Before you know it there is going to be one every week.
Things certainly feel this way for the NFL and its international games. This year there are nine total games taking place outside of the United States, one every week from the season’s beginning through Week 11, save for Weeks 2 and 8.
About 20 years ago the thought of the NFL reaching this place felt pretty impossible. There was the occasional NFL international game, but that was it.
It feels like the league is barreling towards a future where there is going to be one of these every week. Traditionally speaking, NFL Sundays begin at 1pm ET and run all the way into the night after the evening game. It would seem that the league has identified that early window as an opportunity to stage a game somewhere across the globe where the time difference allows for it to take place in the window in question.
Whatever the thought process is, more of these games are likely on the way, and it all started in the UK as noted. Former NFLer Osi Umenyiora is someone who has had a heavy hand in this entire process and as a lead delegate for Greater Together LA (the largest-ever UK trade mission to the United States) he recently caught up with SB Nation to discuss the blueprint that the league is taking all over the world.
“It is of no consequence to the fan in in the United States of America. You’re not really losing anything. And more importantly you’re exposing the game to different people and different people get exposed to the game… guess what… they wanna play the game. And if different people from different cultures and different thought processes and different identities want to play the game what you’re gonna have is a influx of talent into the NFL… and an influx of talent into the coaching ranks into the thought behind the game. It’s only going to make the game better.“
“When you look at the Premier League, or any of these other leagues, what you see is you have people from different backgrounds and different places coming into the game and it makes the game bigger it makes the game much more fun. It makes the game much more relatable and people who come in with different ideas. I mean, imagine once, you know, maybe the Japanese or the Chinese or the Germans start coming in with their thought processes or the Africans start coming in. Then the game is going to change completely from what you know and it’s going to be a a much better version of the game that we know. So embrace it. Love it. And I think all will be well.”
It was fascinating to hear from Osi about how much thought, timing, and planning ultimately goes into these games. You are talking about things beyond the football of the NFL that have to be accounted for.
Get ready for more.
