Lucrative Possibilities Loom in Europe for the NFL

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The true world series of sports is not being played in baseball this week: It’s taking place in London, where the Giants and Miami Dolphins will cap off an invasion of North American sports that started with the NHL presenting two regular season games between the Anaheim Ducks and the Los Angeles Kings at the end of September. Two weeks ago, the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Boston Celtics went head-to-head in London Town, and as a result of these games, there has been much pushing of the NHL, NBA, and NFL product.

North American sports are being exported in rapid succession to Europe. Today, the Economist magazine and the NFL will be hosting a sports business conference in London that will show just how serious American and European leagues (including the English Premiere League) are about globalization.

Conference speakers include the owner of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Joel Glazier, whose family also owns the EPL’s Manchester United, and Stanley Kroenke, whose possessions include a piece of the EPL’s Arsenal, the NBA’s Denver Nuggets, the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche, the AFL’s Colorado Crunch, MLS’s Colorado Rapids, and a piece of the NFL’s St. Louis Rams. NHL owners George Gillett and Thomas Hicks will be there too: They are the coowners of the Premiership’s Liverpool F.C. Separately, Hicks owns the Texas Rangers and the Dallas Stars, while Gillett owns the Montreal Canadiens and the NASCAR auto team Gillett Evernham Motorsports.

The NFL–EPL connection was further strengthened earlier this month when it was announced that Chelsea (a London-based Premiership team owned by Russian oilman Roman Abramovich) would take part in promoting the Giants–Dolphins game. The Giants are practicing at Chelsea’s training facility, and it is expected that the NFL will, in exchange, help promote Chelsea’s 2009 preseason American tour. The Dolphins will be using the London Wasps’ rugby facility.

So just what will NFL owners find out in London? The deputy commissioner of the NHL, Bill Daly, said it would be a worthwhile experience. Daly should know: His league successfully marketed two September games in a country that, at best, has lukewarm feelings about hockey. “I think Europe is going to be a focus. It is a primary growth area for the league,” Daly said earlier this month. “I think we are going to continue to exploit it and base strategy there in the short term, and try to connect more broadly with our fans over there.”

England is soccer country, along with cricket and rugby. But London is a dream city for North American sports promoters. With the city being a world financial center, it has a large business community and a huge TV market — two requisites needed for a successful sports franchise.

The NFL tried to push its product in Europe for the past 15 years with various spring leagues that, in some instances, included North American-based teams in the World League of American Football, and with European teams only in NFL Europe and NFL Europa. The latter league, which folded after the 2007 season, was made up of German cities with just one non-German franchise in Amsterdam. London has not had an American football team since 1998. But the city is definitely in the NFL’s future plans, and there even has been a suggestion by the commissioner of the NHL, Roger Goodell, that someday London could host the Super Bowl.

But the NFL is at a disadvantage in terms of cultivating the European market in comparison to the NHL and NBA. There are large stadiums that could host NFL contests — but most of Europe has no interest in American football. European countries develop both basketball and hockey players, and the owner of the Los Angeles Kings, Phil Anschutz, is building “North American-style” arenas throughout the continent.

“Infrastructure used to be an obstacle for all professional sports leagues in Europe,” Daly said. “It is much less of an obstacle today. There are state-of-the-art facilities. Probably the biggest obstacle is finding economies that are comparable to North American economies to support on an economy basis, a revenue basis to support the kinds of revenue streams you need to have to compete in the league.”

One of the reasons London is so attractive to American sports leagues is the English pound. The pound is worth more than twice the American greenback, and as Daly pointed out after the NHL’s recent experience in London, “If we ever decided to put a team in London, the economy there would not be an issue. Some of the less-developed economies in Eastern Europe would be a challenge in terms of generating the types of ticket prices that North American teams can generate.”

What are some of the European economies that could handle North American sports on a daily basis? For one, Daly said no to Russia and the former Soviet bloc countries, and yes to Western Europe.

“Some (hockey) owners have money in Russia, but in terms of consumer dollars and fan base, my understanding in the Russian league is that there are not a lot of teams making money,” Daly said. “There are a lot of teams that lose a lot of money because those teams have wealthy ownership and they are prepared to spend that money to lose it.”

“Stockholm has a very vibrant economy,” he added. “Helsinki also has a very vibrant economy but probably on a lower scale. Those are more comparable to NHL-type markets.”

The NHL is exploring the possibility of playing some regular season games in Prague, Czech Republic next year, and is looking to compete in the newly formed European Champions league, ending with the Victoria Cup championships, starting in September 2008. The NBA is also looking at playing some regular season games somewhere in Europe in the future. Both American leagues would be competing against well-established European leagues.

The NFL is taking baby steps in Europe — but this is a big week for the league in London. It is hard to globalize a game that is predominately based in America with some interest in Canada and Mexico. The Buffalo Bills may eventually become Canada’s team and have a base in Toronto. But the NFL is not looking to broaden its international experience by moving only 90 miles north of Buffalo.

The real world sports event is taking place in boardrooms in London this week. Even those in baseball will be watching closely to see how the NFL does — even though it’s supposed to be baseball’s week to shine.

evanjweiner@yahoo.com


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