Where Is the Super Bowl More Likely To Be First: London or the Moon?

Late Tuesday afternoon, I was traveling east down I-30 from Fort Worth, TX, on my way to Arlington Stadium to see the Texas Rangers.

Right next to Arlington Stadium is the new home of the Dallas Cowboys. The recently named, Cowboys Stadium, by team owner Jerry Jones, is near complete with less than one month from hosting its first event on June 6.

A concert headlined by George Strait, and featuring Reba McEntire, Blake Shelton, and Julianne Hough from Dancing With the Stars.

I was with a college friend, who is a native Texan from Plano, TX, and we pulled into a gas station to prepare ourselves before the game started. We had a perfect view of the $1.1 billion stadium and it looked worth every penny. My friend pulled out his camera so that he could take a picture.

We got back in our car, paid $7 for parking, turned on the Rangers radio pregame show, and enjoyed the beverages we got from the gas station.

During this time, I asked my friend, “Its (Cowboys Stadium) hosting next year’s NBA All-Star game right?” He said, “Yea, and the Super Bowl in 2011.”

Immediately after he said Super Bowl, I asked him if he heard about the possibility of a Super Bowl being played in London had been re-opened for discussion.

His response, “There is just no way that will ever happen. It can’t. The Super Bowl will be played on the Moon before they (London) get it. Remember, we own the Moon.”

Last week new reports came forward saying that the NFL had re-opened Super Bowl talks with London.  And on May 12, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, confirmed reports about the discussion of two regular-season games being played in London for the 2010 season.

"The fan reaction we've had in London has been extraordinary. We would like to feed that passion," Goodell said after speaking at the Charlotte Touchdown Club. "We have a great fan base in the UK. There have been discussions of taking the second game and playing it in another market in the UK. That's something that we'll evaluate."

"I think the teams have had a great experience that have gone over," Goodell said. "We've been able to build on that and I think teams recognize it's an honor and a privilege to go over and play there. And it can be done without impacting the team negatively."

Clearly Goodell and the NFL see the tremendous business opportunity of London hosting a Super Bowl. It would be the biggest sports spectacle ever, falling only short to the 2008 Opening Ceremonies.

But, if the NFL did do that, what would their American fans think? Would they be outraged? Would it really matter at all?

As a fan of the NFL, really just a fan of sports in general, I think it would be a crime to have the Super Bowl, America’s biggest sporting event of every year, be played on anything other than American soil.

Why do we have to go to our overseas fans? Even the MLB and NBA, two leagues way more overseas influenced than the NFL, have zero regular-season games overseas and their season’s seem long enough for the addition if the NFL can fit it in.

My concern is not only for fans that want to go to the Super Bowl, but also for the families and friends of the teams. They now have to travel all the way to London to see their loved-one play in the biggest game of their career. What they and their families sacrifice all that time away from each other.

You can make the argument that fans, players, the player’s friends and families, all would enjoy a chance to go to the game and then Vacation in Europe.

I thought that was what the Pro Bowl was for. Why not have that overseas? The NFL’s overseas fans would still go to that. It’s the NFL’s best for one day every year. Come on, they are already buying their Pro Bowl tickets.