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For NFL fans against the international expansion, is there anything we can do to stop/prevent it? Or at least voice our concerns? (2 Viewers)

I might be with you if the Vikings aren't granted territorial rights in Scandinavia.

Beyond that, I'm opposed to gatekeeping the sport, but maybe I just haven't been burned by having a 7am player scratch in my fantasy lineup.
 
Are you against overseas games or are you against them expanding to overseas teams?
Both.

But if they are hell bent on creating oversea teams, it should be separate league, imo. Stop sending our teams overseas.

As has been stated in several of these threads before, the general consensus from fans overseas is that we don't want a non-US franchise either, and are happy with the status quo and/or marginal increases in counts of overseas games, as long as it does not result in any player health issues from increased amounts of long distance travel in short times and/or putting on too many games which results in dilution of the quality of the product. We've (the international audience) half got your back!

Edit - by non-US, I'm meaning a team in Europe. I don't think anyone would care either way if a future expansion included the Vancouver Velociraptors or whatever
 
Jump on horse, pick up lance, charge the windmill. And good luck.
This is the answer. The NFL already has your disapproval baked into the business analysis they’ve done. They have surely collected detailed, granular data on viewership and already know within set parameters how much potenital loss there’ll be in domestic viewers vs capturing viewership in overseas markets.

Not to mention, new markets mean new TV deals, new opportunities to sell licensed merch, etc. They know some of us will hate it and some will actually leave the sport. They already know about how many, too.

But, it’s the future of the league, unfortunately. Even if it will wnd up watering down the product.
 
Jump on horse, pick up lance, charge the windmill. And good luck.
This is the answer. The NFL already has your disapproval baked into the business analysis they’ve done. They have surely collected detailed, granular data on viewership and already know within set parameters how much potenital loss there’ll be in domestic viewers vs capturing viewership in overseas markets.

Not to mention, new markets mean new TV deals, new opportunities to sell licensed merch, etc. They know some of us will hate it and some will actually leave the sport. They already know about how many, too.

But, it’s the future of the league, unfortunately. Even if it will wnd up watering down the product.
In the same way a draft lottery is in the future as well. When guys like Schefter are beginning to promote it you get the feeling that the fix may be in.

A lottery would get massive ratings and would be another day and way for the NFL to make money and keep itself in the limelight.
 
Seems like a perfect opportunity for people to grab pitch forks and see what type of mischief we can get done.

Honestly though, I don't have any problem with games being played overseas as a fan. Be interesting what the percentage of players are for and against it. I cant imagine being a player and having to travel to Europe for a game. I wouldn't like it. I don't want a permanent team over there. We got plenty of cities here that could use the revenue. Imo
 
@eoMMan has something of a point. Suppose an NFL team travels to Europe for a game and then the team and/or one or more of its players is not allowed to re-enter the US? Talk about a fantasy lineup nightmare.
 
Despise these international games for many reasons but alas, there is nothing that can or will be done. Frankly, this is probably the beginning of many more. It will be a continual expansion. The owners and the commish see nothing but $$$$$$ and if there is an increasing market with demand - they will schedule it.
 
Even if you dislike international games, there is an easy solution the NFL will never take - more bye weeks. Rather than forcing teams to play 17 or 18 games, 3 bye weeks would create your 19 weeks of regular season football, ease international travel and help with injury recovery times.
 
Edit - by non-US, I'm meaning a team in Europe. I don't think anyone would care either way if a future expansion included the Vancouver Velociraptors or whatever
The players who had to pay taxes at Vancouver rates instead of, say Florida or Texas rates would care a lot I imagine.
 
Jump on horse, pick up lance, charge the windmill. And good luck.
This is the answer. The NFL already has your disapproval baked into the business analysis they’ve done. They have surely collected detailed, granular data on viewership and already know within set parameters how much potenital loss there’ll be in domestic viewers vs capturing viewership in overseas markets.

