Word: nfl
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...Splashy entrances aside, the NFL is a bit late to the party: it's the third major American sport to bat its eyes at the British capital in the past month. An Oct. 10 NBA clash between the Boston Celtics and Minnesota Timberwolves at London's O2 Arena (formerly known as the Millennium Dome) was the showcase match-up in a five-city, seven-game European tour. On Sept. 29 and 30, that newly rechristened venue also played host to a season-opening two-game series between the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks of the NHL, a league whose...
...global financial hub and the host of the 2012 Olympic Games, is an increasingly vital part of any global strategy. The NBA opened its European headquarters here in July. The success of Sunday's game suggests the plan has promise. But numerous sports are vying for Europe, and the NFL lags behind in the scramble for territory...
...Though enormously successful at home, the league has yet to find an effective formula worldwide. Foreign markets account for less than 5% of the nearly $7 billion in annual revenues the NFL takes in. Last October, NFL team owners approved a resolution enabling the league to stage up to two international regular-season games per year through 2011. Sunday's game comes two years after the NFL's first international regular-season contest, in Mexico City, which drew a league-record crowd of 103,000. That event's success has spurred a more than 20% annual increase in revenue derived...
...lucrative example both the NFL and NBA hope to emulate is the English Premier League, the world's most profitable soccer division. Like the NFL and NBA, the Premiership enjoys tremendous domestic support - league-wide attendance averaged 92% in 2006-2007. But it's the Premier League's global expansion model that has rivals drooling. "It wouldn't surprise me if one of the things that may have caught the eye of the U.S. sports is the massive increase in value of overseas rights deals," says Alex Byars, a senior manager in the sports business group at Deloitte, the business...
...NFL's plans for Europe aim at elevating the league to a similar level. But part of the mission Sunday was merely briefing prospective fans on the game's nuances. A recurring segment during television timeouts explained the finer points of the game - how to crouch in a three-point stance, for instance. Exuberance may have trumped insight among the crowd, but that shouldn't dim the league's optimism. Rather, it underlines the potential for growth...