St Louis Rams Rumors: Can a Franchise in London Work?

Last week's announcement that the St Louis Rams have agreed a three-year deal to stage one regular season game a season at London's Wembley Stadium can only serve to fuel rumors that an NFL franchise will be moving to England's capitol in the near future.

The Rams are not the only team linked to a move to London. When Jacksonville swapped hands earlier in the season, they were also linked with the switch.

The tone of Kroenke's statement to the BBC sounds fairly ominous, however.

"This is a tremendous honour for our franchise, the city of St. Louis and our fans throughout the world. We are excited about the opportunity to reach new audiences globally. This is a great platform to showcase the city of St. Louis to London and the UK."

One NFL game a year has been played in London since 2007 when the Giants and the Dolphins came to town. This is the first time that a single team has shown such an interest in coming to Wembley.

Currently, three NFL owners have controlling stakes in Premier League soccer teams; Browns owner Randy Lerner owns Aston Villa, the Glazer's own Manchester United and new Rams owner Stan Kroenke holds the majority share in Arsenal FC.

With this influx of American owners into British sports, it is perhaps inevitable that owners will look to capitalize on a largely untapped market across the Atlantic.

There's just too much money to be made in international sponsorships for it not to happen.

As Kroenke stated, "We've seen first hand the increased popularity of the NFL, not only in London but throughout Europe. To play a role in that growth over the next three years will be incredible."

A single game played at Wembley has been very successful in recent years, but would a London-based franchise be successful in the long term?

The first point is to look at the logistics of such a move. The scheduling would have to be done very carefully. West coast teams would not be able to travel there every year as the eight-hour flight is unfair on the visiting team. Likewise, the London team would have to make that journey.

The stadium would presumably remain Wembley, and this poses problems in itself. Soccer will remain Wembley's priority and if a franchise threatens to ruin the surface for England's national team then they could find themselves looking for another arena to play in.

Another option that has been put forward as a possibility is that an NFL team will play four games at home in their current location and four games in London.

This would make the most sense as it is the most risk free option. One team that has been talked about as a possibility for such a move is Tampa Bay, but by testing the water without committing it will still be hard to tell how Brits would take to a London franchise.

Four games a year would still be a novelty rather than a real team to go out and support.

The next question to consider is the popularity of such a franchise on the road. The average British fan may be unlikely to shell out the money to consistently make the trips over the Atlantic for away games.

The lack of homegrown players could also pose problems for a franchise in London. Potential British players would need to go overseas to play college football; a daunting move that many may not consider.

Without British talent, the NFL will need to work extremely hard to get players name recognition in Britain, as currently most Brits wouldn't be able to name more than one or two current NFL players.

If a franchise came to London without a marquee name and then struggled, they could find it very hard to keep casual fans interested and buying tickets.

When asked about the game that the Patriots will play in London next season, chairman and chief executive Robert Kraft mentioned that "The United Kingdom is home to some of our most passionate Patriots fans, including the UKPatriots, who are among our most active fan clubs overall, not just overseas."

The fact that die-hard NFL fans in Britain already have allegiances to teams in America could be another hurdle for the potential franchise.

Would they be willing to drop these ties and really get behind a new team?

If any owner does decide to make the jump across the Atlantic, then they could soon be in for a rude awakening. It takes more than one game a season to create enough interest in a team to move there.

With Kroenke's links to London with Arsenal could St Louis be thinking of a move across the Atlantic and becoming the first franchise outside the US?

If not, who will be the team that makes the jump?

Do you think a British franchise would be successful? Has Kroenke got any intention of keeping the Rams in St Louis past 2014? Comment below.