skymike

Totally agree with that. If I had a favorite English soccer team, I expect to have to go to England to see them. Not only is it dumb to play NFL overseas, in different time zones, but it actually hurts the Louisiana economy when the Saints lose a real home game.

If we want to capture hearts and minds, we should first conquer Shreveport.

RaginCajun83

That should be a lot easier now with the Superbowl victory. Now all the Cowboy fans up there will want to jump on the Saints cause they finally won and are the cool kids at school for once

ScottF

I really believe that there is enough of an international market that a 17th game, neutral site, could be added. You could throw in 4-5 US sites as well.
Play 2 games in London, Tokyo, Canada, Mexico City, Barcelona, and give LA, San Antonio, Salt Lake, & OK City games also.

Every year we hear that 4 preseason games are too many, and in February we all start going through withdrawal. Cut 2 PS games and add a 17th regular season game.

Hey Goodell- add a 17th game, which will jack revenues sky high, and then have the Super Bowl in the second week on February. The following Monday would be a national holiday- President's Day, solving the "nation is hung over" problem.

skymike

uh uh. 17th game prolongs an already long season. You and me LOVE a long season. The players, however, take a beating enough in 16 games. I might sound crazy, but even a little tweak in the formula changes things. You effectively, with a longer season, end up with benches vs. benches. I like the fact that benches come into play a little, but with salary considerations, a longer season plays into the hands of the fat cat teams, especially if they alter the current salary cap deal. Remember how the 49ers were always wanting larger rosters? Larger rosters favor rich teams, who can afford to pay more to bench players. I think the same dynamic works in a longer season. It also would alter the playoff picture, and that means change. I hate change. The only thing I dislike more than change... is hope.

Im in the minority, but I enjoy preseason, for the same reason the rest of the country likes American Idol. I enjoy seeing stars arise out of nowhere, and underestimated players, like Pierre Thomas and Marques Colston make something of themselves. Ok, I like preseason, because I get to see my team suit up, and if they lose, it doesnt really matter. If they win, and look good winning, it still feels like a win. It's win-win.

Remember we used to have six preseason games. That was a bit much, but preseason in its current form helps teams like the Saints, who have to stretch their dollar further, by getting their picks right, and by better evaluating their talent. This means teams with brain-power duos like Sean Payton & Mickey Loomis have an advantage over Jerry Jones & Dan Snyder who could just throw money and buy their players. In the status quo, smart > rich.

And if we want football in Europe, start a European League.

I think the gumbo is fine just like it is. Dont **** with the roux.

breesfan27

I second this. If Europe wants American football, they can start their own league. We're the only country in the world that calls football, football. All other countries call football, soccer. They'd have to come up with another name to call it, and it wouldn't be the same. They couldn't call it American Football, since it wouldn't be limited to just the U.S. IMO, keep American football in America!

21Hilliard

Canadians play American style football too, on a 110 yard field. There was also American football in Europe in the 90s and 2000s, first called The World League and then later when it was restarted it was called NFL Europe.

Actually, we're the one's who call it Soccer (with the black and white ball you kick into a net). To the rest of the world, THAT IS Football. And just to confuse things worse, there's Austrailian Rules Football - which is rugby!

exile

Australian Rules Football is much different than Rugby. But yeah "American Rules Football" has been played all over the world. But our colleges are where most of the players come from. And I want to play Atlanta that first game!

breesfan27

Ok, yeah. I was backwards. But still. I like the fact that we're the only country that plays it as football and not soccer or rugby.