London Games 2018 Announced

[DaveA1102]

Schedule for London games confirmed and, after a pretty underwhelming line up in 2017, some top games coming.......

 

Eagles @ Jaguars

Seahawks @ Raiders

Titans @ Chargers

 

Seahawks and Raiders will play at Tottenham's new stadium which has the ability to "roll away" the soccer (man I hate using that word! ) pitch and has an NFL field underneath, ready to go.

 

There were slated to be 4 games this year but Tottenham's new stadium won't be ready yet and so there will likely be three games played there in a future year to compensate.

 

I know some American fans are not high on the international games but its great for us in the UK and across Europe and a real coup to get some top games and some teams coming over for the first time.

[Roger]

NFL games in the UK are all about owner greed.  It's too far to travel, the game time is just wrong.  The home team season ticket holders get one less game to attend.  It's hard for players to adjust to the outgoing and returning time zone changes.  Bad for the players, bad for US fans.  The owners are hoping to grow their market.  They should maybe focus on stopping the loss of American fans.  And it was insulting to see players who protested the US anthem in a foreign country.

[shakedownstreet]

<insert vile diatribe here>

[DaveA1102]

3 hours ago, Roger said:

NFL games in the UK are all about owner greed.  It's too far to travel, the game time is just wrong.  The home team season ticket holders get one less game to attend.  It's hard for players to adjust to the outgoing and returning time zone changes.  Bad for the players, bad for US fans.  The owners are hoping to grow their market.  They should maybe focus on stopping the loss of American fans.  And it was insulting to see players who protested the US anthem in a foreign country.

 

Well, at least you are open minded about it. 

 

[Roger]

21 minutes ago, DaveA1102 said:

 

Well, at least you are open minded about it. 

 

You think there is something wrong with having an opinion?  I know London games are bad for me. Frankly, I don't care about the UK fans one bit. 

[Nadine]

5 hours ago, DaveA1102 said:

Schedule for London games confirmed and, after a pretty underwhelming line up in 2017, some top games coming.......

 

Eagles @ Jaguars

Seahawks @ Raiders

Titans @ Chargers

 

Seahawks and Raiders will play at Tottenham's new stadium which has the ability to "roll away" the soccer (man I hate using that word! ) pitch and has an NFL field underneath, ready to go.

 

There were slated to be 4 games this year but Tottenham's new stadium won't be ready yet and so there will likely be three games played there in a future year to compensate.

 

I know some American fans are not high on the international games but its great for us in the UK and across Europe and a real coup to get some top games and some teams coming over for the first time.

 It just doesn't make sense to me that the teams are playing where there is no team and fans here lose a home game.

 

Still, happy for you guys. I enjoy how much you enjoy going to an NFL game.

[DaveA1102]

22 minutes ago, Roger said:

You think there is something wrong with having an opinion?  I know London games are bad for me. Frankly, I don't care about the UK fans one bit. 

 

I never said there was anything wrong with opinions. Everyone welcome to their own.

 

However, I don't see how three games a year, out of over 100, being played in the UK makes that much of a difference to you as an individual, but it makes a huge difference to thousands of UK fans desperate to see these games. Who, by the way, have sold out every single game played in London, while plenty stadiums in America are not. 

[DaveA1102]

17 minutes ago, Nadine said:

 It just doesn't make sense to me that the teams are playing where there is no team and fans here lose a home game.

 

Still, happy for you guys. I enjoy how much you enjoy going to an NFL game.

 

Yeah I appreciate that Nadine. I suppose the counter to that is that it happens so rarely for most teams, aside from the jaguars, who have got themselves a huge fanbase here in the UK by embracing it, and you can see how empty their stadium had been at times.

 

I can't tell you how much it meant for me to be able to go and see the colts a couple of years ago. I likely would not have got that chance without the London games and there are so many fans like me here.

[Nesjan3]

at least its not us

[DaveA1102]

37 minutes ago, Nesjan3 said:

at least its not us

 

As a UK based colts fan I respectfully disagree! 

