The Olympic Stadium is in need of a tenant, and London Mayor Boris Johnson thinks the NFL could be the right match. Just a few days after the NFL's sixth regular-season game at Wembley Stadium, Johnson said he has spoken with the league about playing more games in the British capital. "Sunday's game at Wembley, in front of over 80,000 fans, further cements London's reputation as the natural home of American football outside of the United States," the mayor's office said in a statement. "Given the ever growing popularity of gridiron on this side of the Atlantic, the mayor and his team have held a number of meetings with senior executives in the last few days to explore further opportunities involving the NFL and London. The talks were exploratory. We are at an early stage, but the signs are encouraging." The NFL said it has been in talks with local authorities in London for years about future possibilities. The Jacksonville Jaguars have a deal to play one home game in London for four consecutive seasons, beginning in 2013. The NFL has raised the possibility of having a full-time franchise in London, although that is still considered a long shot. Source: Associated Press
well, the league seems dead set on doing this so we might as well accept it. nobody in jacksonville will notice if they move the jaguars there. however, it will be a HUGE disadvantage for the London team to have to travel thousands of miles for every road game. Their players are going to be constantly jet lagged all season long and it will affect their performance. In addition, it is going to be somewhat unfair for Indy, Tenn, and Houston to have to travel all the way to Europe every year for a division game against the Jags. You look at some teams, like the Steelers or Bears, that never travel more than a few hundred miles for division games and you will be asking the AFCS teams to log a helluva lot more miles every year. This would be like putting a team in Los Angeles and then putting them in the AFC East. The existing teams in the AFCE would pitch a fit about the travel.
