NFL Transfers & Rumours
Scotland and Argentina Emerge as Next NFL International Game Destinations as Owners Ride World Cup Wave
Super Bowl LI - New England Patriots v Atlanta Falcons by Elsa | Getty Images
The NFL sees green in everything, and many of its owners are cashing in during the FIFA World Cup being held in the USA, and it’s only going to enhance the push for American football to become more of a global sport.
Images of European soccer fans taking over MLB stadiums for games have NFL owners seeing dollar signs as well, as they have long understood they will eventually hit a saturation point with the appetite for their game domestically and thus keep pushing abroad.
NFL to Scotland?
Patriots owner Robert Kraft, wanting to seize on the connection the Boston area made with Scottish soccer fans who used it as a hub to watch their team play, has already let it be known he would be interested in playing a regular-season game there, and he won’t be the only one.
While ESPN coaches the interested as being in the very formative stages, the mere fact that it is already known while this tournament is barely at the halfway point is telling.
And the Patriots are one of the more powerful ownership groups in the game, with Kraft having commissioner Roger Goodell’s ear.
“Come on, man, we all know that Kraft gets what Kraft wants with this stuff,” one GM told SportsBoom.
Argentina is the next South American market
NFL owners are keen to get their brands intertwined with crowds and cohorts outside of the USA, and while coaches and players are loath to play games overseas, the owners continue to make expansion there a major initiative.
Expect to hear more about expanded games in South America as well; several league sources have suggested to SportsBoom over the years that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones sees fertile untapped potential there, and it’s no coincidence his team is “hosting” a game in Brazil this season.
Owners are already conjuring images of Lionel Messi walking to the field for a coin flip for a game in Argentina with 90,000 people in the stands.
There are already rumblings about the US trying to get back in the mix for another World Cup as soon as 2038, and make no mistake, the NFL’s billionaires would love nothing more than that.
Editor's Insight
This looks more like early positioning than anything concrete, but Scotland feels the more realistic next step given the NFL’s UK footprint, with Argentina longer-term. From a betting angle, any confirmed move, especially involving New England, would likely trigger quick market interest around international fixtures and matchups.
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La Canfora has covered over 20 Super Bowls and League Meetings and NFL drafts, building a wide network of sources throughout all aspects of the game. He was an award winning print journalist as well, working at The Detroit Free Press and The Baltimore Sun prior to his first stint at The Washington Post. He has covered sporting events around the world, including two Winter Olympics and all of the 2006 World Cup. He attended his first NFL game in 1978, and would soon kindle what has become a lifelong love and appreciation of the sport. La Canfora is also a professional handicapper, specializing in the NFL, creating a daily sports wagering game show - "Wanna Bet?" He also hosts nationally broadcast NFL radio shows in the US, as well as a daily sports radio show in his hometown of Baltimore, Maryland.