NFL coming to Canada

[Red Mile Style]

Originally Posted by Frank the Tank

Thats an insult to chess.

touche!

[J pold]

Originally Posted by Vulcan

I don't think it's so cool for the CFL.
If a NFL game happens in Toronto it will only encourage them to try harder for a NFL franchise, meanwhile dissing everything CFL. When this happens interest in the Argos goes down and the whole CFL gets in trouble.

A NFL team in Toronto is a pipe dream it will never happen Goodell has got some big shoes to fill in replacing Tagliabue and the last thing he is going to do is something bold like expand into another country

Also Las Angeles is the number one location if the NFL wanted to expand, the day you see the return of the Rams, or the Raiders and a team out of Mexico City than you can start considering a NFL team north of the 49

[J pold]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

^^^^
Yeah a flight from the East coast of the US to London isn't much longer than a flight from Miami to Seattle. Given that you could cram 80,000 plus into one of those soccer stadiums and than charge big money, I can see London being the first choice in terms of money. The only thing any Canadian city brings to the table is that the travel would be easy on the teams involved.

Agreed, London would be the number one choice IMO, but I don’t think they would charge big money for tickets, hell they would probably give the things away I mean NFL Europe has never done anything but struggle to draw fans and the only thing that the NFL is concerned with is the TV revenue, they could probably strike a deal with a large British T.V. Network Sky Sports perhaps, for the rights to show the game in the U.K.

[kipperfan]

Originally Posted by J pold

Agreed, London would be the number one choice IMO, but I don’t think they would charge big money for tickets, hell they would probably give the things away I mean NFL Europe has never done anything but struggle to draw fans and the only thing that the NFL is concerned with is the TV revenue, they could probably strike a deal with a large British T.V. Network Sky Sports perhaps, for the rights to show the game in the U.K.

No way, definatley Edmonton is the #1 choice.

[Superflyer]

What people seem to not realize is that the NFL will never leave the US unless one of 2 things happen.
1. they have a team in every city in the US with a population over 500,000
2. The support for the NFL drops so much that they go down to like 10 teams and have to go outside the US to get teams in the league.
So the NFL will never have a full time team outside the US.

Also for the pre-season game it is a shortlist of places to hold it in Canada. In fact here it is.
1) Toronto

The NFL does not care about other cities they care about creating viewers so they will go to the biggest market to create them. Maybe, just maybe if they do have a rotation of going to diffrent countries after a few times in Canada they may look at another city. This is just for publicity not to scout cities for the future.

[kipperfan]

Originally Posted by Superflyer

What people seem to not realize is that the NFL will never leave the US unless one of 2 things happen.
1. they have a team in every city in the US with a population over 500,000
2. The support for the NFL drops so much that they go down to like 10 teams and have to go outside the US to get teams in the league.
So the NFL will never have a full time team outside the US.

Also for the pre-season game it is a shortlist of places to hold it in Canada. In fact here it is.
1) Toronto

The NFL does not care about other cities they care about creating viewers so they will go to the biggest market to create them. Maybe, just maybe if they do have a rotation of going to diffrent countries after a few times in Canada they may look at another city. This is just for publicity not to scout cities for the future.

Ding ding ding!!!

Then again Edmonton is probably an attractive destination for the NFL and network TV bigwigs.....so.....

[ken0042]

My question is this- how far would the closest seats be to the play? Currently with a CFL configuration there is a pretty wide track between the stands and the sidelines. You make the field narrower to NFL standards and you end up with people sitting pretty far from the action.

[Reaper]

Originally Posted by Frank the Tank

Oooooo, a chance to see the most boring sport in the history of the world LIVE!! I'm all in a tizzy!

(Meanwhile, baseball is offended by not being considered the the most boring sport in the history of the world and refuses to send Christmas card to Frank the Tank this year.)

[kipperfan]

IMO CFL is 1023X more boring then the NFL will ever be. They keep kicking the ball back and forth no running game is ever developed(at least not the way it is in the NFL).

I liken the CFL - NFL debate to the "new NHL" vs "old NHL" New NHL being the CFL, still the same game but not being played the way it is meant to, stupid rules created purly to infuse excitement into the game, because of said rules certain talents that go hand and hand with the sport are wiped away leaving a watered down product.

In the NFL, like the old NHL, you are able to watch the beauty of the sport, watch plays develop and watch how coaches can use roles players to get the job done instead of having strictly a run and gun all or nothing game, every game.

Just my IMO, as you can probably tell I am a fan of the old NHL.

[mykalberta]

Given BC's (lower mainland/Island) inherit anti anything US - I doubt Vancouver would see it - same goes for Montreal, plus the NFLPA would likely not allow players to play in the hole up there for fear of concrete falling on their head.

They are likely doing this as feelers for international expansion as such Toronto is the only choice since the tickets would be insane, they get 40K people for a regualr season Eskimo game because you can get great season tickets for under $135.

MYK

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

Given BC's (lower mainland/Island) inherit anti anything US - I doubt Vancouver would see it - same goes for Montreal, plus the NFLPA would likely not allow players to play in the hole up there for fear of concrete falling on their head.



MYK

Way to throw out the generalizations. I don't know if it's still true but when I was growing up, Vancouver high schools played American football. Canadian football didn't become a part of BC culture until the Lions roared in 54.

