The FA in talks to sell Wembley

[tommo84]

Isn't the NFL season quite congested and could Chavs get their games fitted in?
I honestly think Abramovic is getting fed up getting out spent by Citeh and will walk away soon?

Not sure what you mean by 'congested' - NFL games are weekly (almost exclusively on Sundays and US networks would not want Monday or Thursday night games played in the UK as the time difference means they would not get big tv audiences in the US). Each team plays 16 games across 17 weeks, and the NFL don't mind having teams play 3 consecutive games either home or away so its pretty easy to schedule the 8 home games across a 17 week period.

Chelsea could quite easily schedule their home games for the weekends when there is no NFL game, but as others have said, the pitch would be a mess and still have the NFL gridlines visible. Hence why we've got the retractable pitch at our new stadium with astro turf underneath.

 

[Metalhead]

They'd need to sell Fulham before they could even think about it though.



But what's the FA without the stadium? And they could have just spent the money they used for building it on grassroots football in the first place.

Yeah, on reflection, you might have a point there.

 

['O Zio]

Not sure what you mean by 'congested' - NFL games are weekly (almost exclusively on Sundays and US networks would not want Monday or Thursday night games played in the UK as the time difference means they would not get big tv audiences in the US). Each team plays 16 games across 17 weeks, and the NFL don't mind having teams play 3 consecutive games either home or away so its pretty easy to schedule the 8 home games across a 17 week period.

Chelsea could quite easily schedule their home games for the weekends when there is no NFL game, but as others have said, the pitch would be a mess and still have the NFL gridlines visible. Hence why we've got the retractable pitch at our new stadium with astro turf underneath.

I think by congested he means the season is short i.e. it only goes on for 17 weeks (plus playoffs obviously).

 

[Thewobbler]

Sell it. Its a shit stadium anyway.

 

[Mr.D]

Sell it. Its a shit stadium anyway.

Indeed. And the FA never owned the old Wembley anyway.

 

[Spurs 1961]

Worried about the NFL links to a team that is potentially being touted as becoming a London franchise which we would want based at WHL!

This my my thought immediately I heard the news. We have a ten year deal for two games but clearly have eyes on a franchise being with us. Perhaps London could host two teams creating a rivalry but I am not sure whether that would be on

 

[whitesocks]

A franchise would always be looking at Wembley first, imo.
The only problems were those pesky international fixtures - but the truth is fans would rather these games were played around the country. As long as the various finals/playoffs were at Wembley, then no-one would care too much that it was not available for 6 months a year.

But Levy knew all this. I think the main nfl plan for NWHL was to put down a marker for a relaunched Euro-NFL and create a future home for the London Monarchs take 2.
So maybe the club are genuinely pleased that a franchise might come to Wembley sooner, as the interest might help kick start another NFL-europa or whatever.

 

[Ionman34]

I couldn't give a flying fuck. Sell Wembley, don't sell Wembley.

I have total faith in Daniel Levy to do what needs doing in any eventuality, if it isn't already done

DNA test came through yeah? You have to call him Dad now.

I bet you checked because you’re losing your hair...


And you’re only 4’11”...

 

[punky]

When I first heard about the offer and that the FA were meeting, I assumed it was a legal thing that they have to call a EGM in response to an offer and that it will be rejected out of hand.

Now i'm seeing quotes that the FA are guaranteeing the money will be funnelled into grassroots football. If they are talking about how the money is going to be spent, I think the deal is going to happen one way or other..

https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...mbley-windfall-will-go-to-grassroots-football

 

[arunspurs]

Yep. I think people palming it off as "No we didn't just build it for the NFL, we'll have concerts there still" etc. are kidding themselves. There's no way in hell Levy spend all that extra money on NFL stuff just for 2 games a season plus a couple of Adele concerts. This is a massive blow not just in terms of having spent the money on stuff that won't pay for itself, it's also going to impact the potential exposure we'd have got on the American market and also on the valuation of any kind of naming rights deal.

There's no doubt in my mind Levy had smoke coming out of his ears morning

Very much the opposite IMO.

The biggest problem we currently have is we are not a stakeholder currently in NFL. This means its next to impossible for us to make any rule change. And rule change or a vote has to be agreed within current NFL owners to allow to move a club outside US. If Jaguars owner buy Wembley, him being a key stakeholder, its almost a done deal to change the status quo with overseas venue.

Once NFL is played in UK, only matter of time, other teams are open to the idea. With us having the best equipped NFL stadium, eventually Levy will make it work. NFL coming to UK will bring in more sponsors, more income , more fans, more TV revenue. I can't see how this will be bad for us whatever way we look at it.

 

['O Zio]

Very much the opposite IMO.

The biggest problem we currently have is we are not a stakeholder currently in NFL. This means its next to impossible for us to make any rule change. And rule change or a vote has to be agreed within current NFL owners to allow to move a club outside US. If Jaguars owner buy Wembley, him being a key stakeholder, its almost a done deal to change the status quo with overseas venue.

Once NFL is played in UK, only matter of time, other teams are open to the idea. With us having the best equipped NFL stadium, eventually Levy will make it work. NFL coming to UK will bring in more sponsors, more income , more fans, more TV revenue. I can't see how this will be bad for us whatever way we look at it.

