Looks like we will still have to get on a plane to catch an NFL game in the flesh
For years we’ve been clinging to the hope that the NFL would organise a regular season NFL game in Dublin, in either Croke Park or Aviva.
However a piece on the official NFL site this morning about the League’s international expansion plans makes no mention of Ireland, meaning hopes of a game here in the near future are virtually non existant.
Here is what Mark Waller, NFL Executive Vice President, International. said to them;
“The work we’re doing now is to ask, ‘How do we accelerate the agenda in Mexico, Canada and China?’ Those would be our next stage, and we have offices in those three countries. And then, after those, where should be our focus? I think we’ve concluded that Brazil and Germany are the next two frontier markets, which is where the Pro Bowl idea (the 2017 Pro Bowl may be played in Brazil) comes from.”
The plan appears to be to host games in Mexico City, and one of Frankfurt and Dusseldorf, by 2017, in a bid to grow the game in those markets.
London, of course, will remain a host city for games and they would have had four games in the UK this year but for the Rugby World Cup. The goal of a team based full-time in London is clearly still on the agenda.
“We’re testing it from a fan standpoint, from a stadium standpoint,” said Waller. “Will the field stand up? We’ve had issues there, so this year will be big playing the games back-to-back. The rest of the work is internal, on what to do next. We’re thinking through the next steps.”
While the international expansion of the NFL is great to see, and the trip to London is a hell of a lot easier than trying to get to Miami, Green Bay or Chicago, we would have loved to have a game played here.
Guess we’ll have to wait a while…
