The New England Patriots will be taking on the St. Louis Rams today in London. Things have been going so well since the NFL began playing games there, that London is already scheduled to host two more games next season.
Patriots owner Robert Kraft thinks of London so highly, that he believes the city is ready to host its own franchise.
Per ESPN Boston: Kraft was quoted as saying, “You’re already hosting the premier league, and we believe we’re the premier sport in the world. I think London has shown, with the way they’ve handled the Olympics and every other major sporting event, that it’s time for you to have your own NFL franchise, based in London.”
Kraft added that maybe the Jacksonville Jaguars could move there as they will already be playing games there through 2016.
“As these things develop and there’s a permanent home team now, I’m sure they’ll develop a great following,” Kraft said. “Whatever we can do to cultivate playing football throughout the world … We’ve been discussing that the NFL, I don’t know if we’ve done as good a job as we could educating the rest of the world what a great game it is.”
The thought of a NFL team based in London is intriguing, but would be extremely difficult. Travel schedules for the road team would be hectic and perhaps put them at a disadvantage, as the flights would be 12+ hours depending on where you are coming from.
Not to mention the long travel period for the potential London team as they come to the U.S. to play.
I would honestly like to see a franchise in Los Angeles first before we start talking London.