The NFL has a good relationship with London as at least one game is played in the city every year. But are the trips across the pond leading to something more significant for the league? NFL commissioner Roger Goodell recently talked about how the league could add four teams in Europe and have its own division.
“That’s part of what we’re doing,” Goodell said, per CBS Sports. “We’re trying to sort of see, could you have multiple locations in Europe where you could have an NFL franchise because it would be easier as a division.” There have been rumors of the NFL adding a team in London over the years, and Godell believes the city would support an NFL franchise. “There’s no question that London could support, not just one franchise, I think two franchises. I really believe that,” Goodell added. “That’s from a fan perspective, from a commercial standpoint, from a media standpoint. I think [London] has proven that.”
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It’s not clear if the proposed new division would consist of four new teams or if the NFL would ask a current team (or teams) to relocate. Right now, there are 32 teams in the league and four divisions in each conference. If the NFL added a European division, would it be in the AFC or NFC? If something like this does happen, it won’t be in the very near future. However, a team in London is more realistic as Goodell talked about the idea a few years back.
“We’re still trying to make sure we can do it from a proper competitive standpoint,” Goodell said in 2016, per CBS Sports. “You don’t want to put a team over there and have them at a competitive disadvantage. And then the logistics, how you work that out. That’s not easy.”
The one team that has been targeted to move to London is the Jacksonville Jaguars. The team has played in London every season since 2013 and will continue to play there through the 2024 season. “It’s a great pleasure to be able to announce that the Jacksonville Jaguars will be playing one home game per season at Wembley for three further seasons,” Jaguars owner Shad Khan said in a release, earlier this year, per Jaguars Wire. “It’s hard to believe it will have been three years since our last game at Wembley. But that changes this autumn, and we look forward to coming back to our London home.”