[Nadine]

53 minutes ago, DaveA1102 said:

 

Yeah I appreciate that Nadine. I suppose the counter to that is that it happens so rarely for most teams, aside from the jaguars, who have got themselves a huge fanbase here in the UK by embracing it, and you can see how empty their stadium had been at times.

 

I can't tell you how much it meant for me to be able to go and see the colts a couple of years ago. I likely would not have got that chance without the London games and there are so many fans like me here.

I hear you on the jaguars. It makes sense for them I think

I know Colts fans abroad were pretty psyched last year when the Colts played in London and that was pretty fun for us here to share that experience with them.  Hard to be a fan when you never get to go to the game.

 

But what you guys need to experience is a home game. Nothing like it!

 

BTW, I'd go to a game in Scotland. Sounds fun!

[DaveA1102]

17 minutes ago, Nadine said:

I hear you on the jaguars. It makes sense for them I think

I know Colts fans abroad were pretty psyched last year when the Colts played in London and that was pretty fun for us here to share that experience with them.  Hard to be a fan when you never get to go to the game.

 

But what you guys need to experience is a home game. Nothing like it!

 

BTW, I'd go to a game in Scotland. Sounds fun!

 

Yeah I have been nagging at my wife to head over for a game but she has no interest unfortunately, even when I try and bribe her with St Elmos! 

 

She did say when my 3 year old turns 11 I can take him though! 

 

You would all be more than welcome here in Scotland. We are much friendlier than those London lot! 

[Nesjan3]

32 minutes ago, DaveA1102 said:

 

As a UK based colts fan I respectfully disagree! 

 i feel for you, going to a Colts game for you would probably be epic, but its hard on the players and coaches with the time change, the team basically loses a home game. Its kind of like what if Liverpool hosted a premier league game in New York lol

[csmopar]

If Europe and the UK want to have a football game, then let them start their own league. 

[IcEWoLF]

Only game worth watching is Eagles vs Jaguars.

[braveheartcolt]

9 hours ago, DaveA1102 said:

 

Yeah I have been nagging at my wife to head over for a game but she has no interest unfortunately, even when I try and bribe her with St Elmos! 

 

She did say when my 3 year old turns 11 I can take him though! 

 

You would all be more than welcome here in Scotland. We are much friendlier than those London lot! 

From one Scot to another, just go pal!! I went to the Seahawks game a few years ago. Fantastic weekend, and a great victory. And Indy is a great wee town!

[braveheartcolt]

11 hours ago, Roger said:

You think there is something wrong with having an opinion?  I know London games are bad for me. Frankly, I don't care about the UK fans one bit. 

Classy guy........

[2006Coltsbestever]

I love our UK fans, I think its awesome we have fans in here from other countries.

[DaveA1102]

54 minutes ago, braveheartcolt said:

From one Scot to another, just go pal!! I went to the Seahawks game a few years ago. Fantastic weekend, and a great victory. And Indy is a great wee town!

 

Yeah it is definitely on my list for in the next few years (don't want to wait 8 years for my boy to catch up!).

 

Unfortunately none of my pals are into NFL and my wife certainly isn't........you busy this autumn!?

[DaveA1102]

9 hours ago, csmopar said:

If Europe and the UK want to have a football game, then let them start their own league. 

 

Share and share alike my friend.

 

You don't want to start that game or we might pull the "if the Americans want good Scotch let them make their own!" card!

[DaveA1102]

10 hours ago, IcEWoLF said:

Only game worth watching is Eagles vs Jaguars.

 

I am intrigued by Russell Wilson and the Seahawks (with whatever is left of the LoB) vs Gruden's Raiders.

 

Eagles v Jags could be one of the games of the season, especially if the Jags sort the QB position.

[oldunclemark]

20 hours ago, Roger said:

NFL games in the UK are all about owner greed.  It's too far to travel, the game time is just wrong.  The home team season ticket holders get one less game to attend.  It's hard for players to adjust to the outgoing and returning time zone changes.  Bad for the players, bad for US fans.  The owners are hoping to grow their market.  They should maybe focus on stopping the loss of American fans.  And it was insulting to see players who protested the US anthem in a foreign country.

