NFL London 2012: Second Overseas Game Based Purely on Greed

“Money talks, so talk ‘mo bucks”—Jay-Z

It’s the mantra of rappers, greedy business executives, strippers and the NFL.

The latest decision to potentially add a second game in London in 2012 is purely a money grab.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is attempting to land league approval at an owners meeting October 10-11 in Houston, according to Sports Business Journal.

The NFL makes a ton of money off the annual game as it attempts to broaden the appeal of the league. In the process it is giving the two teams involved a serious disadvantage. The cross-continent flight kills 2-3 days of preparation for the game and drains the players. This isn’t a Miami-to-Seattle flight. We are talking 8-10 hours.

When Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher was asked over the summer if he was excited about the game, he was very blunt:

"

No, I'm not excited to go to London. I don't understand why they do that. ... I am not excited to go to London, I will say that. I can't imagine many players would be, considering the travel involved and disruption to their weekly schedule

"

It the NFL truly cared about the pureness and integrity of the game, they wouldn’t make two teams travel around the world like they are the gridiron equivalent of the Harlem Globetrotters.

This year’s game will be played on October 23^rd when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers “host” the Chicago Bears. It’s the second time in three years that the Bucs were forced to surrender a home game in order for the league to cash in. It’s not fair to the loyal fans in Tampa (even if there aren’t a ton of them) to lose a home game every other year.

The players don’t like it, the fans lose a game, and the fans at Wembley Stadium are there just to be at the event. They don’t care about the teams on the field.

Yet as long as the owners wallets are getting wider…the NFL thinks it’s a great idea.

Money talks.