From time to time, the possibility of a Super Bowl in London gets floated. That usually happens around the time the NFL is preparing to play in a game in London, and thus hoping to get maximum local coverage.
Today, the subject came up because London’s mayor said he wants to host the Super Bowl, along with other international events.
“The Super Bowl is really important for us,” Sadiq Khan said, via TheAthletic.com. “We have a number of American football games and I want it to come here because we want American sports fans in Europe to come to London to watch them, not just go to America.”
The biggest problem with playing the Super Bowl in London comes from the time difference. The game starts at or around 6:30 p.m. ET. That’s 11:30 p.m. ET in London. And it last four hours. It would be odd, to say the least, to have Wembley Stadium emptying out at 3:30 a.m. local time.
Plenty of American fans also would regard a London Super Bowl as a bridge too far in the effort to globalize the game. Even though only a small fraction of domestic fans ever go to a Super Bowl, it’s the quintessential American event. It’s not the Olympics or the World Cup — especially with all team headquartered in the USA.
There’s nothing wrong with aspiring to host the game. And maybe it’ll happen. It won’t be easy. And the question is whether the gains would justify the headaches.