Now three years ago, I made my iconic video ‘Can the NFL work in London’.
If you didn’t watch it, I’ll leave the link in the description below, but it basically
outlined that whilst the NFL is commercially viable here in England, and if an NFL team
were to be put there it would be financially successful, the chances of a franchise moving
to London are still slim and none. Whilst my video caused a little controversy
and numerous haters running their mouths off, I was largely correct.
There are just too many obstacles they needed to overcome and that the NFL wouldn’t be
coming to London anytime soon. But boy what a difference three years makes.
Because with every passing day – it’s looking more likely that the Jaguars will
be moving to London permanently. And let me tell you why.
1) Wembley Stadium. Previously, I mentioned that the England National
Team would have final say over whether an NFL team could play there due to the fact
that the English Football Association technically owns the stadium.
Shahid Khan, the owner of the Jaguars – has just offered to buy Wembley Stadium for £900
million - an offer that the English FA might not be in a position to refuse. Especially
on a building that is quickly depreciating. This is huge, because if this happens – there
will be no restrictions as to when the Jaguars could play there, and the England National
team would have absolutely no say whatsoever, because they no longer own the stadium. They’d
just be another paying tenant … if Shahid Khan lets them.
Now you could hypothesise that he wants to turn Fulham Football Club into some kind of
super-club, but this is false because Fulham can’t even sell out 26,000 seats at Craven
Cottage, let alone the 90,000 of Wembley. Besides, Fulham are shit.
Let’s face it, he’s lining up Wembley for the Jaguars. Speaking of which.
2) New White Hart Lane Stadium. Three years ago, nobody knew that Tottenham
Hotspur were planning on updating their stadium, and certainly not one that can fit an NFL
field on it. But as it happens – they’ve done just that. New White Hart Lane is currently
under construction with a retractable field to potentially lure an NFL franchise to play
their permanently. So if Shahid Khan doesn’t buy Wembley – he has a very good plan B.
3) Brainwashing. Making the Jags play in London every year
is intentional, both from a business and fan standpoint. It’s not just about the amount
of money they make (which is a lot), it’s not just about selling out the stadium (which
they never do in Jacksonville), it’s about brainwashing the British public. The Jaguars
are the only NFL team to have an official UK fan club, a permanent UK base and are the
only team that have heavily marketed to the British public, even though they play in Florida.
They’re pretty much everywhere. If you’re trying to attract new fans – it
helps to be the only team that people have heard of.
The road has been paved for British fans to welcome the Jaguars to London should they
move here permanently. Certainly helps that they’ve been blowing
out jet lagged teams on this side of the pond recently.
4) It’s the new Plan A Los Angeles, the NFL’s preferred city for
relocation three years ago now has not just one, but two NFL teams. Fuck you Spanos. Las
Vegas also has a team – and the three cities that are left behind can’t get new stadiums.
This realistically leaves a few places left in North America that could support an NFL
Franchise and none of them have expressed any interest in doing so.
This leaves London as pretty much the only option left. And the team that’s in most
need of a new start in a new city (apart from those shitty Browns) is the Jaguars. Coincidence?
I think not. 5) The Vegas Golden Knights.
Wait, what does a hockey team have to do with the NFL in London? Unless you’ve been sleeping
under a rock for the last year - the Golden Knights are the brand new hockey team based
out of Las Vegas, Nevada. A city with absolutely NO history of any professional
sports team and very limited exposure to hockey in general. But not only have they survived,
they have become a runaway success – the people of Vegas love them and (unlike my beloved
Maple Leafs), they’re still in the playoffs. They have been a whirlwind success in a city
who didn’t know who they were or what sport they played just over a year ago. London is
infinitely bigger and they already know who the Jaguars are. My point is that questions
pertaining to whether London would attract fans to the games would be moot, because if
they play their cards right, there’s no reason why London can’t create the same
fervent support just like the Golden Knights. 6) The Toronto Wolfpack.
Who?!?! Okay bear with me on this one. The Toronto Wolfpack formed last year as a
professional Rugby League team … and they play here – in the Kingstone Press Championship
… in England. Yes, the Toronto Wolfpack – the Toronto
– Wolfpack - is the first transatlantic professional sports team.
People said that it couldn’t be done. People said that it was stupid setting up
a team playing a sport that Canadians have never heard of, in a city that isn’t short
on professional teams, against well-established English Rugby clubss.
People said that this would be a complete disaster.
But no … … Toronto kicked the crap out of everyone.
They lost only one game all season on the way to the League 1 title and they’re doing
the same in the championship this season. It’s only a matter of time before they reach
the Super League – the top tier league in England. Not bad for a team that only started
playing last year. How do they do it? I hear you ask?
Well, they play 3 to 4 games away from home, being based in Manchester when they’re in
England before flying back to Toronto and spending 3 to 4 weeks there, and playing opposing
teams flying in from Europe. Not only have they proved that a transatlantic
team is possible, they’ve also shown that they can remain competitive doing so.
The Jaguars could be based in London for 3 to 4 weeks, and then use Jacksonville as a
base for 3 to 4 weeks when they go on a road trip.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s still some issues. The players and staff moving to a
different country, raising the salary cap for just one team, different laws, customs
problems, pissing off the Jacksonville faithful ... actually nobody cares about those guys.
There’s still a long way to go before we see the London Jaguars take to the field,
but it’s a damn sight closer than it was three years ago when I made that first video.
Personally, I’d want them to resurrect the London Monarchs name – I thought their image
was cool and they had a pretty sweet logo. But realistically they’ll keep the Jaguars
name because … point 3. If you have found this video entertaining
or informative, please comment rate share and subscribe. It takes me ages to make one
of these things and good karma is very much appreciated.
Do you agree? Do you disagree? Like the video and fire your comments below.
Ninh Ly - www.ninh.co.uk - @NinhLyUK