Not to mention, new markets mean new TV deals, new opportunities to sell licensed merch, etc. They know some of us will hate it and some will actually leave the sport. They already know about how many, too.

But, it’s the future of the league, unfortunately. Even if it will wnd up watering down the product.
In the same way a draft lottery is in the future as well. When guys like Schefter are beginning to promote it you get the feeling that the fix may be in.

A lottery would get massive ratings and would be another day and way for the NFL to make money and keep itself in the limelight.
This is probably due it's own thread; but a draft lottery would kill the league and my desire to watch it far quicker than all these other money grab changes they are making combined. Look at the NBA and how this system has failed their league for the last decade +. Ask the Wizards, Pelicans, Suns, and Hornets (and their fans) how they like the lottery system. The worst teams should get the best picks, full stop. The way our league is (currently at least) designed, there is no real tanking in the NFL. Coaches and players will never mail it in as without fully guaranteed contracts, they are all literally playing for their jobs every single game/week/season. And besides, lottery wouldn't change that anyway; again look at the NBA. 1/3rd of the league stopped playing in March. They won't even play their starters. Who is paying to go to those games? Hell, who is even tuning in on TV to watch them?

How anyone outside of Dallas, Texas just watched what happened in the NBA lottery this year and said "Yeah, that's what we need in my favorite sports league" is fn insane. It's literal ragebait. It's someone posting online how Godfather and Schindler's List are 1 star movies, but Morbius and Madame Web are 5 stars and deserved academy awards.

A draft lottery would be the single worst thing to ever happen to the league IMO, and I believe within 10 years or less would essentially damage several franchises to the point of no return. Within 20 we'd be the NBA, if not worse.
 
Edit - by non-US, I'm meaning a team in Europe. I don't think anyone would care either way if a future expansion included the Vancouver Velociraptors or whatever
The players who had to pay taxes at Vancouver rates instead of, say Florida or Texas rates would care a lot I imagine.
Expansion from Canada seems like it'll never happen. Vancouver, Toronto and arguably Montreal are all too close to existing teams/markets.

As a larger question, I wonder if expansion of franchises really is on the table (I don't doubt expansion of international games will continue). The expansion fee is going to be gargantuan to compensate for the permanent fractional loss of television money each club will take.

The pool of humans who can afford such an expansion fee is dwindling. Do the owners want to end up in business with the Saudi foreign investment fund? Even for the NFL there might be limits to the dollar signs...bringing in a group like the Saudis would suddenly make Jerry Jones a medium-size fish in the pond. Not sure the richest owners are going to go for it.
 
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I brought this up in another thread, but the NFL might as well make every team play one international game each season. That would fit perfectly with the 17-week schedule (8 home, 8 away, 1 international), no one loses a home game, and you get more international games overall.
 
Even if you dislike international games, there is an easy solution the NFL will never take - more bye weeks. Rather than forcing teams to play 17 or 18 games, 3 bye weeks would create your 19 weeks of regular season football, ease international travel and help with injury recovery times.
I've been advocating that the NFL add a bye week(so two per team.) That lengthens the schedule by a week without adding any games. Each of the 32 teams could appear in one international game. So 16 international games a season. Each team would have eight home games eight road games and their 17th game would be the international game. The travelling teams get one of their bye weeks the week before the international game. Or perhaps after the international game to help with recovery. Begin bye weeks in week 2 and start international games in week 3. Bye weeks end in week 17, and the last international game is week 18. Or start international games in week 2 and bye weeks in week 3. I'd personally suggest the International games be the Thursday game as often as possible. It would be nice to have bye week to travel to international game played on Thursday then have the 8-9 days of recovery time after the game. I doubt the promoters in these international cities want that as they'd prefer weekend to draw fans but if that's a condition there will still probably be bidders to host.
When I say international game I also envision a system where US cities could participate if they're the highest bidder. Cities like St. Louis, MO, Birmingham, AL, San Antonio, TX or San Diego, CA could bid to host a week of even multiple weeks. I could also see a situation where NFL cities that always sell out big stadiums could bid to host a 9th home game but would have to share gate receipts with visiting team.
 
