Roger Maslin confirmed it was “unlikely” the Football Association would demand 10-year extensions when 70 per cent of corporate seats at the stadium come up for renewal in 2017.
And he revealed he would “quite possibly” offer five and seven-year packages as an alternative to those which cost a minimum of around £50,000 when they were snapped up when Wembley opened back in 2007.
Surveys of the Club Wembley membership revealed the number of debenture holders prepared to renew for another decade was alarmingly low, with corporate customers deciding the stadium’s annual calendar of matches did not represent value for money.
“We’re looking at various options there,” Maslin said, speaking as the FA unveiled its financial statement for the year ending Dec 31, 2012.
Figures showed turnover was down slightly from £329.1 million to £317.5 million, with profit also dipping from £39.9 million to £35 million, partly as a result of the Olympic Games and there being no
Champions League final at Wembley in 2012.
The Wembley business plan is underpinned by debentures and failure to sell them out would leave the FA scrambling around for other income.
So it was no surprise to see Maslin give a ringing endorsement to the notion of the stadium becoming the permanent home of an NFL franchise or hosting the Super Bowl.
Maslin was confident the ground could stage an entire regular season of eight NFL games.
He said: “Football is our priority. But, yes, I’m absolutely confident that if [NFL commissioner] Roger Goodell wanted to have franchise here then we could absolutely do it.”
Maslin also expressed his desire to bring the Super Bowl to Wembley, adding: “If they were bringing it anywhere in the world, we want it here.”
That could happen one day, according to the man in charge of American Football in Britain.
NFL UK managing director Alistair Kirkwood also revealed he was in negotiations over staging three regular-season matches in London in 2014, with this year two being held in the capital during a single campaign for the first time.
On Sunday Wembley hosts the first of them when the Pittsburgh Steelers play the Minnesota Vikings, before the Jacksonville Jaguars take on the San Francisco 49ers there on Oct 27.
The spectacular success of the NFL’s decision to allow matches to be played in London has led to calls for the city to host its own permanent franchise and Kirkwood told
Telegraph Sport: “It’s possible that it could be done before the end of the decade.”
However, he warned that 24 of the 32 current NFL owners would have to agree any such move, adding: “I think the league should have aspirations to be global and having a London franchise would be a great step towards it, but it would have to be under certain conditions.”
One of those conditions would be “tripling” the UK fan base for American football, according to Kirkwood, who said a London franchise was not inevitable.
Having signed a four-year deal to play one home game in London until 2016, the Jaguars look the most likely candidate to move – particularly after owner Shahid Khan bought
Premier League club
Fulham.
Kirkwood warned the prospect of Wembley hosting the Super Bowl was much further away but cited the fact New York was hosting the event for the first time next year as evidence it was not an impossible dream.
