NFL London 2025

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Ditka’s dictaphone
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@HisRoyalSweetness @malk



Jags
Browns
Jets

All confirmed.

Must be another 2 or 3 opponents. Jags usually get 2 games so probably 2 more opponents.
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Grizzled
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DD, maybe you should become a Jags fan, as often as they play over there ....
Ditka’s dictaphone
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Grizzled wrote: Fri Jan 10, 2025 5:48 pm DD, maybe you should become a Jags fan, as often as they play over there ....
:puke:

:flick:
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HisRoyalSweetness
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Cheers @Ditka’s dictaphone.

That was one weird announcement video!

Not exactly an exciting lineup is it? 12 wins between them this season.

Let's hope their opponents are more interesting. I hope the Jags don't play twice, but I'm sure they will.
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Grizzled wrote: Fri Jan 10, 2025 5:48 pm DD, maybe you should become a Jags fan, as often as they play over there ....
When they first came over I saw a grand total of 3 Jags fans the whole day... and 2 of them were a couple we met on the tube on the way to the stadium!

Nowadays there are lots of Jags fans because most new fans looking for a team to support adopted them precisely because they come over every year.

However most only seem to go to the Wembley "home" game. They've easily been outnumbered at their two games as the visiting team at Tottenham, including of course last year's memorable loss to the Bears! Ah we had such hopes after that game...

Personally I wish the Jags only played one game a year here. Part of the fun of the London games is seeing lots of different teams and players and interacting with their fans. Obviously I would be happy to see the Bears visit more often, and I'm hoping they will while the new stadium is being built even if they still have Soldier Field. Next best is an NFC North rival who I can cheer against. It's always best to have a proper stake in the outcome.
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Grizzled
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HisRoyalSweetness wrote: Fri Jan 10, 2025 8:51 pm
Grizzled wrote: Fri Jan 10, 2025 5:48 pm DD, maybe you should become a Jags fan, as often as they play over there ....
When they first came over I saw a grand total of 3 Jags fans the whole day... and 2 of them were a couple we met on the tube on the way to the stadium!

Nowadays there are lots of Jags fans because most new fans looking for a team to support adopted them precisely because they come over every year.

However most only seem to go to the Wembley "home" game. They've easily been outnumbered at their two games as the visiting team at Tottenham, including of course last year's memorable loss to the Bears! Ah we had such hopes after that game...

Personally I wish the Jags only played one game a year here. Part of the fun of the London games is seeing lots of different teams and players and interacting with their fans. Obviously I would be happy to see the Bears visit more often, and I'm hoping they will while the new stadium is being built even if they still have Soldier Field. Next best is an NFC North rival who I can cheer against. It's always best to have a proper stake in the outcome.
I kind of wonder why the league doesn't rotate games over there among all teams equally. I wonder what perks the Jags are getting from the league for playing there so often.
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HisRoyalSweetness
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Grizzled wrote: Sat Jan 11, 2025 8:00 am I kind of wonder why the league doesn't rotate games over there among all teams equally. I wonder what perks the Jags are getting from the league for playing there so often.
It does seem very haphazard.

They're up to 6 IS games a year. Once they get it up to 8 you'd think the sensible arrangement would be to operate a 4-year rotation where each team to plays one game as the visiting team and one as the home team in a season where they have a 9th home game.

Ultimately I would hope they get up to 16 IS games with every team playing 8 home games, 8 away and one at a neutral venue each season.

That seems to me to be a far more sensible approach than exploring expanding internationally with franchises based outside the US. The logistics alone would be a major issue, then there will be players who wouldn't want to be living outside the US for months, the risk of fans losing interest as happened with the World League/NFL Europe etc.
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HisRoyalSweetness wrote: Sat Jan 11, 2025 12:41 pm
Grizzled wrote: Sat Jan 11, 2025 8:00 am I kind of wonder why the league doesn't rotate games over there among all teams equally. I wonder what perks the Jags are getting from the league for playing there so often.
It does seem very haphazard.

