An NFL team in London? Count on it.
What was once a pipe dream ??major-league teams based in cities outside the United States and Canada ??is now just a matter of time. The aforementioned cities are the ones most likely to break through first, but others will surely follow when everyone sees how much potential revenue is there for the taking.
"The market is saturated in the U.S.," said Gil Fried, a professor and chair of sports management at the University of New Haven. "They need to find new markets."
The NFL has been trying for years to make inroads in Europe ??especially London ??and those efforts were turned up to full blast by revelations that Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shahid Khan is attempting to buy Wembley Stadium, a 90,000-seat, state-of-the-art venue known the world over.
Khan brushed off the obvious speculation that this is the first step toward moving the Jaguars to London ??where they already have been playing "home" games since 2013 ??but didn't exactly provide a resounding vote of confidence for Jacksonville, one of the smallest markets in the NFL.
"The first thing you want with certainty is you want a venue," he said. "And this gives us a stadium solution, for us or anyone else."
In other words, better get used to calling his team the London Jaguars.
"Shad Khan's purchase of Wembley Stadium portends that a substantive NFL presence in London, and ultimately a franchise, is inevitable
http://www.falconsauthorizedshops.com/a ... ith-jersey ," said Vince Benigni, a professor of sports communication at the College of Charleston.
