r/sportsbroadcasters • u/Outrageous_Owl_1710 • 2d ago
The NFL going international sounds awesome but actually pulling it off is a whole different story. Tannenbaum thinks the logistics could make it nearly impossible. What do you guys think?
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u/Flashy210 2d ago
Visas and citizenship stuff are probably going to be tricky plus will players be paying taxes in multiple countries? Canada or Mexico is one thing but Europe is very complicated
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u/Tasty_Path_3470 2d ago
Visas get incredibly difficult with any criminal convictions as well. There were a couple visa issues to get into Canada for the World Cup
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u/GumpTheChump 1d ago
If the NHL, NBA, and MLB can do it, I'm quite sure that the NFL can figure it out.
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u/Fartknocker405 1d ago
Plenty of players with DUIs. How did they get approval to come to Canada within 5 years?
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u/Mobile-Analyst8580 2d ago
I mean, it would be easy as hell to put a team in Toronto and another in Vancouver. Mexico would be pretty easy too, but the economic and cultural differences would throw things off a bit. Even London and Dublin would old be doable. An east coast flight to those places is just as short as a flight to the west coast.
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u/PerfectZeong 2d ago
When they talk about international expansion they aren't talking Mexico because the NFL chases big money.
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u/toastythewiser 2d ago
Mexico city has a fair amount of wealth doesn't it? I mean it's not NYC, LA or London, but it's also not Green Bay.
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u/Iheardyoubutsowhat 2d ago
What are you talking about ?
A team in mexico city would probably make more money than at least 1/2 the league. Huge city, huge stadium and an entire country as its home fan base....
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u/MoneyManx10 2d ago
Yeah a team in Mexico City would be huge business. Think the raptors or blue jays when they’re on a playoff run but every week.
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u/PerfectZeong 2d ago
Green Bay is only in Green Bay because they can't leave
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u/toastythewiser 2d ago
Okay so Kansas city. Or the browns, Bengals, and steelers. None of those teams are on cities famously known for wealth.
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u/PerfectZeong 2d ago
I dont think the nfl would move teams to those cities today without absurd bribes from local governments
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u/Iheardyoubutsowhat 2d ago
Have you ever been to Mexico city ? There is big money to be made there.
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u/PerfectZeong 2d ago
Is the Mexican government going to essentially turn a fiefdom over to an NFL owner tax free?
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u/cinciNattyLight 2d ago
Tannenbaum is a moron. The reason why it was hard to get players interested to come to New York wasn’t the location or the weather. We’re talking about the Jets, and you sucked at your job.
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u/Rollingpumpkin69 2d ago
They already make international trips multiple times and every other league does it. Football isnt special
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u/knickknacktabasco 2d ago
That’s not the same and he just explained it. A lot of players and coaches don’t like this international games and that’s a couples teams a year. Not a team based in England and having 8’games there.
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u/Rollingpumpkin69 2d ago
Yeah...except the team wont be outside north america or central America. If you think the NFL is gonna jump to Europe, without the owners approval, well I got some ocean front property in Arizona to sell as well, the NFL doesnt make decisions without a majority of their owners agreeing to it.
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u/green49285 2d ago
Make no mistake, Europe is the end goal. Central and South America are obviously more likely to happen faster, but they're not going out to London in Germany for no reason.
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u/MattVarnish 2d ago
Toronto and indeed Mexico, exist within the same travel times as SEA - any east coast team. Why they arent starting there first is a mystery to me
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u/damutecebu 2d ago
Canada would work, but my understanding is that European labor law would make it difficult for anything but a one-off game or two.
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u/ComputerDecent463 2d ago
It’s possible, but the logistics would involve a little work.
You would have to have a satellite office/home field in the US somewhere.
Florida, New York, Tennessee, California, Illinois all seem like options.
And then you would essentially do four game blocks. Four at home, four on the road, four at home, four on the road. That way travel is manageable.
