Crazysight Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 This weekend's World Bowl is expected to be the final game played for NFL Europa, according to Profootballtalk.com. Impact: The idea of running a developmental league in which players go through a full season, then arrive at training camps banged up and tired never worked. Saturday's matchup will pit the Hamburg Sea Devils, QB'd by Casey Bramlet, versus the Frankfurt Galaxy (J.T. O'Sullivan). We don't recommend tuning in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hat Trick Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 We don't recommend tuning in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randall Posted June 24, 2007 Share Posted June 24, 2007 Not a bad game, but NFL Europe may fold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursa Majoris Posted June 24, 2007 Share Posted June 24, 2007 Not a bad game, but NFL Europe may fold. There's no way this game will ever be successfully exported. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Swerski Posted June 24, 2007 Share Posted June 24, 2007 (edited) There's no way this game will ever be successfully exported. Football was successfully exported from Canada to America at the beginning of the last century (as ruby, but then undergoing changes in both countries). I don't see why it can't happen again in Europe. Look at the talent that their basketball leagues are putting out. NFL Europe - or "Europa" or whatever the hell it's called now - will die out for the aforementioned reasons. Unlike MLB players who play "winter ball" to further develop, pro football can't be played year-round... the physical toll is just too substantial. So Europe won't be able to serve as a long-term AAA affiliate to the NFL (and that probably wasn't the point in the first place). But I do think that Europe could form its own version of the CFL. If all of South/Central America and much of Eastern Asia is enamored with baseball (largely considered "boring" sport by those who didn't grow up with it), I don't see why football can't be embraced in soccer-obsessed Europe in the same way that the CFL was embraced in hockey-obsessed Canada. Edited June 24, 2007 by Bill Swerski Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big John Posted June 24, 2007 Share Posted June 24, 2007 It already has been north of the border (sort of... they heavily influenced one another). NFL Europe - or "Europa" or whatever the hell it's called now - will die out for the aforementioned reasons. Unlike MLB players who play "winter ball" to further develop, pro football can't be played year-round... the physical toll is just too substantial. So Europe won't be able to serve as a long-term AAA affiliate to the NFL (and that probably wasn't the point in the first place). But I do think that Europe could form its own version of the CFL (with or without the rule changes). If all of South/Central America and much of Eastern Asia is enamored with baseball (largely considered "boring" sport by those who didn't grow up with it), I don't see why football can't be embraced in soccer-obsessed Europe in the same way that the CFL was embraced in hockey-obsessed Canada. One difference is the history. The NFL Europe league started off as WLAF in 1991, with very slightly modified NFL rules. Canadian football started in 1861 with their set of unique rules and the first Gray Cup was awarded in 1909. For reference, the first American college football game was in 1865. Since there is a deep history of Canadian football, giving them a better set of survival in their own land. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDude Posted June 25, 2007 Share Posted June 25, 2007 We sorely need an NFL development league. But how's this for a freaking idea? HOST IT IN AMERICA?!?!?!? idiots. our stadiums sit empty all spring while we can be playing our scrubs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Swerski Posted June 25, 2007 Share Posted June 25, 2007 One difference is the history. The NFL Europe league started off as WLAF in 1991, with very slightly modified NFL rules. Canadian football started in 1861 with their set of unique rules and the first Gray Cup was awarded in 1909. For reference, the first American college football game was in 1865. Since there is a deep history of Canadian football, giving them a better set of survival in their own land. That is true. That said, Venezuela, Cuba, The Dominican Repulic, Japan, and Korea don't have the same deep history of baseball, yet it's flourished there. I don't see why American/Canadian football can't be at least as popular in Europe as hockey is America. We sorely need an NFL development league. But how's this for a freaking idea? HOST IT IN AMERICA?!?!?!? idiots. our stadiums sit empty all spring while we can be playing our scrubs. America does have a developmental league. It's called the NCAA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Rock Posted June 25, 2007 Share Posted June 25, 2007 That is true. That said, Venezuela, Cuba, The Dominican Repulic, Japan, and Korea don't have the same deep history of baseball, yet it's flourished there. I don't see why American/Canadian football can't be at least as popular in Europe as hockey is America. That's not true at all. Japan's professional baseball league (the Nippon League) has been around since 1920. In Latin America, the Caribbean World Series (Cuba, Puerto Rico, Panama, Venezuela) has been played since 1949. Cuba, in particular, has been playing baseball since the 1870s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursa Majoris Posted June 25, 2007 Share Posted June 25, 2007 I don't think the history is relevant. Our football is totally different in structure to the two (three if you count rugby league) other varieties, neither of which has any breaks. It's this lack of flow that lacks appeal amongst most other countries, especially those where advertising still has yet to claim the pre-eminence it has here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Swerski Posted June 25, 2007 Share Posted June 25, 2007 That's not true at all. Japan's professional baseball league (the Nippon League) has been around since 1920. In Latin America, the Caribbean World Series (Cuba, Puerto Rico, Panama, Venezuela) has been played since 1949. Cuba, in particular, has been playing baseball since the 1870s. Baseball has been played in America since the late 1700s and organized ball was being played well before the Civil War. Hell, the Cincinnati Reds have been around since 1869. I don't think that it would be accurate to say that Latin America and the Far East had a "deep history" of baseball 100 years ago, when the "National Pastime" already had two leagues and a World Series in America. My point was that if baseball can become one of the most popular sports in Japan and can become almost as popular as soccer in Latin America, there's no reason why American football can't become at least somewhat popular in Europe. IIRC, that was the whole point of NFL Europe - to draw interest overseas and to eventually get their best players into the NFL draft. I really don't care if it ever happens or not, but I don't see any reason why it couldn't work. Especially in a part of the world where basketball, hockey, and baseball are almost irrelevant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big John Posted June 25, 2007 Share Posted June 25, 2007 Baseball has been played in America since the late 1700s and organized ball was being played well before the Civil War. Baseball was apparently invented by Abner Doubleday in 1839. