Why the commissioner loves the INFL
Dodgers-Phillies could be classic. Report: March Madness field to expand
Good morning, all! It’s Friday!
For the second straight weekend, the NFL will have an international game. Last week in Dublin it was the Minnesota Vikings vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Vikes stayed overseas and will now play the Cleveland Browns on Sunday in London.
Last week at a news conference in Ireland, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell stated he would like to see every team play one international league game per season. That would add up to 16 games out of the U.S.A. This season the NFL is playing seven international games.
Why is Goodell pushing for more overseas games? Why did Willie Sutton rob banks? Rather than diluting the product by taking games out of the country, the commissioner sees a cash cow. The sea lanes to London are paved with gold.
To fulfill his dream, Goodell would have to expand the NFL schedule from 17 to 18 games. He has wanted that for sometime but has gotten pushback from the NFLPA. I believe he will sweeten the pot to convince the players it is in their best financial interests to expand the schedule. Then he will persuade the owners they are not really losing a home game, if an additional game is added to the schedule and moved out of the country.
Once he clears those hurdles, Goodell can then put together a multibillion dollar package with the streamers devoted strictly to international games. Netflix, You Tube, Prime, Versant and anyone else, step up and submit your bids.
Goodell’s comment about expanding the product was not a throw-away line. Just as the commissioner stated last week he wants to reopen the TV contracts with the networks because “the NFL is leaving too much money on the table,” he means what he says about more international games. His motivation is obvious. The NFL is leaving too much money on the table.
Here are some other thoughts, as I ponder why ‘America’s team’ hasn’t won a Super Bowl since 1996:
Goodell has been busy trying to start other leagues this week. ICYMI, he announced on Thursday the NFL is going to start a professional flag football league for men and women. It’s his way of helping prepare that sport for the Olympics. And you know what? Both leagues will be a success.
Dodgers-Phillies could be a fun NLDS.
The NBC Sports Network, which went away in 2021, is making a comeback. NBC’s parent company, Comcast, has cut a deal with You Tube to carry the channel. Comcast is spinning off a lot of its channels, such as the Golf Channel, CNBC and MSNBC into another media company known as Versant. It still needs a place, however, to park some of its other sports programming, thus the resurrection of the NBC Sports Network.
You think this Red Sox-Yankees thing isn’t serious? You had the Red Sox AA affiliate Portland, trolling the Yankees AA affiliate Somerset on X Thursday afternoon:
A report on the website On3 states that it is all but a given the NCAA men’s basketball tournament will expand to 76 teams, adding more play-in games, with winners reaching the current, 64-team tournament bracket. You knew that was going to happen. Why? To borrow an old line, too much money is being left on the table. But mark my words, we will live to see the day when private investors - much like they are trying to swoop in and take over the Big 10 - will someday take over March Madness and turn it into a mega school-only event.
Incidentally, ESPN has a great story about how the Big 10 is talking about a $2B deal with private investors. It seems Ohio St. and Michigan are the only schools not sure this is the way for the conference to proceed. My hunch is Ohio St. and Michigan will agree, once the investors throw in even more dough than the two billion.
That is going to do it for today’s newsletter. As always, thank you for subscribing and have a great Friday!
DAN