Edit - by non-US, I'm meaning a team in Europe. I don't think anyone would care either way if a future expansion included the Vancouver Velociraptors or whatever
The players who had to pay taxes at Vancouver rates instead of, say Florida or Texas rates would care a lot I imagine.
I just picked (generic Canadian city) just to distinguish from a franchise across the pond
It applies to any Canadian team. The personal income tax rate will be significantly higher than in the states. Compared to states with no personal income tax like Florida, Texas, Nevada etc they will be "losing" a lot of dollars. Even compared to states like California and New York they will still have less take home pay overall.

It's not insurmountable but it's definitely harder to field a competitive team that splits games between Canada and the US.

The last Canadian team to win a Stanley Cup was Montreal in 1993 which, was also the last year a Canadian baseball team won the World Series (Toronto).

The Raptors won the NBA Championship in 2019 and they were competitive between 2014-2022.

But it's definitely a challenge to maintain competitiveness in Canada.
 
The games will continue to happen. Having a franchise in London or pick a big foreign city will never happen in our lifetime. Players won't want to move over there for eight to nine months a year.
 
Jump on horse, pick up lance, charge the windmill. And good luck.
This is the answer. The NFL already has your disapproval baked into the business analysis they’ve done. They have surely collected detailed, granular data on viewership and already know within set parameters how much potenital loss there’ll be in domestic viewers vs capturing viewership in overseas markets.

Not to mention, new markets mean new TV deals, new opportunities to sell licensed merch, etc. They know some of us will hate it and some will actually leave the sport. They already know about how many, too.

But, it’s the future of the league, unfortunately. Even if it will wnd up watering down the product.
In the same way a draft lottery is in the future as well. When guys like Schefter are beginning to promote it you get the feeling that the fix may be in.

A lottery would get massive ratings and would be another day and way for the NFL to make money and keep itself in the limelight.
This is probably due it's own thread; but a draft lottery would kill the league and my desire to watch it far quicker than all these other money grab changes they are making combined. Look at the NBA and how this system has failed their league for the last decade +. Ask the Wizards, Pelicans, Suns, and Hornets (and their fans) how they like the lottery system. The worst teams should get the best picks, full stop. The way our league is (currently at least) designed, there is no real tanking in the NFL. Coaches and players will never mail it in as without fully guaranteed contracts, they are all literally playing for their jobs every single game/week/season. And besides, lottery wouldn't change that anyway; again look at the NBA. 1/3rd of the league stopped playing in March. They won't even play their starters. Who is paying to go to those games? Hell, who is even tuning in on TV to watch them?

How anyone outside of Dallas, Texas just watched what happened in the NBA lottery this year and said "Yeah, that's what we need in my favorite sports league" is fn insane. It's literal ragebait. It's someone posting online how Godfather and Schindler's List are 1 star movies, but Morbius and Madame Web are 5 stars and deserved academy awards.

A draft lottery would be the single worst thing to ever happen to the league IMO, and I believe within 10 years or less would essentially damage several franchises to the point of no return. Within 20 we'd be the NBA, if not worse.
Yep.

I already have one foot out the door. This would be the end of me as an NFL fan forever.
 
The NFL stinks. For me it’s not so much the rules that’s ruined the game- it’s the lack of integrity. They have reached the NBA level of officiating shenanigans.

A lottery is insane and I see it as more manipulation by the league. They want control over where these top guys go.
I think a lottery is not all that likely as a future outcome.

1. As others have noted, the rookie wage scale and volume-based incentives highly discourage players from tanking. The collective bargaining agreement would have to be re-negotiated.

2. Teams intentionally tanking would damage fantasy football and gambling, both of which are significant drivers of TV viewership.

