given Goodell's grand plans to internationalize the game, it wouldn't surprise me if the Super Bowl eventually ended up overseas. For now, though, it's just speculation. In the meantime, if London wants another NFL game, I'd like to volunteer the Pro Bowl. Hey, you gotta crawl before you can walk.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-03-2009 @ 7:31PM
horatiowrd said...
havent the league owners learned anything? If you want to get your game abroad, dont send them teams or games Go there, give their kids the game, have them group up loving your sport, find any indiviual who could play your game and get them to start playing it.
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5-04-2009 @ 7:24AM
Ian said...
I could really care less if its in London. The NFL needs to realize that the Super Bowl is not accessible to most of its fans anyway. I live in Philly... there will NEVER be a Super Bowl in Philadelphia. Ever. I also don't have $3000+ to buy nosebleed seats for myself and my girlfriend, nor the $1000+ to spend on airfare and lodging to wherever the Super Bowl is in a given year. Maybe the NFL should work on making it easier for a true fan of the game to go than to have celebrities paying 10's of thousands of dollars to be seen there because its 'cool'.
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