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Swerski Posted June 25, 2007 Share Posted June 25, 2007 Baseball was apparently invented by Abner Doubleday in 1839. There were precursors of the game prior to that... the 2006 book Baseball Before We Knew It: A Search for the Roots of the Game, by David Block, argues against that notion.[1] Several references to "baseball" and "bat-and-ball" have been found in English and American documents of the early eighteenth century.[2] The earliest known description is in a 1744 British publication, A Little Pretty Pocket-Book, by John Newbery. It contains a wood-cut illustration of boys playing "base-ball," showing a set-up roughly similar to the modern game, and a rhymed description of the sport. The earliest known unambiguous American discussion of "baseball" was published in a 1791 Pittsfield, Massachusetts, statute that prohibited the playing of the game within 80 yards of the town's new meeting house.[3] The English novelist Jane Austen made a reference to children playing "base-ball" on a village green in her book Northanger Abbey, which was written between 1798 and 1803 (though not published until 1818). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronco Billy Posted June 25, 2007 Share Posted June 25, 2007 The idea of running a developmental league in which players go through a full season, then arrive at training camps banged up and tired never worked. This wasn't why it didn't work. It was because they sent crappy players overseas to play in front of crowds who preferred to watch 0-0 games of kickball for hours. Europeans are anti-violence (except for the occassional Germany declaring war on the rest of the world) and anti-American (except for our money, of course), so exporting football there was about the worst possible idea. In the old days, you'd see a rare player come out of the European league and be capable of playing in the NFL. But once the NFL stopped forcing teams from sending decent prospects overseas, if a player was sent to Europe it was because he simply couldn't play the pro game. Teams keep their best prospects close to home & training at team facilities almost year round. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if a good college team could beat a NFLE team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazysight Posted June 25, 2007 Author Share Posted June 25, 2007 It would surprise me if a NFLE team could beat a good college team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursa Majoris Posted June 25, 2007 Share Posted June 25, 2007 Europeans are anti-violence (except for the occassional Germany declaring war on the rest of the world) and anti-American (except for our money, of course), so exporting football there was about the worst possible idea. That's brilliant, BB, utterly brilliant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh B Tool Posted June 26, 2007 Share Posted June 26, 2007 how long did it take to sell out the NFL game in Europe that is coming up? or the previous games in Mexico etc?. Heard it was very quick, which means if you put a good product on the field to watch the world will come to watch and spend their money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursa Majoris Posted June 26, 2007 Share Posted June 26, 2007 how long did it take to sell out the NFL game in Europe that is coming up? or the previous games in Mexico etc?. Heard it was very quick, which means if you put a good product on the field to watch the world will come to watch and spend their money. I believe the Wembley game sold out in about 90 minutes. That's over 80,000 tickets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh B Tool Posted June 26, 2007 Share Posted June 26, 2007 I believe the Wembley game sold out in about 90 minutes. That's over 80,000 tickets. yowza Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
49erAddict-08 Posted June 26, 2007 Share Posted June 26, 2007 Sounds like I am the only one who actually watched the World Bowl. I actually found it entertaining and it helped ease the football withdrawal I go through every year. I would much rather watch an NFLE game than an Arena League game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazysight Posted June 28, 2007 Author Share Posted June 28, 2007 Profootballtalk.com reports that the NFL will announce Friday that NFL Europa is closing for business. Impact: Formerly the World League and NFL Europe, the league lasted in many forms since 1992. Its player development has slowed down recently, but NFL stars like Kurt Warner, Jake Delhomme, Brad Johnson, and Adam Vinatieri all cut their teeth in Europe. NFLE's disbanding may discourage the overseas market's interest in the NFL just at the time the league is planning regular season games there." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazysight Posted June 28, 2007 Author Share Posted June 28, 2007 Tommy Maddox had a nice run in there too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big John Posted June 30, 2007 Share Posted June 30, 2007 Profootballtalk.com reports that the NFL will announce Friday that NFL Europa is closing for business. ESPN is confirming this too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtomicCEO Posted July 4, 2007 Share Posted July 4, 2007 how long did it take to sell out the NFL game in Europe that is coming up? or the previous games in Mexico etc?. Heard it was very quick, which means if you put a good product on the field to watch the world will come to watch and spend their money. That might be the McRib effect though. If you only sell it once a year, people want one really badly. But... it it was on the menu all the time, I bet people wouldn't come from miles around to buy one every week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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