3. Coach-GM tandems generally are given 3-4 years to turn around a struggling team. Coaches and GMs are going to demand 6-7 year contracts if their first 2-3 years will be intentional tanking. As coach and GM salaries are not capped (see Sean Payton's contract), this is a potential liability for owners.

4. Given that TV is the fatted calf of the NFL, encouraging teams to engage in a 76ers-esque half-decade tank could have pretty significant ramifications on current and future TV contracts. Most narratives are about national ratings, but we shouldn't forget how the NFL drives local TV ratings, and how affiliates of FOX and CBS are extremely dependent on local market viewership.

If you read the history of FOX taking over the CBS NFC contract, some media experts argue CBS has never recovered from this. Numerous affiliates simply dropped off the network and became FOX affiliates. The networks, and their affiliates, are not going to accept a dormant market for 5 years. This would challenge the NFL's ability to essentially print money with TV contracts. And as we're seeing with other sports (MLB), there can be a tipping point to TV money expansion.

Given the necessity of the QB position, teams would have every incentive to engage in a long-term tank job, from an on-the-field perspective at least.
 
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The NFL stinks. For me it’s not so much the rules that’s ruined the game- it’s the lack of integrity. They have reached the NBA level of officiating shenanigans.

A lottery is insane and I see it as more manipulation by the league. They want control over where these top guys go.
It cracks me up when Cowboys fans complain about officiating. You've been on the right side of calls for decades.
 
The NFL stinks. For me it’s not so much the rules that’s ruined the game- it’s the lack of integrity. They have reached the NBA level of officiating shenanigans.

A lottery is insane and I see it as more manipulation by the league. They want control over where these top guys go.
It cracks me up when Cowboys fans complain about officiating. You've been on the right side of calls for decades.

Yes. The Cowboys have gotten all the calls for at least the last three decades as evidence by all the post season success and championships. There hasn’t been one memorable play overturned by the NFL.
 
Even if you dislike international games, there is an easy solution the NFL will never take - more bye weeks. Rather than forcing teams to play 17 or 18 games, 3 bye weeks would create your 19 weeks of regular season football, ease international travel and help with injury recovery times.
I've been advocating that the NFL add a bye week(so two per team.) That lengthens the schedule by a week without adding any games. Each of the 32 teams could appear in one international game. So 16 international games a season. Each team would have eight home games eight road games and their 17th game would be the international game. The travelling teams get one of their bye weeks the week before the international game. Or perhaps after the international game to help with recovery. Begin bye weeks in week 2 and start international games in week 3. Bye weeks end in week 17, and the last international game is week 18. Or start international games in week 2 and bye weeks in week 3. I'd personally suggest the International games be the Thursday game as often as possible. It would be nice to have bye week to travel to international game played on Thursday then have the 8-9 days of recovery time after the game. I doubt the promoters in these international cities want that as they'd prefer weekend to draw fans but if that's a condition there will still probably be bidders to host.
When I say international game I also envision a system where US cities could participate if they're the highest bidder. Cities like St. Louis, MO, Birmingham, AL, San Antonio, TX or San Diego, CA could bid to host a week of even multiple weeks. I could also see a situation where NFL cities that always sell out big stadiums could bid to host a 9th home game but would have to share gate receipts with visiting team.

I think it's an interesting idea to go with one neutral game per season for all and getting other North American markets involved along with the other international sites. Unfortunately, those are all sub-par NFL stadiums and not exactly travel destinations, with the exception of San Antonio. San Diego's current stadium is too small.

I would think a neutral site game in Orlando between two of the Bucs/Dolphins/Jags might be the most viable option in NA. Maybe a KC vs Cincy/Indy/Rams could be pulled off in St. Louis. Overall, probably not enough upside compared to other international options or just keeping the status quo. To your second point, neutral site games between teams that either travel well or have a large transplant populace living in current NFL destination markets with big domes such as Las Vegas or Nashville might actually have the best chance. Then again, by the time you give the Raiders/Titans/Cardinals their cut, it probably doesn't pay even if you can fill the stadium.
 
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