Just say NO!
Written by Synergy Legal, Inc. on 10:08 PM
Depending on whom you believe, the NFL is seriously considering staging a Super Bowl in London, England; possibly as early as 2014. This is a bad idea. In fact, this idea is so bad I could sit here typing all day and not run out of reasons why it's a bad idea. But with a nod to David Letterman, I will simply list my Top 10.
Top 10 Reasons Why Playing a Super Bowl in London is a Bad Idea
10. The participating teams' fans that want to attend get screwed. OK, I'd bet that no more than half of the people who attend the Super Bowl are actually true fans of the teams playing. The rest are the NFL's corporate sponsors and celebrities who scored tickets. But nonetheless, why make the few fans who otherwise could attend miss out on the chance because the game is overseas?
9. And imagine if you have a matchup like the Detroit Lions and the Cleveland Browns. At last, the long-suffering fans of those teams have an opportunity to see them in a Super Bowl and it's being played way over in London. Come on, NFL.
8. Then there are your corporate buddies to think of too. In a time when they are tightening their belts (and no one can say with any certainty that still won't be the case in a few years), how many of them do you think are going to spring to go overseas for the big event? Not to mention to a country whose currency has been much stronger in recent years than the US Dollar, further compounding the issue.
7. And speaking of money, Super Bowl week pumps hundreds of millions of dollars into the economy of the host city. Why send all that money overseas? Isn't the fact that we're already sending all of our jobs to other countries enough?
6. If you've watched the regular season games played in Wembley Stadium the past two seasons, you've no doubt noticed the field conditions are pretty bad. So bad that even the Pitsburgh Steelers, who play home games on the worst field in the NFL, would think Wembley is bad. These are not the field conditions you want your championship settled on.
5. The average temperature in London in early February is in the low 40s. On the rare occasions that the Super Bowl has been hosted by a cold-weather city, the game has been played in an indoor facility. That won't be the case with Wembley. Enjoy!
4. When would you plan on kicking off this game? The difference between London and the Eastern Time Zone is 5 hours, 8 hours for the Pacific Time Zone. Do you kick off at 11:30pm London time to ensure a prime time US television audience? Better hand out Red Bull and Adderall to folks at the turnstiles. Or do you kickoff at a more reasonable time locally but then ruin Super Bowl parties across America, because who on the West Coast is going to want to start a Super Bowl party before noon? I guess out here we'd have to watch the game over waffles and orange juice instead of beer and wings.
3. Never mind canceling people's Super Bowl parties, NFL. How many TV viewers do you think you might lose if you start the game too early, especially on the populous West Coast? Think the network whose turn it is to broadcast the game will be happy about that? How about advertisers?
2. The Super Bowl is America. Haven't we endured enough recently with the economy, two wars, Brett Favre's next comeback, etc? Do we also need a kick in the gut like seeing the crown jewel of American sporting events sent overseas?
1. I shudder at the mere thought of Simon Cowell auditioning halftime performers on Fox's pregame show during the season. The only thing worse would be putting the Spice Girls back together for the halftime show. Just kill me now.
There you have it, NFL. But to show that I'm a reasonable man, maybe we can negotiate. How about this? If we let London host the Super Bowl, then that same year the United States should be allowed to host the English Premier League Championship game in New York. Not that there are 50 people in America that would even care, but how do you think the Brits would like that? I'm guessing there would be a lynch mob outside league sponsor Barclays Bank's headquarters if the idea was even mentioned, let alone seriously considered. Hell, I bet the Queen herself would grab a torch and pitchfork and join the mob.
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