Owner greed?      Its a business.....Players get paid, too. They'll 'adjust' and they'll,be fine.

Got to make the money. Expand the market.

There is a loss of viewers on broadcast TV. That does not necessarily mean a loss of fans

 

The UK is a great market. Mexico will eventually have an NFL team. 

Got to grow.  The NBA and MLB are doing the same thing.

Boston just played the 76ers in London Thursday. They were fine with it

[oldunclemark]

21 hours ago, DaveA1102 said:

Schedule for London games confirmed and, after a pretty underwhelming line up in 2017, some top games coming.......

 

Eagles @ Jaguars

Seahawks @ Raiders

Titans @ Chargers

 

Seahawks and Raiders will play at Tottenham's new stadium which has the ability to "roll away" the soccer (man I hate using that word! ) pitch and has an NFL field underneath, ready to go.

 

There were slated to be 4 games this year but Tottenham's new stadium won't be ready yet and so there will likely be three games played there in a future year to compensate.

 

I know some American fans are not high on the international games but its great for us in the UK and across Europe and a real coup to get some top games and some teams coming over for the first time.

Could be 3 good games this time...

I appreciate the expansion of the game and I like watching the early a.m. Sunday game back here.

 

I'm hoping the crowds are good

[oldunclemark]

14 hours ago, csmopar said:

If Europe and the UK want to have a football game, then let them start their own league. 

That's the idea... 'Their league' would be getting a couple of teams in the NFL

[csmopar]

4 hours ago, DaveA1102 said:

 

Share and share alike my friend.

 

You don't want to start that game or we might pull the "if the Americans want good Scotch let them make their own!" card!

who needs Scotch? We have White Lightning

[csmopar]

6 minutes ago, oldunclemark said:

That's the idea... 'Their league' would be getting a couple of teams in the NFL

Just dont like the idea of teams traveling across the pond.  Not because I dont like people on the other side of the pond, but it screws the fan base here at home from games that they support week in and week out.  The ONLY team that has said they enjoy playing in the UK has been the Jags.  

[kcccolts]

I will be honest with you that I was really hoping the Colts would be back this year as seeing them a couple of years back remains one of the best (sporting) days of my life.

However having read the reaction to the trip on here, I am not surprised by some of the comments above but think about it, you may miss 1 game as opposed to other fans getting see 1 game. Is that really too bad when most of the time this board is full of people complaining how bad the team is anyway. (lol).

After I realised it was not happening I priced flights from Scotland to Indy in the October school holiday and it would cost over £2000 for the 3 of us in flights alone, so it is difficult to justify for 1 game of football and perhaps a Pacers B/ball game.

That said it is my 50th Birthday this year, and for my 30th I went to see Scotland play in the soccer world cup in France, so you never know.

Nadine - you would be welcome in Scotland anytime - you could even come and enjoy a game of "real" football when you were here.

[Roger]

15 minutes ago, oldunclemark said:

Owner greed?      Its a business.....Players get paid, too. They'll 'adjust' and they'll,be fine.

Got to make the money. Expand the market.

There is a loss of viewers on broadcast TV. That does not necessarily mean a loss of fans

 

The UK is a great market. Mexico will eventually have an NFL team. 

Got to grow.  The NBA and MLB are doing the same thing.

Boston just played the 76ers in London Thursday. They were fine with it

I don't know any universe where fans refuse to watch games and remain fans.  If they do exist, they're not helping the NFL ad revenue.  Reports are that 20% of in-game commercials were given to advertisers to compensate them for fewer viewers.  That trend was bad in 2016 and is worse this year.  Seems like the NFL should focus on getting US fans back rather than chasing soccer hooligans.

 

8 home games (NFL) makes it harder to swallow than 41 home games (NBA)

They had NFL Europe, which did not impact domestic games.  It couldn't survive.  That does not bode well for a team in London.  Imagine if the Colts were unlucky enough to be in the same division?  I doubt it would be popular.

 

The State Dept. just issued warnings for US travelers visiting Mexico.  It's bad enough that teams have to visit Chicago.  Going to Mexico should merit haz duty pay!

[oldunclemark]

8 minutes ago, Roger said:

I don't know any universe where fans refuse to watch games and remain fans.  If they do exist, they're not helping the NFL ad revenue.  Reports are that 20% of in-game commercials were given to advertisers to compensate them for fewer viewers.  That trend was bad in 2016 and is worse this year.  Seems like the NFL should focus on getting US fans back rather than chasing soccer hooligans.

 

8 home games (NFL) makes it harder to swallow than 41 home games (NBA)

They had NFL Europe, which did not impact domestic games.  It couldn't survive.  That does not bode well for a team in London.  Imagine if the Colts were unlucky enough to be in the same division?  I doubt it would be popular.

 

The State Dept. just issued warnings for US travelers visiting Mexico.  It's bad enough that teams have to visit Chicago.  Going to Mexico should merit haz duty pay!

Roger;

NFL broadcast TV ratings are down something like 11%

Broadcast TV ratings are down 25-30% overall...

It does not mean people are not watching the NFL or TV....They are watching in other ways

I cant see fans of teams not watching in protest unless their teams are losing

 

Europe had minor league football. They didn't have the NFL..

Its coming.  Might as well get used to it. NFL games are already on TV in Mexico. There will be a team there, too.

If there was no CFL, there would be teams in Canada now..

Its my understanding the NFL stays out of Canada because of a 'gentleman's agreement' with the CFL 

[oldunclemark]

26 minutes ago, csmopar said:

Just dont like the idea of teams traveling across the pond.  Not because I dont like people on the other side of the pond, but it screws the fan base here at home from games that they support week in and week out.  The ONLY team that has said they enjoy playing in the UK has been the Jags.  

It doesnt matter what the players want. Player dont like Thursday night games and they didnt like Monday night game s originally.  Players don't like change.

 

How much different is it to fly from SF to Jacksonville than from Jacksonville to London..? Really.

The 'end game' is that the UK has its own teams and then the games wont take home games from teams in the states.

 

The NFL wants to make more money. The players want to make more money..

It has to come from somewhere. The NBA and MLB are trying out games outside the mainland.

For business...this is really the logical thing to do..

[csmopar]

27 minutes ago, oldunclemark said:

It doesnt matter what the players want. Player dont like Thursday night games and they didnt like Monday night game s originally.  Players don't like change.

 

How much different is it to fly from SF to Jacksonville than from Jacksonville to London..? Really.

The 'end game' is that the UK has its own teams and then the games wont take home games from teams in the states.

 

The NFL wants to make more money. The players want to make more money..

It has to come from somewhere. The NBA and MLB are trying out games outside the mainland.

For business...this is really the logical thing to do..

Perhaps but that still doesn't mean I have to like it 

[DaveA1102]

1 hour ago, kcccolts said:

I will be honest with you that I was really hoping the Colts would be back this year as seeing them a couple of years back remains one of the best (sporting) days of my life.

However having read the reaction to the trip on here, I am not surprised by some of the comments above but think about it, you may miss 1 game as opposed to other fans getting see 1 game. Is that really too bad when most of the time this board is full of people complaining how bad the team is anyway. (lol).

After I realised it was not happening I priced flights from Scotland to Indy in the October school holiday and it would cost over £2000 for the 3 of us in flights alone, so it is difficult to justify for 1 game of football and perhaps a Pacers B/ball game.

That said it is my 50th Birthday this year, and for my 30th I went to see Scotland play in the soccer world cup in France, so you never know.

Nadine - you would be welcome in Scotland anytime - you could even come and enjoy a game of "real" football when you were here.

 

I hope it wasn't the Morocco game! 

 

Still remember the John Collins penalty vs Brazil, really thought we were going to get a result!

[kcccolts]

56 minutes ago, DaveA1102 said:

 

I hope it wasn't the Morocco game! 

 

Still remember the John Collins penalty vs Brazil, really thought we were going to get a result!

