maqroll Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 (edited) I think it's probably a matter of when and not if. I'll be surprised if there's not a team there by 2028. How do you guys feel about it? Will you drop your current team for "The London Beefeaters" or w/e? Will the broader sporting culture in England embrace it's own NFL club? Is it viable on a permanent basis? Edited January 15, 2018 by maqroll Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 (edited) when I went to Saints v Miami at Wembley most people around me were fans of either club ... but quite a lot of them had bought a season ticket for all the London games This is my first season of following closely ( glory hunting fan ) usually I just checked the results saw a few highlights watched the super bowl.... been trying to explain to non fans that it isn’t a dull shit game but they won’t have ... couldn’t persuade anyone the drama , excitement , the nerves as The Panthers choked in the last min (last week ) and threw away certain victory and so the London Brexiters might be able to sell a lot of tickets but I’m not sure they will get many actual fans Edited January 14, 2018 by tonyh29 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tegis Posted January 14, 2018 VT Supporter Share Posted January 14, 2018 37 minutes ago, tonyh29 said: London Brexiters Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milfner Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 Did my dissertation on this and I interviewed the NFLUK director. He wasn’t particularly worried about selling the tickets. My point was that people who watch NFL in this country already have picked their teams so you’d be relying on new fans to become fans of the London franchise. His response was that people will absolutely change teams. If you look at the expansion teams of Carolina and Jacksonville, those places would’ve just been full of Pittsburgh, Green Bay etc fans (probably still are tbf). But over time people will change who they support cos of the access. It’ll probably take a good decade still to get a team over here however. I did also interview a few American journalists on this too. The apathy/cynicism they conveyed for the games (their own opinion & fans) was quite surprising. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tegis Posted January 14, 2018 VT Supporter Share Posted January 14, 2018 14 minutes ago, Milfner said: I did also interview a few American journalists on this too. The apathy/cynicism they conveyed for the games (their own opinion & fans) was quite surprising. For the London part or the US-soil-games in general? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 Dead against a UK/London franchise. People here already have their teams. Plus people in Brum / Manchester / Liverpool wouldn't support a London branded team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 1 hour ago, Milfner said: Did my dissertation on this and I interviewed the NFLUK director. He wasn’t particularly worried about selling the tickets. My point was that people who watch NFL in this country already have picked their teams so you’d be relying on new fans to become fans of the London franchise. His response was that people will absolutely change teams. Sounds a bit arrogant New fans might support a UK franchise but existing fans won't. I certainly wouldn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zak Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 I will switch over, why wouldnt i, if i could? i support the eagles but so what, im not from philly, i dont think i owe them anything. It will make my life more enjoyable to support the London Jags as i will go to their games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 1 hour ago, zak said: I will switch over, why wouldnt i, if i could? i support the eagles but so what, im not from philly, i dont think i owe them anything. It will make my life more enjoyable to support the London Jags as i will go to their games. I suppose that’s a good point I mean I supported the Saints since 2012 as I was in New Orleans and went to a game ( v the Jags as it happened , jags won ... and I saw them at Wembley this year so I guess I could easily get behind a London team if one formed and I wanted to go support them each week ... it’s not like me switching from Villa ( fan since 1977 ) ... so you might find people could get behind a new team ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MickeyC_UTV Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 13 minutes ago, zak said: I will switch over, why wouldnt i, if i could? i support the eagles but so what, im not from philly, i dont think i owe them anything. It will make my life more enjoyable to support the London Jags as i will go to their games. Can’t really agree with the sentiment I’m afraid, I’m not from Birmingham, I have lived in London since the age of 10, started supporting (following) the Villa when I was 13/14 ‘cos I was expected to follow a football team, I lived in West London at the time, QPR, Brentford, Fulham and Chelsea were all local, I had classmates from East London too but why did I choose the Villa well because they had a few Irish players in the squad, I could have chosen Aresnal, Man U or Liverpool at the time (Historically strong Irish following/connections) I guess but wanted something different. Then the Villa had 6/7 Irish players in the squad and obvs GOD. Interest wained a bit in football several years later (my