They're up to 6 IS games a year. Once they get it up to 8 you'd think the sensible arrangement would be to operate a 4-year rotation where each team to plays one game as the visiting team and one as the home team in a season where they have a 9th home game.

Ultimately I would hope they get up to 16 IS games with every team playing 8 home games, 8 away and one at a neutral venue each season.

That seems to me to be a far more sensible approach than exploring expanding internationally with franchises based outside the US. The logistics alone would be a major issue, then there will be players who wouldn't want to be living outside the US for months, the risk of fans losing interest as happened with the World League/NFL Europe etc.
That makes all of the sense.

Instead they are going to make London the Jags version of Being Dallas/Det on Thanksgiving
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Yeah but I thought that's what Shad Kahn wanted.
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Rusty Trombagent wrote: Sun Jan 12, 2025 10:01 am Yeah but I thought that's what Shad Kahn wanted.
It is.
He volunteered the Jags to play every year there, then upped it to two games a year. Mostly in retaliation to Jags fans not showing up to home games, even with the swimming pool seats!
He owns one of the local football teams there too. Or at least he did. I do not follow that other football stuff, so am not sure about it.
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HisRoyalSweetness
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Shadow wrote: Tue Jan 28, 2025 2:56 am He owns one of the local football teams there too. Or at least he did. I do not follow that other football stuff, so am not sure about it.
Yeah, he owns Fulham FC. (Fulham is an area in London.) They're currently 10th in the Premier League, but they've bounced between the top division and the 2nd tier in the last 20 odd years. (In each division the 3 teams with the lowest points total at the end of each season get relegated to the division below and are replaced by the top 3 teams from that division.)

Like most teams Fulham is highly unlikely to ever compete for the Premier League title. They're not a "glamour" club so won't attract the truly big money and the top players. To be honest, I'm not sure why a billionaire like Khan bought it. It's not like the Glazers owning Manchester United for a while or the Fenway Sports Group owning Liverpool, two of the most storied clubs with a huge worldwide fanbase.
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HisRoyalSweetness wrote: Tue Jan 28, 2025 9:04 am
Shadow wrote: Tue Jan 28, 2025 2:56 am He owns one of the local football teams there too. Or at least he did. I do not follow that other football stuff, so am not sure about it.
Yeah, he owns Fulham FC. (Fulham is an area in London.) They're currently 10th in the Premier League, but they've bounced between the top division and the 2nd tier in the last 20 odd years. (In each division the 3 teams with the lowest points total at the end of each season get relegated to the division below and are replaced by the top 3 teams from that division.)

Like most teams Fulham is highly unlikely to ever compete for the Premier League title. They're not a "glamour" club so won't attract the truly big money and the top players. To be honest, I'm not sure why a billionaire like Khan bought it. It's not like the Glazers owning Manchester United for a while or the Fenway Sports Group owning Liverpool, two of the most storied clubs with a huge worldwide fanbase.
I knew it was one of the London teams, copuildn't remember which though. I think Kahn nought it to be like the Glazers, add another charm to his bracelet.
Though I worked in London for over a year, I never lived there. I flew in every other Monday and stayed a week. Then a week back in the mainland.
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Ditka’s dictaphone
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The Steelers are coming to Croke Park Dublin!

This will be a brilliant occasion, I think I’m up for that more than the Jags at Wembley.

Dublin will be great.
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HisRoyalSweetness wrote: Tue Jan 28, 2025 9:04 am
Shadow wrote: Tue Jan 28, 2025 2:56 am He owns one of the local football teams there too. Or at least he did. I do not follow that other football stuff, so am not sure about it.
Yeah, he owns Fulham FC. (Fulham is an area in London.) They're currently 10th in the Premier League, but they've bounced between the top division and the 2nd tier in the last 20 odd years. (In each division the 3 teams with the lowest points total at the end of each season get relegated to the division below and are replaced by the top 3 teams from that division.)

