The NFL has a habit of dangling carrots to fans in other countries. Sometimes, it’s the relocation of a team to another continent. Two years ago, the Commissioner opened the door to the possibility of an entire European division.
This year, Roger Goodell dropped the hint that a Super Bowl could end up in a non-American city.
“We’ve always traditionally tried to play a Super Bowl in an NFL city,” Goodell said at a fan forum in London, via ESPN.com. “That was always sort of a reward for the cities that have NFL franchises. But things change. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if that happens one day.”
The talk of a non-U.S. Super Bowl first surfaced 17 years ago. In his first year on the job, Goodell floated the possibility, in advance of the first-ever NFL regular-season game in London. Six years ago, Goodell said it would be “difficult” to stage the Super Bowl in a place like London with a franchise headquartered there.
With talk of a permanent team replaced by a plan to eventually play 16 international games per year, talk of a non-American Super Bowl still lingers.
Most American fans won’t like it. But they’ll still watch it. And if it accelerates the long-term goal to globalize the sport (which it would do), it has to at least be on the table.
Until then, talking about the possibility in connection with the NFL’s now-annual excursion to London remains a cheap and easy way to generate a little more interest in a sport that remains a distant No. 2 globally to the other kind of football.
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