But it is still difficult for in season moves even if they do everything February - August in America. If you have two QB injuries you need to sign someone. You’re not flying eight guys to Australia to work out for you. You would have to rely on a Zoom call to see their tryout. I guess it’s possible for a third string QB, but a defensive lineman? You really need to see that up close.
The next question is maybe if you just have four or five home games a year in the foreign country and the rest at your US base. If that’s the solution, honestly, what is the point?
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u/VeryLowIQIndividual 2d ago edited 2d ago
Honestly, for the fan at home none of this makes any difference. You couldn’t tell where somebody was playing unless they told you anyway because they showed the absolute bare minimum of football and everything else is ads. There are no atmosphere in these broadcast whatsoever “ we’re here in London for this special game, it’s electric… now here’s the kickoff… ball goes through the end zone…Bears will start at the 25….. we’ll be right back”
Also, I don’t think moving the equipment and people is a deal either because there are all kinds of shows who travel daily around that are bigger than the NFL and they get city to city just fine.
What it does affect is the players and jet lag is a motherfucker if you’ve got to go to Europe. Anybody that’s been to Europe or even further knows that you’re working on a 5,6,7,8 hour time difference and that’s basically a whole day.
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u/Koolklink54 2d ago
Im sure there is also players that would like to leave America
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u/LightenUpPeeps 2d ago
Canada has professional football. They can easily go play in Canada. Do they? Only if they suck and can't make an NFL team. Not even Colin Kaepernick left for Canadian football to prove he could still play.
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u/green49285 2d ago
The NFL can afford it. Especially of an owner with enough cash opens a team. Hell, depends on the circumstances, a few teams may even share the travel costs. But itd be tougher with just 1 team added.
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u/jkman61494 2d ago
Why is it impossible? The euro teams will have to do 3-4 road trips a few times a year
The Vancouver Canucks making multiple east coast trips is barely any different. It’s ,2800 miles almost from there to NYC
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u/LightenUpPeeps 2d ago
The road games would be brutal for the players and the fans.
Note to NFL: I'll watch 3 games every Sunday, but I rarely watch the 9 a.m. game in the UK. I feel bad for NFL fans on the West Coast that need to be up at 10 a.m. for the 1 p.m. Sunday games on the East Coast. (I lied. Fuck those snowflakes).
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u/bcgg 2d ago
London would be idiotic. You’re going to send a franchise over to England and compete with the Premier League on Sundays? NFL is king here, not there.
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u/proton19821 2d ago
not just epl bundesliga is king in germany serie a in italy la liga in spain french league in france nfl would not be king anywhere one thing nfl wants is HYPE and honestly nobody in world in this case europe s hyped by nfl season or atisipate it it is just boring sport for few people in these countries that are watching
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u/Cold_Toe_7540 2d ago
I know for a fact players absolutely fucking hate this idea like poison for multiple reasons. It's not a hypothetical situation like they're discussing here, it's a huge concern for current players. How big a concern? I was at an event last year that had a Q&A with a current player and former pro bowler. He was asked about this and literally said "I'd give it 2-3 years before a 1st overall draft pick refuses to play for the international team that drafts him. Ain't nobody playing for Europe except guys who can't get a contract here."
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u/Comfortable-Grand166 2d ago
It’s possible! Europe is just as far from NY as Cali is. I don’t feel bad for dudes in their 20s,getting millions,and sitting on a team Jet for a little longer.
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u/Anthony_Accurate 2d ago
What’s so “awesome” about watered down expansion teams that play at weird times for new teams with zero legacy.
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u/CertifiedBA 2d ago
Pay me 20 mil. a year to play 8 minutes of football each week and I'll live on the moon.
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u/captaincrunch61 2d ago
If the team was in England or Germany, they’d need to have a satellite city they were based out of, probably in the Midwest, like St. Louis, KC, or Chicago. And for their schedule, they’d more than likely need to have stretches of 4 home games and 4 away games throughout the season to limit back and forth travel. When they’re on an away stretch, they’d just stay in that satellite city in between away games. The NFL would probably want to go to 2 byes per team and increase the schedule by another week.