Like most teams Fulham is highly unlikely to ever compete for the Premier League title. They're not a "glamour" club so won't attract the truly big money and the top players. To be honest, I'm not sure why a billionaire like Khan bought it. It's not like the Glazers owning Manchester United for a while or the Fenway Sports Group owning Liverpool, two of the most storied clubs with a huge worldwide fanbase.
I’d love to get into EPL, but this dynamic (teams like Fulham can never compete) ruins it. Any discussion of changes to the structure to address this?
Ditka’s dictaphone
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dplank wrote: Fri Feb 07, 2025 2:01 pm
HisRoyalSweetness wrote: Tue Jan 28, 2025 9:04 am

Yeah, he owns Fulham FC. (Fulham is an area in London.) They're currently 10th in the Premier League, but they've bounced between the top division and the 2nd tier in the last 20 odd years. (In each division the 3 teams with the lowest points total at the end of each season get relegated to the division below and are replaced by the top 3 teams from that division.)

Like most teams Fulham is highly unlikely to ever compete for the Premier League title. They're not a "glamour" club so won't attract the truly big money and the top players. To be honest, I'm not sure why a billionaire like Khan bought it. It's not like the Glazers owning Manchester United for a while or the Fenway Sports Group owning Liverpool, two of the most storied clubs with a huge worldwide fanbase.
I’d love to get into EPL, but this dynamic (teams like Fulham can never compete) ruins it. Any discussion of changes to the structure to address this?
They’ve tried a lot but one thing they won’t/can’t do is restrict wages or handicap the better teams. Wage restrictions are against EU law. The clubs are so financially powerful now that if the league tries to restrict them, they’ll leave and start another “super league”. The genie is out of the bottle, it’s too late.
So the richest owners have the best squad of players, and if they don’t they do next season.
They have tried to hamper teams (linking spending to turnover) but they get around that by agreeing extortionate deals for the owners company to “sponsor” the owners team. Thereby artificially inflating their income.

At the moment they have financial restrictions which the team owned by the rulers of Abu Dhabi have been charged with 115 historical contraventions of the financial restrictions. During this time, that team won multiple league titles and European competitions.
After a lengthy hugely expensive court battle the charges have been ratified.
No punishment has yet been proposed.

However, today the same team is embarking on another huge court battle to “sue the premier league”. The administrators don’t have the money to win these multiple court battles. The clubs do.

Nothing will happen except a fine which is equivalent to you dropping 5c in the car park to them.

What needs to happen is - like the NFL - teams spending should be limited by their performance in the previous year.
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HisRoyalSweetness
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dplank wrote: Fri Feb 07, 2025 2:01 pm I’d love to get into EPL, but this dynamic (teams like Fulham can never compete) ruins it. Any discussion of changes to the structure to address this?
Too much money for that to ever happen dplank.

A big part of that is the European competitions, particularly the Champions League.

The top teams in each country qualify each year. When I was a kid and it was the European Cup it was just the league winners from each country and a knockout competition. Two teams played each other home and away and the team that lost the aggregate of those was eliminated. Now the top 4 teams from the Premier League qualify for the Champions League (it varies by country according to how big their league is). Some teams have to go through qualifying rounds, but the top sides go straight through to the league phase where they play 3 other teams home and away. The top 2 from each division go through to a last 16 knockout tournament. The team that comes 3rd gets entry into the lesser Europa League. Teams that win domestic cup competitions or finish a little lower down their leagues also get entry into the Europa League.

So basically the top sides get guaranteed at least half a dozen lucrative European games and likely quite a few more, which just increases the financial disparity between the rich clubs and the rest. The only way a club can realistically break into the European places regularly and qualify is if a mega-rich owner buys it and splashes enormous sums on player transfer fees and contracts. It's become all about getting into that top 4.

A couple of years back plans were announced by a cabal of top sides around Europe for a European Super League where they would all automatically qualify every year instead of having to earn a spot. There was an outcry from other clubs and fans, including those team's own, and it fell apart within a couple of days. It was a reminder though of just how far rich clubs are willing to go to further enrich themselves at the expense of everyone else and the integrity of the game.

It's why I much prefer the NFL's collective approach with even distribution of income, a salary cap and the college draft. The NFL's drive for parity is it's great strength. It's also why I hate it when a team like the Patriots and now the Chiefs become too dominant.
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