The NFL is serious about expanding the American version of football’s influence to the international market. So serious, it’s seriously thinking about a Super Bowl in London
Commissioner Roger Goodell spoke to a fan forum in London last week to promote the Baltimore Ravens/Tennessee Titans regular season game in the city. While admitting such a move is not happening soon, he said it has been considerered.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter first reported the news.
“It is not impossible, and it is something that has been discussed before,” Goodell said.
The next three Super Bowls are slated for Las Vegas, New Orleans and Santa Clara. But after that, it’s wide open, even though the league prefers to support cities with existing NFL franchises. The league has done regular season games in London, Germany and Mexico, and is said to be considering Spain and Brazil. A league official said it was also considering staging a game in Australia, although the time zone constraints are considerable.
Goodell said at the fan forum: “I think that is not out of the question. But at the end of the day, I think right now our formula will stay the same about playing [Super Bowls] in cities that have franchises.”
A London Super Bowl would have time challenges. To keep the Super Bowl anywhere near its traditional time slots in the evening, the game would have to start at 8:30 local time, which is 3:30 ET and 12:30 PM on the West Coast.
Kickoff times for the three London games this season have been 9:30 a.m. ET, 2:30 p.m. local time.