early 20’s), resurfaced again after several more years but at no point when I started following footy again did I think I would just shun that team. I couldn’t find myself supporting anyone other that the Villa. Likewise ( to bring it back OT)I follow/support Green Bay, why? I don’t know, again early/mid 90’s NFL was something to talk about in the playground, I’m not from that area I’m not from America, no Internet access back then so no real reaserch but that team called out to me, maybe it was the uniforms (ooh err, colour scheme maybe - green and yellow flashes of white reminded me of the Irish Flag, I dunno) but again interest wained, and access to coverage once Channel 4 stopped showing highlights (didn’t have Sky or whatever it was called back then) but when I got back into it I couldn’t think of another team I would feel comfortable to support other than the first team I picked all those years ago... But maybe that is just me I remain Loyal in the decisions I have made in life, regardless how utterly shit they have been i.e. following Villa and watching the decline over the years and all those London based Liverpool/Manchester supporters, who like me have no affilication to the respective cities giving it the big un, when I could have easily chosen someone else and been a glory hunter, like so many others.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tegis Posted January 14, 2018 VT Supporter Share Posted January 14, 2018 All down to how balls deep you've gone in your team. I was "this" close to being a Houston Oilers fan when I discovered NFL as Warren Moon was awesome. But Elway had a comeback against them in that match and I was hooked. Was also close to being a Liverpool fan because it was the first game (Spurs) I saw. If you aren't hooked yet I see no issue in changing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milfner Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 7 hours ago, Tegis said: For the London part or the US-soil-games in general? The London part. All of them basically viewed it as a way of keeping the news cycle going. I disagree, because they’re obviously very serious about getting games over here. I don’t think the Americans pay much attention to the London games anyway, unless it’s their team playing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milfner Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 5 hours ago, Xela said: Sounds a bit arrogant New fans might support a UK franchise but existing fans won't. I certainly wouldn't. Zak’s post below sums their feelings up. All new UK (or even European) NFL fans will more than likely choose the London team. Why would you support a team 3000+ miles away that you can’t watch eight times a year over one that’s within 100 miles? (Not aimed directly at you Xela, just a general point) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StefanAVFC Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 Not a chance I'll follow any team with London in the name. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milfner Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 I’m not saying *you* would. I wouldn’t either. But it will happen with a lot fans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 5 minutes ago, Milfner said: Zak’s post below sums their feelings up. All new UK (or even European) NFL fans will more than likely choose the London team. Why would you support a team 3000+ miles away that you can’t watch eight times a year over one that’s within 100 miles? (Not aimed directly at you Xela, just a general point) Possibly, it would be interesting to have a poll Like you say, new fans may support a London team but a lot of people (me included) would never support a team with London in the name. I have no doubt a London team would sell out 8 times a year but I'd wager a large section would be supporting the road team or just general NFL fans like the international series. In general though I'm not in favour of it. I think any expansion should be in the States. There are plenty of cities who can support a franchise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hornso Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 What if it was based out of London/Wembley but the franchise was called the British Bulldogs or something similar? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LancsVillan Posted January 15, 2018 Moderator Share Posted January 15, 2018 Not a chance I would support a team from London, would find it hard to support anyone from outside Brum despitey living oop North Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zak Posted January 15, 2018 Share Posted January 15, 2018 Im not a New Fan, well iv been supporting the Eagles for over a decade so not a very new fan, anyway. The way i see it, i am going to enjoy NFL more if i support the London based team, as i will go to their games etc. Not supporting them because i chose to support a different team i have little affiliation with years ago or because they will have "London" in their team name and thus enjoying NFL less makes no sense to me. Why would you not support a team with London in the name? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StefanAVFC Posted January 15, 2018 Share Posted January 15, 2018 Why would I feel more affiliation to a team with London in the name, than I would for a team with Seattle in the name? I'm as much from London as I am from Seattle. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts