Plenty of speculation and publicity has risen over the Broncos/49ers game in London on Halloween.
49ers owner Jason York commented on his team’s popularity in England.
“I was excited about coming here,” owner John York told Matt Maiocco of Comcast Bay Area. “I think we will
have a good home-field advantage here in the UK. I was here for the [New England-Tampa Bay] game last year and there were a lot of 49er fans here.”
Now despite the home field advantage the 49ers might have in London the real intrigue is what York had to say regarding the possibility London gets a Superbowl down the line and maybe even a permanent NFL franchise.
“There is easily enough of a fan base over here to stage two games a
season. I think eventually there will be a Super Bowl outside the U.S. I couldn’t tell you when that would be. I can see it both ways. I’m not sure what will be first, a Super Bowl over here or an NFL team, but they both seem likely to happen.”
Before the NFL makes that jump overseas there’s still seems to be unfinished business here in North America. For instance it would seem that the NFL’s first priority (in terms of team placement) would be getting a team back in the Los Angeles Area. Second, the NFL will probably make an attempt to try things out in Canada (perhaps Toronto or Vancouver) as well. However out of all North American based sports, the NFL seems the most likely to make that jump across the pond. It also seems like the NFL can be the most sustainable for long-term success in another country not named Canada.
Ref: NBC Sports, helmet2helmet.com (image)
