This week brought a bombshell NFL relocation rumor. The Chargers could move to London. It seems logical. The Chargers have struggled to create interest in the Los Angeles market. Their home games are essentially away games. They haven’t done well in PSL sales and are an obvious second fiddle to the Rams. London seems perfect, but there are reasons that it doesn’t make sense.
AFC Divisions
The team that moves to London has to be in the AFC East for travel purposes. What team would move if the Chargers were stationed across the pond? The obvious choice would be the Dolphins. They could move to the AFC South. The Texans or Titans could move to the AFC West, and that solves all the problems. Except the Dolphins have historic rivalries with the Jets and a semi-rivalry with the Patriots. Miami wouldn’t want to give up visibility in the large markets of Boston and New York. There’s no reason for the Dolphins to switch divisions. If the NFL does want to move the Chargers to London, they should look at reorganizing the entire AFC.
Players
Good luck convincing a bunch of American citizens who play football that they should move from the United States to London on a semi-permanent basis. Some players don’t like leaving their states in general. They want to play for their hometown team. Moving to London might as well be moving to Mars, and that’s just for players drafted to the London Chargers. Imagine trying to convince an NFL player to get paid in pounds and pay taxes in London and the United States. That should be fun.
The London market
London obviously has some appetite for the NFL. They regularly sell out games and it doesn’t seem as if the NFL has reached a saturation point by adding games. The London market is huge and should be a ripe target for an owner trying to increase the value of their investment — also known as a team — so the market shouldn’t be an issue. The problem is it could be an issue because fans in London aren’t dedicated to a single team. There isn’t tribalism. People in London don’t cheer for a team because they are from London. They cheer for whatever team they please. That’s why having every team play in London makes sense. It’s a different part of the customer fanbase and demographic every time a team heads over to the United Kingdom. Plus, ex-pats in London — who attend games in droves — usually like to attend the game in which their team is playing. Finally, the London game has become a bit of a fan tourist attraction. It’s going to be hard to convince Jets, Bills, or Patriots fans that they should travel to England every year to support their team.
The NFL needs a boogeyman
The NFL doesn’t need a boogeyman, but its teams sure benefit from having one. For years, that specter was Los Angeles. Fine, City X doesn’t want to play ball and provide public assistance? We’ll see how you like it when we move the team to Los Angeles.
That massive market doesn’t exist in the United States. Even Las Vegas is off the table. The NFL could theoretically threaten to move a team to San Antonio, but there’s simply not a big enough market. San Diego is a huge market but the Chargers kind of already moved from there and going back would signify some form of defeat.
Enter London. London works for any team where they aren’t getting enough political support. Buffalo doesn’t want to give public money to the Bills for a new stadium? Let’s talk about London. The Jaguars aren’t pulling enough fans and need a new place to play. Did you hear Shad Khan owns a Premier League soccer team?
London works better as a place to send teams and to use it as a threat. It doesn’t work that way if they move a team across the pond.
