NFL: NFL Vice: London team “doable in 4 to 5 years.”

A fixed NFL franchise in London is repeatedly speculated about, but so far those in charge have tended to be more reluctant to make concrete statements.So far: Mark Waller, NFL Vice President for International Affairs and Events, made himself clear.

“When we started in 2007, I said this was a 15-year project for 15 years,”Waller said in conversation with the Guardian during the first London game of the new season between Jacksonville and Baltimore.

He continued, referring to a possible NFL team in the city on the Thames:”This seemed to be a time frame that should work.The step should be perfectly feasible in the next four or five years.”

Whether and when the NFL dares to take the fixed step to London is completely open – with the moves of the Chargers, Rams (both to Los Angeles) and the Raiders (to Las Vegas) many things are already in a state of flux.It is quite conceivable that those responsible would like to bring peace and quiet back into the league.

For Waller, it is especially important to prepare the city for the opportunity to give the league a serious option:”We want to make sure that London is ready and we have the fan base for this kind of thing here.Los Angeles is a good indicator for us, showing how fast things can go in the end.There was a long wait, a long wait, a long wait – and suddenly there was a green light.”

At the end of 2016, Waller had already stressed in a conversation with SPOX:”When a team owner decides that the time is ripe, the market will be ready, even if it is difficult to see the progress from outside.But when the step comes, it will happen very quickly.Look at L. A.four years ago, if you had said that we now have a team about to move to a new stadium there, no one would have believed that it could go so fast – after all, nothing has happened for many years.”

Above all, equal opportunities are an issue:”Could you have a team in this market, despite the many trips that would be necessary from week to week and season to season?Could we also maintain a competitive squad if the fact is that there are no players available on the market there?So if you wanted to improve or enlarge the squad, these players would have to come from the USA.How could this equal opportunity be guaranteed?”

After all, that’s “the beauty of our league: all 32 teams have the same chances.Having a team that can’t keep up with the long term because of the location would be the last thing we want.”