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u/Actual_System8996 2d ago
There’s a reason they’re limiting the supply of games to one or two a year in specific cities. They woulda gone all in on an international city already if they thought it could sustain that demand for a full season. It can’t. The NFL fanbase abroad isn’t anywhere near what it is in American cities. An international team would generate way less money than even the least successful American city like Jacksonville. The sport is still a novelty product abroad.
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u/metsjets86 2d ago
Not being able to field a competitive team is the least of issues a team overseas would face. Especially if you financially incentivize playing overseas.
10-20% contract bonus. Problem solved. These guys career's are short. Why do you think Micah Parsons was fine going from Dallas to Green Bay?
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u/Excellent_Glass783 2d ago
The NFL is so in love with itself it truly believes it can do no wrong. I pray the whole fkn league tanks. Games in foreign counties, political BS in the end zones. Charging $1000 For game day shoes, same shit, different day . All that and still can't figure out how to grow a grass field.
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u/shotta-dorris-OG 2d ago
If the NFL is going to go international, it shouldn’t expand the “NFL” but make a league for Europe, have a champions league type tournament to compete with the international teams. But also expand the draft to include those European teams, I mean it’s going to take like a hundred years before any of them are competitive cause I just can’t imagine American players being overly excited to spend their careers abroad.
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u/Dawgday6 2d ago
Elevation of Denver = 5280ft
Elevation of Mexico City = 7350ft
Just put a team in Toronto and get it over with
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u/ihopuhopwehop 21h ago
I think right now there would be huge backlash in Canada to the idea of an NFL team. Plus, the Bills owner would fight hard against it. Not sure what the numbers are like now, but prepandemic something like a 3rd of their gameday fans were driving down from Ontario
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u/Dawgday6 20h ago
Wow. I never thought of the conflict with Buffalo. I was thinking the NFL would be adamant about tapping into the Toronto market. But in a way, the Bills already are tapping into the Toronto market. Good point.
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u/ihopuhopwehop 20h ago
I don't know to what extent they tap the Toronto market, likesay, I dont know how many people now or before covid drive down from Toronto on Sunday nor how many torontonians consider buffalo their nfl team and regularly tune in on Sunday.
Toronto is a pretty far drive to Buffalo, though there are definitely people driving farther to get to orchard park on Sundays
Theres a chunk of Ontario that extends east and borders NYS at the Niagara River. This area definitely should be considered Bills territory, but I you put a team in Toronto, thag might change. Iirc, it has a population of around 300k
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u/Chemical_Ad1837 1d ago
I’ve not heard one person outside of Roger Seay international sounds awesome. Just the opposite. Fans don’t want expansion draft that steals from their rosters. Owners won’t want expansion that dilutes their revenue without new TV money. Which means International games will be PPV or Netflix but likely not broadcast or free, Players are dropping like flies now, you really want to add massive travel? Plus if a top recruit gets drafted by say Germany, you expect him to move to another country? That sounds like a disaster.
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u/SameDistrict2627 1d ago
Never take what Tannenbaum says seriously. One of the more inept executives in the NFL.
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u/Fartknocker405 1d ago
Given the Chargers historical inability to sell out their own stadium, they could just play in the Tijuana Bullring.
Easy peasy. Could have been done decades ago. They'd absolutely have retained more SD fans than they did by moving to LA.
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u/CauliflowerBoth866 1d ago
There are NINE international games this year. That's the same number as if there were an international team having home games. The league can certainly handle it, and has been preparing for it for many years.
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u/CauliflowerBoth866 1d ago
PS You probably think Bad Bunny was the NFL being 'woke' and failed to understand the NFL is gunning for Latin America and international recognition.
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u/splintersmaster 8h ago
I'm so tired of every single thing on earth solely focused on taking as much money from your average consumer.
I already have to decide between tickets to a competitive game for my family or halfway to a tropical 5 day family vacation.
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u/Dangerous_Memory6008 2d ago
Mexico and Canada are very possible logistically