By Tim Healey
Could the Super Bowl go overseas to the United Kingdom? London mayor Sadiq Kahn is going to try to land the big game.
Highlights
- London mayor Sadiq Kahn wants to bring the Super Bowl to the city in the future, aiming to attract American sports fans to Europe.
- Major obstacles, including time zone differences and the selection of the next three Super Bowl sites, stand in the way.
- NFL Commissioner Goodell acknowledges potential challenges but leaves the possibility open, hinting at maintaining the current formula.
Could America's biggest sporting event go international?
If London's mayor has his way, the Super Bowl could be played in that city, at least for one year. Speaking to The Athletic this week, Mayor Sadiq Kahn reiterated his pre-election promise to try and bring major sports events to London, including the Super Bowl, WrestleMania and even NBA games, to London.
"The Super Bowl is really important for us. "We have a number of American football games and I want it to come here because we want American sports fans in Europe to come to London to watch them, not just go to America."
Yes, that's right -- the NFL's biggest game, the one that decides the champion, could take place overseas.
It's one thing for a regular-season game to be played in London, as we've seen that before. But a Super Bowl? That's sure to spark controversy.
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The London Mayor Wants the Big Game
But there's very little chance it will happen anytime soon
Regular-season games have been played in London for 17 seasons now, for a total of 36 contests. So perhaps it's not surprising the city's mayor, Sadiq Khan, might push for a Super Bowl.
GIVEMESPORT Key Stat: There have been 36 NFL regular season games played in London.
After all, he already had it in mind as he ran for reelection, but now that he's been elected to a third term, he definitely has the influence to try to make it happen.
Khan had promised that should he win reelection, he'd do everything he could to bring the Super Bowl to London. He was re-elected on May 2nd.
There are two big obstacles to getting a game in London, beyond the fact that no Super Bowl has ever been played outside of America's borders, let alone outside of North America. First of all, there's the time difference -- kickoff would have to be moved to 4 PM EST or earlier to accommodate it.
Typically, the game would kickoff at 6:30 PM EST. It's hard to predict what kind of impact such a move would have on TV ratings -- Americans who have to work the next day might appreciate a slightly earlier start. Then again, the current kickoff time is meant to give the game prime-time ratings.
Another obstacle is that the next three Super Bowl sites have been picked:
Next Three Super Bowl Sites
- Super Bowl 59: Caesars Superdome, New Orleans LA
- Super Bowl 60: Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara, California
- Super Bowl 61: SoFi Stadium, Inglewood/Los Angeles, California
This means if London were to happen, it would not happen before February 2028. Even at that, the NFL has new or renovated stadiums on the horizon, including Nashville, Jacksonville and Chicago, so odds are the league will look to those sites before considering an international Super Bowl.
That said, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell made it seem unlikely, but not impossible, when queried about it by fans. As per ESPN.com:
"It is not impossible, and it is something that has been discussed before... I think that is not out of the question. But at the end of the day, I think right now our formula will stay the same about playing [Super Bowls] in cities that have franchises."
It's not just that it might seem weird to host the championship game of America's most popular sport overseas. It's also about economics.
"I think being able to play it in one of our cities -- it's at a huge economic boost to those cities."
If you are an NFL fan in London, don't despair. You might not get a Super Bowl for a long time, if ever, but you'll get three regular-season tilts in 2024:
NFL London Games in 2024 | ||
|---|---|---|
Matchup | Date | Venue |
New York Jets vs. Minnesota Vikings | Sun, Oct. 6 | Tottenham Hotspur Stadium |
Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Chicago Bears | Sun, Oct. 13 | Tottenham Hotspur Stadium |
New England Patriots vs. Jacksonville Jaguars | Sun, Oct. 20 | Wembley Stadium |
The NFL will play an additional two international games in 2024, one in Sao Paolo, Brazil, and the other in Munich, Germany.
Sources: The Athletic, ESPN
All statistics courtesy of Pro Football Reference unless stated otherwise.
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