|
Since the 2007 season, the National Football League (NFL) has hosted regular season American football games outside of the United States every year in a series known as the NFL International Series. To date, all of the games in the International Series have been held in London, England, United Kingdom. Wembley Stadium was the exclusive home stadium for International Series games from 2007 to 2015 and will continue to host NFL games through at least 2020; beginning in 2016, the series will begin expanding to two more London stadiums, first to Twickenham Stadium (2016–18) and eventually to the still under construction Northumberland Park stadium (2018–27). ==Background== Prior to 2005, the NFL's primary method of promoting its game abroad was through the American Bowl, a series of preseason games played around the world, and NFL Europe, a developmental league based in Europe. The American Bowls ended in 2005 (though a similar China Bowl was planned for 2007 before being cancelled), while NFL Europa (as it was known for its final season) folded in 2007. On October 2, 2005, the Arizona Cardinals defeated the San Francisco 49ers by a score of 31–14 at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, under the name NFL Fútbol Americano. It was the first regular season NFL game held outside of the United States.〔 The game drew the NFL's highest game attendance at the time with 103,467 spectators.〔〔Associated Press. (3 AFC, 3 NFC teams named possible 'hosts' in Europe ) ''ESPN.com'', January 8, 2007.〕 Roger Goodell, the commissioner of the National Football League, has considered expanding the league's appeal overseas ever since the end of NFL Europa. Goodell has openly discussed the idea of holding a future Super Bowl game in London.〔Associated Press. (NFL commissioner says Super Bowl may someday be held in London ) ''ESPN.com'', October 15, 2007.〕 The NFL also investigated the possibility of adding a 17th regular season game to all teams, taking the place of the fourth pre-season game.〔Associated Press. (NFL looking closely at expanding to 17 games with international flavor ) ''ESPN.com'', May 10, 2007.〕 Waller notes that there won't be 16 different venues for the 17th games. More likely would be a "mini-season ticket" of perhaps four games in one city or country.〔 There was discussion that this "17th game" could take effect as early as the 2009 NFL season; however, 2010 would be the earliest this could be implemented because of concerns about playing on Labor Day or over the 2010 Winter Olympics, the league's rigid scheduling formula, and the league's collective bargaining agreement (CBA).〔 League officials were pondering moving a second existing game abroad for the 2010 season, but eventually abandoned it due to the ongoing CBA negotiations.〔(NFL opts not to hold second game in UK in 2010 ).〕 The league eventually abandoned their desire to expand the NFL season in the CBA negotiations, and the new CBA enacted in 2011 keeps the NFL schedule at 16 games. Games in the United Kingdom are broadcast by the BBC and Sky Sports either live on BBC2 or online via the BBC Sports website and interactive TV and on Sky Sports 3. On radio, the games were broadcast by BBC Radio 5 Live, with Arlo White commentating, through 2012, after which Absolute Radio 90s took over those responsibilities. This too ended after the 2014 season. Typically, one of the games in the UK is played on the last weekend of October and/or the same weekend as Major League Baseball's World Series (although in 2009, this was not the case because the World Series played one week later than usual). Games are normally played at 1:00 p.m. or 9:30 a.m ET to account for time zone differences; also, on the last Sunday in October, daylight saving time ends in Europe, one week earlier than it ends in the United States. Because of this, a game in London with a 1:00 pm EDT kickoff would begin at 5:00 pm local time instead of 6:00 pm. Games played in Canada or Mexico would not be subject to these restrictions because they are in the same time zones as the United States. Through 2013, all but one of the games (the 2011 contest being the exception) featured a team from each conference. The games have been popular, with tickets for the two games per season selling out in two days, nine months in advance. According to the NFL, only 3% of those attending the London games are Americans or American expatriates, while 22% are from London and 60% from elsewhere in Britain. Ticket prices are from £35 for end zone seats to £100 for lower sideline seats. A team that plays a home game in London sells a cheaper season ticket package for its own stadium with seven regular season games rather than the usual eight. Each designated home team receives US$1 million for giving up the home game.〔Kelly, Omar (November 6, 2014). (Dolphins will host New York Jets in London in 2015 ). ''South Florida Sun-Sentinel''. Retrieved November 6, 2014.〕 On October 11, 2011, the NFL owners approved playing NFL games in Great Britain through the year 2016. This stated that a home team could visit every year for up to five years but visitors could only visit once every five years. This would mean that under the current agreement, San Francisco, New England, Pittsburgh, Dallas, Miami and Detroit would not be able to return as visitors but may return as the home team. However, in 2015 the Detroit Lions will return to London as visitors in an apparent disregard for this rule. The Buffalo Bills received a unanimous vote of approval to play a series of regular and preseason games at Rogers Centre in Toronto from 2008–2017,〔Associated Press. (Bills to play annual regular-season game in Toronto starting next season ) ''ESPN.com'', February 1, 2008.〕 This was separate from the regular International Series as arrangements are made by the team as opposed to the league as with the International Series. The series was mutually terminated after the 2013 contest. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「NFL International Series」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|