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http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writ...hina/index.html
NFL to cancel China plans
Preseason game will be called off; more NFL notes
Posted: Sunday April 1, 2007 7:05PM; Updated: Sunday April 1, 2007 9:04PM
Beijing's Olympic Stadium, also knowns as the Bird's Nest, will likely house China's first NFL exhibition game in the summer of 2009.
The National Football League, which last summer trumpeted so proudly its entry into China with a planned preseason game between Seattle and New England that would take place in August, will announce early this week the game is canceled.
And the league won't take just a one-year hiatus from the Asian experiment, according to those with knowledge of plans for the game the NFL was calling the China Bowl. Because the Summer Olympics are set for Beijing in 2008, the league will skip 2008 and look to put a game in Olympic Stadium, now under construction, in the summer of 2009. The Pats and Seahawks were to have played Aug. 7 (the morning of Aug. 8 in the United States) in the well-worn Workers Stadium in Beijing, built in 1959 and renovated three years ago.
The reason for putting off the China Bowl, according to those familiar with the league's thinking, is twofold. The NFL is devoting tremendous manpower to the first regular-season game ever played outside North America -- Miami and the New York Giants will play Oct. 28 in London -- and the league doesn't want to risk cutting corners on either of the massive projects in order to stage both games 11 weeks apart. And though the Chinese would have put on a fine show this summer, doing it with more preparation time two years later -- particularly in a stadium that critics are already saying will be the finest outdoor sports venue in the world -- fits more into the NFL's vision of what its China debut should be.
League spokesman Greg Aiello, reached Sunday afternoon, declined comment. Spokesmen for both teams also declined comment. But an announcement could be made as early as Monday detailing the two-year postponement of the game.
The NFL rarely is caught with its pants down on a major story like this one. But why they had to pull the plug on the China game is easy to explain. The league announced the China Bowl last August, and it was expected that this would be the only international game of 2007. It took many at 280 Park Avenue by surprise in October, when owners voted to play an overseas regular-season game as early as 2007. And then again in February, when the league announced the regular-season game between the Giants and Dolphins in the new Wembley Stadium next October. And it soon became apparent, particularly with the England game being a regular-season one, that it would be impossible for each game to be the standard NFL production. Which is to say, big and brassy. "And there's no way the league would have gone to China for the first time unless they felt everything would be perfect about it,'' said one league insider.
The China Bowl was going to big event, not only in the country of 1.3 billion but in America as well. NBC planned to televise the game live at 8:30 a.m., using the Today Show as a lead-in. But NBC is probably not disappointed that the game will be called off, because the costs for staging such a game would likely far outweigh the return in ratings and ad revenue for a midweek morning preseason game, particularly one in which the starters would play such a small role. Preseason games in prime time get lousy ratings, so playing one when the country's at work would probably get microscopic ones.
The decision, once it reverberates around both organizations this week, will disappoint the two owners but certainly not the football sides of either team -- particularly the Patriots, who were set to send an advance group to Beijing on Sunday for early reconnaissance on the game but postponed the trip. New England owner Bob Kraft pushed to have his team play the first NFL game ever in China, in part because of the tremendous marketing opportunities such a game would create. When the game was announced last August, Kraft said his family's container business was New England's top exporter to China, and he called it a privilege and an honor to be one of the first teams to play football in China. Seattle owner Paul Allen said he "looked forward to developing relationships surrounding the game that will have a lasting impact.'' Clearly, the two owners felt the game would have major positive impacts on their business ventures in China.
But asking teams to travel halfway around the world in the middle of training camp has always been a slippery slope for NFL teams. I'm guessing you'll never hear a peep out of Bill Belichick on this story, but he's got to be jumping for joy that the game is off. The Patriots prefer to play their preseason games in the Eastern Time Zone to minimize disruptions to their summer schedule. For this trip, New England would have played a preseason game in Seattle the previous weekend, then traveled to Beijing for the game, then traveled back to Boston. In other words, within a seven-day span, the team would have flown six hours from Boston (or Providence) to Seattle, 12 hours from Seattle to Beijing, and 14 hours from Beijing to Boston. Not exactly ideal training-camp fare for a team trying to pare an 80-man roster. The travel would obviously have been less arduous for the Seahawks, but Mike Holmgren won't be too upset the game's being pulled from the schedule.
It's unclear whether the Patriots and Seahawks will still meet in a preseason game this year, but it's probable New England will try to get out of having to make a six-hour trip for an exhibition game.
The NFL certainly will soft-pedal the cancellation of the game, and you can understand the league wanting to make sure everything in the London contest runs smoothly, because of the playoff implications for both teams making the trip across the Atlantic. But putting off the China game for two years puts the league further behind the NBA, which began playing games in China in 2004. And in March, Major League Baseball said it was considering playing a season-opening regular-season series in China as early as next season. The Yankees are one of the teams to express interest in playing in such a series.
Basketball and baseball, obviously, are chasing the NFL in popularity. The NFL has to hope it won't get too far behind in the biggest country in the world by calling a timeout in China for two years.
