London: National Football League (NFL) commissioner Roger Goodell wants to see league teams established in both Los Angeles and London, as long as the process was conducted in “the right way”, he said yesterday.
Speaking at a forum for European NFL fans in London ahead of the game in the English capital between the Jacksonville Jaguars and San Francisco 49ers, Goodell was asked which city he would prefer gain a league franchise first.
“It doesn’t matter,” Goodell replied. “I’d love to be back in Los Angeles. But it has to be done the right way, we have to do it successfully...
“I want both (cities to have teams), but it doesn’t matter which one is first.”
The NFL has not had a team in Los Angeles, the second largest media market in the United States, since the Raiders returned to Oakland in 1995.
However, the league has been making a concerted push to grow its international fan base, and next year it will be staging three regular-season games in London.
Once the game between the Jaguars and 49ers is over, London will have hosted two games in a single season for the first time. Last month the Minnesota Vikings beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 34-27 at Wembley Stadium.
The NFL first played a regular season game at Wembley in 2007 and the annual fixture has attracted near-sellout crowds with an average attendance of more than 80,000.
There has been talk that there could perhaps be a Super Bowl held in London.
However, Goodell said yesterday that will likely only happen if there is a franchise in London because the Super Bowl is played in cities where the NFL has teams based.
Goodell is a huge proponent of playing in London. There will be two regular-season games played in London this season and three in 2014. The games are wildly popular and have been sellouts.
“You are proving you are worthy of a franchise,” Goodell told the European fans.
Agencies
