Can We All Agree That The NFL Is Here To Stay …… ?

Can We All Agree That The NFL Is Here To Stay ?

There’s no other way to explain it but in light of many of the problems that the game of football has faced. It will be here to stay in all of its every facets. The league has been like a corporate business with. Very much with the professionalism we’ve seen within corporate giants , such as IBM , GE , Microsoft , Oracle, Coca Cola, Pepsi Co , Walmart and Cisco Systems. Each of the companies mentioned has a great management structure and employees who are pleased with their working environment because they’re well compensate. The average salary within the NFL is approximately $2,300,000. Which is well above the norm within each of the four major high profiled sports.

But now the with the country now in a economic crisis which in of itself hasn’t led to an overall change in the mindset as to how they view the fans. Instead of trying to lure the fans in with as attendance seemingly is on decline . Even if the signs of the drop in attendance is only incremental . One has to remember that the NFL is an $8.77 billion dollar a year business . A business that over the last few years has seen its revenues rise each year on average 5.5 %. The commissioner , Roger Goodell and the owners have gone out their way to make sure that brand remains high profile.

Wembley Stadium in London. Where this weekend the NFL will stage a regular season game between the New England Patriots and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers . The venue can hold up 90,000 people for a sporting event. picture appears courtesy of thetimes.co.uk/ Martin Webster ..........................

Now the NFL seeks pastures new, as the city of London will welcome both the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers . The win-less Buccaneers at 0-6 will face a rejuvenated Patriots’ team that is now 4-2 . The Patriots having put up a five spot ,(59-0) on the hapless Tennessee Titans (0-6). They’ll now be looking to repeat the same modus operandi on the Buccaneers. And for always attentive British sports fans , this will be another chance to see an NFL game up close and personal at one of the world’s great sporting venues. The newly built Wembley Stadium , will host the game, where there will be in excess of 78,000 in attendance.

As we know the NFL has set its sights on expanding its presence on a global scale. And the appeal of the game seems to have caught on in certain parts of Europe . If the NFL can claim a presence on the European content then it bodes well for the game for now and in the future. The tentacles of the league now seems to finding itself now seems to be finding itself in some of the places that you wouldn’t at first associate the game with. Countries such as South Africa , Germany , England, Iceland, Italy , France, Germany , Australia , New Zealand, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Kuwait, U.A.E, India , Malaysia , Japan and mainland China have a legion of loyal fans to a sport that is now beginning to resonate with these very same fans. For the NFL to further make footprints in the same way that MLB and the NBA has made globally . Then that time is now ! And it has been something that they now appear to be on threshold of achieving. Slowly, but surely over the last decade the NFL has built itself a sound international base and following. I know that this may well sound somewhat ironic but in some ways watching the NFL now seek its presence on the global stage. It reminds me of a plot taken from an old James Bond movie of the early sixties. Where the criminal enterprise known as SPECTRE , sought global domination. But in this case , what the NFL seeks isn’t a criminal enterprise expanding. It is merely a legitimate business undertaking by an expanding enterprise , looking to gain focus and have its presence in the international arena. And that is how the major iconic corporate enterprises have made their corporate presence felt .

Courtesy of The Japan Times ;

NFL Japan raising level of play

High school students tackle football’s fundamentals By

By Kaz Nagutsuka , Staff Writer

A quarterback throws the ball, but it doesn’t necessarily have a beautiful spiral and barely reaches a wide receiver who is 25 yards away.

Elsewhere, two linemen try to push and shove each other with pads to pads and helmets to helmets. But neither man could overpower the other.

If these were scenes from a professional or college football team’s practice, they wouldn’t be acceptable. But these kids are allowed to come to the field again, because they’re only studying “Football 101” and need to enjoy the game more than anything now.

That’s the main concept of the program.

NFL Japan held a football clinic for first-year high school players, primarily from Kansai and Kanto regions, in December and January for the third straight year.

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In order to read Kaz Nagutsaka’s article in its entirety just click unto the text link shown.
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First year high school players in Japan learn some of the rudimentary drills . picture appears courtesy of the Japan Times / archives/ Kuzio Katayama ......................

Now over the next decade, we’ll now have to wait and see what the ambitions of the NFL ultimately will be. There are those who feel the NFL’s ambitions are in fact to have an NFL franchise outside the continental United States. How realistic that might be, remains to be seen . However , the caveat may well be with the fans here in the US and how they will feel about this, and view it all. It’s clear that they’re passionate about the game and how they view what takes place not only on the field but also off it. And don’t be fooled in thinking that Roger Goodell isn’t aware of what’s taking place. Unlike his predecessors Goodell knows that the NFL cannot stand still and have a stagnant presence. It has to push ahead and make itself more widely known and accepted on all fronts. That’s something that the NFL knows and is proceeding to do in leaps and bounds.

Kentaro Namiki , a quarterback with the X League in Japan and a player with the Asahi Beer Silver Star conducts a clinic with high school players about the importance of leadership, education and the pleasures that can be had from within the NFL game of football. These are the very same ideals that the NFL adheres to and preaches to young kids. picture appears courtesy of the Japan Times / Haro Noguchi ............................

So now , what’s next for the NFL ? Down the line a franchise in Mexico or Canada ? Or will the NFL to pursue the ambition to have a franchise further a field ? These are the intriguing scenarios that may well be ahead for the sport as it seeks to have its presence felt on the international stage. Already we’ve seen the game expand beyond its territorial borders in terms of fan support and players playing professionally within the league. There are some very interesting times ahead for the NFL and its ambitious pursuits. One way or another we’ll see a number of changes ahead. Like it, or hate it , the NFL is definitely here to stay .

The question one ought to be now asking , is whether or not this will be the same game of football and the NFL that we’ve all grown to appreciate over the course of time ? It’s one thing to grow exponentially but it’s another to forsake your fans and the goodwill built up over the years. Merely doing so, to seek out pastures new and to enrich one’s bottom line. Rightly or wrongly times are changing and so too in many ways is the NFL . Perhaps for the better ? Or then again , perhaps not ? What do you think ?