First Trans Atlantic Pro Sports team

Davo15

Registered
May 20, 2014
2,001
3,170
273
44
Hamden CT
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto_Wolfpack


So the Toronto Wolf Pack will be playing in the 3rd division of English Rugby League next season. They'll be playing 4 or 5 games in a row home/away to cut down on travel costs and paying travel costs for teams visiting Canada (most of whom are semi pro at that level) I do happen to like Rugby league but beyond that just think this could have an interesting wider impact if it's successful. Could we eventually see European franchises in American sports leagues? A global Champions league? ETC.
 
  • Like
Reactions: adam
The NFL is trying desperately to find a way to make this work to put a team in London. Biggest hurdle is none of the US teams want to go to England regularly. Teams in the same division as the London team would have to travel transatlantic every year while other teams do it every 3 or 4 years. I'm shocked a semipro or lower level pro team is trying it. I take it the Toronto team had no local option, but still surprised the teams in the league are willing to do this even if Toronto pays their costs.
 
The NFL is trying desperately to find a way to make this work to put a team in London. Biggest hurdle is none of the US teams want to go to England regularly. Teams in the same division as the London team would have to travel transatlantic every year while other teams do it every 3 or 4 years. I'm shocked a semipro or lower level pro team is trying it. I take it the Toronto team had no local option, but still surprised the teams in the league are willing to do this even if Toronto pays their costs.
Would be catastrophicly amusing if the NFL expanded to London and Hawaii and they played each other twice in a season :). Agents would be on the phone after the first game demanding trades or their guys will mysteriously develop an illness before the next game.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mgarbowski
Would be catastrophicly amusing if the NFL expanded to London and Hawaii and they played each other twice in a season :). Agents would be on the phone after the first game demanding trades or their guys will mysteriously develop an illness before the next game.

Well they would never be in the same div. So it would be once every 4 years. Combine it with their bye week and the players get a London / Hawaiian vacation once every 4 years. But I get it was a joke, just saying these things are possible. Especially if we bring back supersonic commercial flights.
 
Well they would never be in the same div. So it would be once every 4 years. Combine it with their bye week and the players get a London / Hawaiian vacation once every 4 years. But I get it was a joke, just saying these things are possible. Especially if we bring back supersonic commercial flights.

The NFL manages to show chronic incompetence in areas that are important but don't impact core business functions such as discipline, and giving the appearance they care about player violence off the field. On core business areas, however, they get it all correct and you're right, they'd never make a mistake like that, even if it is fun to think about.
 
  • Like
Reactions: adam
Well they would never be in the same div. So it would be once every 4 years. Combine it with their bye week and the players get a London / Hawaiian vacation once every 4 years. But I get it was a joke, just saying these things are possible. Especially if we bring back supersonic commercial flights.


Interesting point on the Supersonic. You have to think some day faster flights will be a reality and then this kind of thing will be more feasible and prevalent .
 
  • Like
Reactions: adam
The NFL manages to show chronic incompetence in areas that are important but don't impact core business functions such as discipline, and giving the appearance they care about player violence off the field. On core business areas, however, they get it all correct and you're right, they'd never make a mistake like that, even if it is fun to think about.
But could you imagine if they did :) the sheer number of frequent flyer miles in 1st class would be epic!
 
USA mainland is slowly moving away from Europe and toward Hawaii.

Hawaii is slowly disintegrating though. :(
 
So, the Wolfpack are doing pretty well. They are undefeated with just a few more games to play. Looks like they could earn promotion to the second tier next season. Neat.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mgarbowski
Interesting point on the Supersonic. You have to think some day faster flights will be a reality and then this kind of thing will be more feasible and prevalent .
Suborbital ballistic flights. The way of the future.
 
NFL solution:

4 British Teams: London, Manchester, Edinburgh, and Birmingham.

For American teams going overseas to play, they get two away games over there back to back before returning to a bye week.

Biggest problem I see is the playoffs realistically. Are you automatically going to penalize these teams forcing them to play in the US (even if they were say, 15-1), or are you going to give them the ultimate home field advantage making teams travel across the Atlantic?
 
  • Like
Reactions: adam and Ulrich
I'll stipulate ahead of time that I have no clear sense of the NFL's popularity in Great Britain, but... the idea that there's enough demand for four franchises feels a little... ridiculous? to me.

There is probably a demand for 2 teams, idk about 4. Never said my solution was perfect haha, but I don't see just 1 team really working out well either. If you had a full division, different story. IMO
 
But how are they doing financially? That is the question NFL needs answered.

I doubt that the NFL can learn that much from a third-division side playing in a league with no real TV revenue in a sport which barely registers in the top 10 for interest in the country the team plays in, where the average player earns less than the average salary for a Canadian citizen - indeed, in a sport where the highest player in the sport itself earns less in a year than the NFL's highest-paid star makes in a week - and where the team flies economy class on standard flights and on coaches for local travel.

There's just no level on which the two can be compared - they're different in every way, and the success or failure of one can't be expected to predict the other.
 
giphy.gif

This is the best I can do for ya Midas Mulligan Midas Mulligan!
 
PRO 12 is still trying to break into the North American market maybe this is the example they watch and see how it plays out.