[Igottago]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

Given BC's (lower mainland/Island) inherit anti anything US - I doubt Vancouver would see it - same goes for Montreal, plus the NFLPA would likely not allow players to play in the hole up there for fear of concrete falling on their head.

They are likely doing this as feelers for international expansion as such Toronto is the only choice since the tickets would be insane, they get 40K people for a regualr season Eskimo game because you can get great season tickets for under $135.

MYK

So according to your logic, Alberta should be the best place to host the NFL, because we all know that right wing redneck Albertans always bend over to give anything American a royal welcome. Alberta is pretty much a US state anyways.

* I am Albertan BTW, just making a point.

[calgaryrocks]

Originally Posted by kipperfan

IMO CFL is 1023X more boring then the NFL will ever be. They keep kicking the ball back and forth no running game is ever developed(at least not the way it is in the NFL).

I liken the CFL - NFL debate to the "new NHL" vs "old NHL" New NHL being the CFL, still the same game but not being played the way it is meant to, stupid rules created purly to infuse excitement into the game, because of said rules certain talents that go hand and hand with the sport are wiped away leaving a watered down product.

In the NFL, like the old NHL, you are able to watch the beauty of the sport, watch plays develop and watch how coaches can use roles players to get the job done instead of having strictly a run and gun all or nothing game, every game.

Just my IMO, as you can probably tell I am a fan of the old NHL.

thats fine, just want to point out that canadians INTRODUCED football/rugby rules to americans when they came to mcgill in the late 1800s and liked the game more then soccer and started playing it. also the nfl changed its rules a little in the 90s when it saw the faster pace of the canadian style of football. kicking is an important part of the game(1/3 of the game) in the nfl kicking isnt exciting becuase of the fair catch and the fact that a missed field goal is ruled dead(tho special teams hasnt been quite as exciting this season in the cfl). in the cfl there is the opporunity to return kicks and the single point encourages returns instead of taking a knee. the cfl didnt change rules to make it more exciting and adjust to the type of players it had, the players that are succesful in our league come and play well becuase they fit the nature of our game. IMO the running game in the nfl is not exciting(and usually if see nfl highlights the passes are highlighted, or pass and runs, not the run-run-run-run-pass-run punt style offensive schemes. and yes i do find the new nhl more exciting then the old(and not becuase of the shootout), i like seeing a team like buffalo do so well and new jersey not do so well. the new vs old nhl is somewhat a fair analogy

[Flames in 07]

Originally Posted by kipperfan

Ding ding ding!!!

Then again Edmonton is probably an attractive destination for the NFL and network TV bigwigs.....so.....

Great, I just spit my dinner into my computer screen laughing ... I hope my computer will work ok after this.

[Flames in 07]

Originally Posted by Vulcan

Way to throw out the generalizations. I don't know if it's still true but when I was growing up, Vancouver high schools played American football. Canadian football didn't become a part of BC culture until the Lions roared in 54.

Did you miss the world championships in Vancouver?

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by Flames in 07

Did you miss the world championships in Vancouver?

So a US national hockey team got booed in Vancouver, so everybody in the Lower Mainland hates Americans and the NFL?
Get a grip.

[Kobasew7]

From what I saw on the NFL Network down here in the states about this issue... they are looking at the following cities that I remember..

Mexico City, Toronto, London/Manchester England, Bejing China (I believe they have a game already scheduled for next year between the Pats and Seahawks I believe).

That's what they were talking about I'd say 2 weeks ago or less... I believe from what they were saying, it wasn't to scout or anything of that matter for a new franchise... currently LA California , another team in Chicago, and Las Vegas are the top 3 candiates for new expansion franchises ... LA being head and shoulders above the other cities.

Basically from what I understood ... its a big PR move to play a pre-season game in 1 of these cities to draw fans internationally to the game of football american style. The game in Bejing is pre-season, first game of the year I believe it is being played August 11th next year..Mexico city hosted a regular season game a season ago between the Cardinals and 49ers.. and hosted a pre-season game about 4-5 years ago..that was the game they allowed that mexican guy to return punts in the 4th quarter. He was a college player that ended up on the practice squad of some team.. got a big pop from the fans in Mexico.. so really it isnt a disgussion of 'where could a NFL franchise survive' as much of a 'where is a city big enough to make a big splash media wise and draw major attention'.

[Vulcan]

I agree with you Kobasew. China and Europe are huge potential TV markets. Toronto might get a game, just to be polite.

[Igottago]

Originally Posted by Kobasew7

From what I saw on the NFL Network down here in the states about this issue... they are looking at the following cities that I remember..

Mexico City, Toronto, London/Manchester England, Bejing China (I believe they have a game already scheduled for next year between the Pats and Seahawks I believe).

No harm in trying, but I can't see them garnering a very dedicated support base in some of those markets. London/Manchester are already nuts about football. Just not the kind of football the NFL is. The hardcore and passing sports fan over there already have their interests, and I think most hardcore soccer or rugby fans over there would not only not enjoy the NFL, they would downright make fun of it. The "we already have real football" and "its like rugby for women because of the padding" comments would run rampant. I think lots of people would just view it as some sort of American infringement on their traditional sports market. Just look at the outrage when an American was buying the majority share of Man United.

[Flames in 07]

Originally Posted by Vulcan

So a US national hockey team got booed in Vancouver, so everybody in the Lower Mainland hates Americans and the NFL?
Get a grip.

No but many, many thousand thought it was appropriate to boo 17 old americans ... think that would happen here or anywhere else?