Will Logerfo, Staff Writer

This past Sunday the Detroit Lions and Atlanta Falcons faced off at Wembley Stadium in London, England. This matchup was the first of three different games the NFL will be hosting in England. The NFL first started having games in England in 2007 when the Miami Dolphins and New York Giants played at Wembley. Every year the debate always comes up, should the NFL permanently move a team to England? The answer is no.

American Football is a huge deal in the states but the rest of the world does not share the same fanaticism with the game that we do. When the games go to England the stadium is sold out because it is a huge spectacle and a great opportunity for Europeans to see a football game live, in person. However, if the NFL were to move a team to England there would not be a long lasting fan attendance if the team is a low level team, such as the much rumored Jacksonville Jaguars. If a team cannot be in the upper level of attendance in the United States, with a bunch of football crazed people, what would make the people in England want to go to the games consistently? If a winning team were to move into England the story would be different but the chances of a high end NFL team moving across the pond is very slim.

Another obstacle teams would face would be getting players to agree to play their home games in England. A team in England would have an incredibly difficult time getting players to sign with them in a different country when some players even have difficult times moving away from their home cities or the cities they have spent the majority of their time in.

Another major issue that the NFL will face is scheduling. The team in England will have to spend long periods of time in the United States and their schedules will be very complicated. Also, when teams go to England they will have to be given a bye week the week after to avoid jet lag and fatigue.

While the idea of expanding the NFL overseas to England seems like a great idea there are too many things that will prevent this idea from working.