The NFL has been talking for a while about expanding the league. The idea is that they want to have more teams in different cities in order to expand the already massive fan base. Cities such as LA, Las Vegas, Portland, and Toronto have all been considered. All of these cities make a lot of sense. Take Toronto for example. Toronto already has a major team in every other sport, and by adding a team an NFL there, the NFL is expanding its fan base into Canada. The NFL however does not see it this way. Their top pick for the expansion team is London. Yes, that London. Not the one in Canada, but then one in England. The city that is a 6 hour flight across the Atlantic and is 5 hours ahead of the East coast and 8 hour ahead of the West coast. The city that is in a country that is absolutely obsessed with the other kind of the football, the kind that they invented.
Putting a team in London comes with so many problems that at a simple glance it makes zero sense. The fact time difference alone should put a stop to this whole idea. However, the time difference is not the biggest issue. The biggest issue is the fact that whatever team is put there would be in direct competition with all of their football (soccer) teams. In England, the football games are played at 1, 3, and 5 GMT on Saturdays and Sundays. Because of this, in order for their to be zero conflict with the Premiere League, the NFL would have to play at 10 or 8 GMT. That would result in a 5 a.m. game or a 3 p.m. game over here in the States. That time is just unreasonable. The reason why the team would be stuck playing at these times is because the NFL would be in direct competition with all the EPL teams for fan support. And that NFL team would lose 10 times out of 10. Soccer in England is more than a sport, it’s a religion. It is more ingrained in the culture than the NFL is here. The entire country revolves around their soccer teams.
Now some people may try to argue that whenever the NFL has teams play in England the games always sell out. What these people don't realize is that the reason these games sell out is simply because it is a once a years opportunity for those people to see an NFL game. It would be the same if Manchester United played Manchester City in America. That game would sell out in an instant. But no one would miss their NFL team playing week after to week to go watch some soccer team that they like watching but don't really care about.
To sum up my point here, putting an NFL team in England would be an absolute disaster because there is no strong following of the NFL over there and the fact that the games would be in direct contention with the EPL is a death blow. The NFL may be a super power over here in North America, but any attempt by them to expand into Europe would be met with absolute failure. If the NFL wants to expand, they should stick to America or Canada.