NFL to cancel China plans
Preseason game will be called off; more NFL notes
Posted: Sunday April 1, 2007 7:05PM; Updated: Sunday April 1, 2007 9:04PM
Beijing's Olympic Stadium, also knowns as the Bird's Nest, will likely house China's first NFL exhibition game in the summer of 2009.
The National Football League, which last summer trumpeted so proudly its entry into China with a planned preseason game between Seattle and New England that would take place in August, will announce early this week the game is canceled.
And the league won't take just a one-year hiatus from the Asian experiment, according to those with knowledge of plans for the game the NFL was calling the China Bowl. Because the Summer Olympics are set for Beijing in 2008, the league will skip 2008 and look to put a game in Olympic Stadium, now under construction, in the summer of 2009. The Pats and Seahawks were to have played Aug. 7 (the morning of Aug. 8 in the United States) in the well-worn Workers Stadium in Beijing, built in 1959 and renovated three years ago.
The reason for putting off the China Bowl, according to those familiar with the league's thinking, is twofold. The NFL is devoting tremendous manpower to the first regular-season game ever played outside North America -- Miami and the New York Giants will play Oct. 28 in London -- and the league doesn't want to risk cutting corners on either of the massive projects in order to stage both games 11 weeks apart. And though the Chinese would have put on a fine show this summer, doing it with more preparation time two years later -- particularly in a stadium that critics are already saying will be the finest outdoor sports venue in the world -- fits more into the NFL's vision of what its China debut should be.
League spokesman Greg Aiello, reached Sunday afternoon, declined comment. Spokesmen for both teams also declined comment. But an announcement could be made as early as Monday detailing the two-year postponement of the game.
The NFL rarely is caught with its pants down on a major story like this one. But why they had to pull the plug on the China game is easy to explain. The league announced the China Bowl last August, and it was expected that this would be the only international game of 2007. It took many at 280 Park Avenue by surprise in October, when owners voted to play an overseas regular-season game as early as 2007. And then again in February, when the league announced the regular-season game between the Giants and Dolphins in the new Wembley Stadium next October. And it soon became apparent, particularly with the England game being a regular-season one, that it would be impossible for each game to be the standard NFL production. Which is to say, big and brassy. "And there's no way the league would have gone to China for the first time unless they felt everything would be perfect about it,'' said one league insider.
The China Bowl was going to big event, not only in the country of 1.3 billion but in America as well. NBC planned to televise the game live at 8:30 a.m., using the Today Show as a lead-in. But NBC is probably not disappointed that the game will be called off, because the costs for staging such a game would likely far outweigh the return in ratings and ad revenue for a midweek morning preseason game, particularly one in which the starters would play such a small role. Preseason games in prime time get lousy ratings, so playing one when the country's at work would probably get microscopic ones.
The decision, once it reverberates around both organizations this week, will disappoint the two owners but certainly not the football sides of either team -- particularly the Patriots, who were set to send an advance group to Beijing on Sunday for early reconnaissance on the game but postponed the trip. New England owner Bob Kraft pushed to have his team play the first NFL game ever in China, in part because of the tremendous marketing opportunities such a game would create. When the game was announced last August, Kraft said his family's container business was New England's top exporter to China, and he called it a privilege and an honor to be one of the first teams to play football in China. Seattle owner Paul Allen said he "looked forward to developing relationships surrounding the game that will have a lasting impact.'' Clearly, the two owners felt the game would have major positive impacts on their business ventures in China.
But asking teams to travel halfway around the world in the middle of training camp has always been a slippery slope for NFL teams. I'm guessing you'll never hear a peep out of Bill Belichick on this story, but he's got to be jumping for joy that the game is off. The Patriots prefer to play their preseason games in the Eastern Time Zone to minimize disruptions to their summer schedule. For this trip, New England would have played a preseason game in Seattle the previous weekend, then traveled to Beijing for the game, then traveled back to Boston. In other words, within a seven-day span, the team would have flown six hours from Boston (or Providence) to Seattle, 12 hours from Seattle to Beijing, and 14 hours from Beijing to Boston. Not exactly ideal training-camp fare for a team trying to pare an 80-man roster. The travel would obviously have been less arduous for the Seahawks, but Mike Holmgren won't be too upset the game's being pulled from the schedule.
It's unclear whether the Patriots and Seahawks will still meet in a preseason game this year, but it's probable New England will try to get out of having to make a six-hour trip for an exhibition game.
The NFL certainly will soft-pedal the cancellation of the game, and you can understand the league wanting to make sure everything in the London contest runs smoothly, because of the playoff implications for both teams making the trip across the Atlantic. But putting off the China game for two years puts the league further behind the NBA, which began playing games in China in 2004. And in March, Major League Baseball said it was considering playing a season-opening regular-season series in China as early as next season. The Yankees are one of the teams to express interest in playing in such a series.
Basketball and baseball, obviously, are chasing the NFL in popularity. The NFL has to hope it won't get too far behind in the biggest country in the world by calling a timeout in China for two years.