Yes it was the Morrocco game, a 24 hour round trip - You can see why the trips to Wembley to see the Colts was such a pleasure (even though they got beat as well).

[DaveA1102]

Just now, kcccolts said:

Yes it was the Morrocco game, a 24 hour round trip - You can see why the trips to Wembley to see the Colts was such a pleasure (even though they got beat as well).

 

Sure it was still a phenomenal experience!

 

I had to sit next to my friend who decided to support the Jags just to spite me, he had a fun day!

[oldunclemark]

Philadelphia vs,. Jacksonville...

 

The Super Bowl that might have been

[coltsleafs]

I went to London for the Colts game a few years back and had an amazing time. I'm not going to lie I'm a little disgusted in some of the comments in this thread I won't name any names though lol. I think growing the sport is great and I personally would love to go see the Colts play a game in any country.

[coltsleafs]

On 1/11/2018 at 5:58 PM, DaveA1102 said:

 

Yeah I have been nagging at my wife to head over for a game but she has no interest unfortunately, even when I try and bribe her with St Elmos! 

 

She did say when my 3 year old turns 11 I can take him though! 

 

You would all be more than welcome here in Scotland. We are much friendlier than those London lot! 

I finally got to go to Scotland two years ago spent a week there with extended family before going to London for the Colts game. Had an amazing time in Scotland people there were awesome. I need to bring my mom there soon she hasn't been since before I was born so 27 years ago and I know she would love to go back and see family.

[Narcosys]

On 12/01/2018 at 2:47 PM, oldunclemark said:

Roger;

NFL broadcast TV ratings are down something like 11%

Broadcast TV ratings are down 25-30% overall...

It does not mean people are not watching the NFL or TV....They are watching in other ways

I cant see fans of teams not watching in protest unless their teams are losing

 

Europe had minor league football. They didn't have the NFL..

Its coming.  Might as well get used to it. NFL games are already on TV in Mexico. There will be a team there, too.

If there was no CFL, there would be teams in Canada now..

Its my understanding the NFL stays out of Canada because of a 'gentleman's agreement' with the CFL 

Canada doesn't have to allow them in. There's no gentleman's agreement. 

[chad72]

Maybe, if they had games that mattered, towards the end of the season, I feel it would be good.

 

I'd prefer them to make it a Saturday afternoon game here (around 1 pm ET), which would be a night game over there around week 10 or 11 with a mandatory bye week for all teams after that. Thus, it will not clash with marquee college football games here, will mean something towards playoff standings, thus getting more Americans to watch it as well, plus draw more weekend ratings in the UK.

 

[southwest1]

44 minutes ago, chad72 said:

Maybe, if they had games that mattered, towards the end of the season, I feel it would be good.

 

I'd prefer them to make it a Saturday afternoon game here (around 1 pm ET), which would be a night game over there around week 10 or 11 with a mandatory bye week for all teams after that. Thus, it will not clash with marquee college football games here, will mean something towards playoff standings, thus getting more Americans to watch it as well, plus draw more weekend ratings in the UK.

 

That is a very valid point Chad. Games are on so early across the pond that I often don't watch them states side on TV back home because I'm so programmed for games at noon, 3:30 PM, & 7:30 PM that I refuse to watch games on Sunday early in the morning. It sounds selfish I know, but it's where I'm at. 

 

Plus, NFL trips there are so short. Jump on a plane, ride a bus to the stadium, go home. Very little time to get to know UK & European fans. Sometimes, there's a meet & greet setting abroad but it's rare. If I remember to DVR the overseas game on NFL Network, I like watching them later on. But, I usually forget to set my DVR timer. 

 

I do find some international announcers very entertaining though. They're very enthusiastic when it comes to futbol goals I mean touchdowns. 

 

Just to clear, football fans from other countries rock. And I like hearing God save the Queen anthems as well as different flags & accents. I just don't like altering my viewing schedule sorry. 

 

"You americans talk & you talk & you say Let me tell you something. Well you're dead now so shut up." Monty Python's "Meaning Of Life". I love that line because we Americans are so darn spoiled. LOL!