Sorry if I'm misunderstanding here, but the way I'm reading it you're not making any sense. You don't see how it's a bad thing that we've potentially lost out on having an NFL franchise, and your logic for that is that if a second franchise were to come we might get them?

 

[arunspurs]

Sorry if I'm misunderstanding here, but the way I'm reading it you're not making any sense. You don't see how it's a bad thing that we've potentially lost out on having an NFL franchise, and your logic for that is that if a second franchise were to come we might get them?

Well let me clarify your confusion...
If Jaguars are not buying Wembley, there is zero rule change, zero franchises. We still have our 10 year deal and play a long game to get a franchise one day
If Jaguars are buying Wembley, there is rule change, minimum 1 franchise in UK . We still have our 10 year deal and play a long game. Only now, there are NFL clubs making the cross Atlantic journey to play Jaguars. And you think opening the borders won't get a another owner interested with NFL bringing in more revenue ? When PL came into existence, there were same questions & doubts. Never doubt the power of globalization.

 

['O Zio]

Well let me clarify your confusion...
If Jaguars are not buying Wembley, there is zero rule change, zero franchises. We still have our 10 year deal and play a long game to get a franchise one day
If Jaguars are buying Wembley, there is rule change, minimum 1 franchise in UK . We still have our 10 year deal and play a long game. Only now, there are NFL clubs making the cross Atlantic journey to play Jaguars. And you think opening the borders won't get a another owner interested with NFL bringing in more revenue ? When PL came into existence, there were same questions & doubts. Never doubt the power of globalization.

But the assumption up until now has been that the Jaguars would move into our stadium so I'm still not sure I get your logic. Surely you can see that it's better for us if the Jaguars just move into our stadium rather than move into Wembley, and then we have to wait until the NFL decide to move a second franchise over?

 

[arunspurs]

But the assumption up until now has been that the Jaguars would move into our stadium so I'm still not sure I get your logic. Surely you can see that it's better for us if the Jaguars just move into our stadium rather than move into Wembley, and then we have to wait until the NFL decide to move a second franchise over?

I dont think anyone made any assumption on Jaguars moving into our stadium. I have not seen any 'concrete' rumour linking them of a move to our stadium. Any franchise moving into our stadium would have to share the revenue with us. Lets think about this. Why would Jaguars owner want to buy Wembley ? Because he buys Wembley for a reasonable price, he gets the full share of the pie. And he is taking a big risk by doing it. Risk is big,potential revenue is also big.

Any new business venture, first one to risk it risk its all. If it succeeds, one behind him, there is a guaranteed path to success. Risk is not much. So, yes, if Jaguar moves & move works, I would bet my house it benefits us too long term.

 

['O Zio]

I dont think anyone made any assumption on Jaguars moving into our stadium. I have not seen any 'concrete' rumour linking them of a move to our stadium. Any franchise moving into our stadium would have to share the revenue with us. Lets think about this. Why would Jaguars owner want to buy Wembley ? Because he buys Wembley for a reasonable price, he gets the full share of the pie. And he is taking a big risk by doing it. Risk is big,potential revenue is also big.

Any new business venture, first one to risk it risk its all. If it succeeds, one behind him, there is a guaranteed path to success. Risk is not much. So, yes, if Jaguar moves & move works, I would bet my house it benefits us too long term.

Given that the Jags have been rumoured to want to move over to London for years now (and there's all kinds of stuff to suggest this) and the fact that we spent a lot of money on purpose-built NFL facilities at our stadium etc. then it's fairly obvious that there was at least some talk of them moving into our stadium if/when the move eventually happened. No, nothing has been concrete, but up until this week by far the most logical scenario was that they would move into the NWHL.

Yes it's obviously better for the Jags owner to buy Wembley on the cheap and move the team in there instead, that's not the point, we're not talking about what's better for them I'm talking about what's better for us. The point is that until this week all the signs have pointed to them moving into NWHL eventually, which would've been hugely beneficial to us. If he buys Wembley, obviously they'll move into there rather than our stadium, which cuts us out of the deal completely. I really don't understand how you think that's a good thing for us? Your entire logic seems to be that it's great because we'd be in line to get the hypothetical second team years from now, but why is that better than just getting the first team i.e. the Jags? You're not making any sense at all.

 

[Hoddtastic72]

Given that the Jags have been rumoured to want to move over to London for years now (and there's all kinds of stuff to suggest this) and the fact that we spent a lot of money on purpose-built NFL facilities at our stadium etc. then it's fairly obvious that there was at least some talk of them moving into our stadium if/when the move eventually happened. No, nothing has been concrete, but up until this week by far the most logical scenario was that they would move into the NWHL.

Yes it's obviously better for the Jags owner to buy Wembley on the cheap and move the team in there instead, that's not the point, we're not talking about what's better for them I'm talking about what's better for us. The point is that until this week all the signs have pointed to them moving into NWHL eventually, which would've been hugely beneficial to us. If he buys Wembley, obviously they'll move into there rather than our stadium, which cuts us out of the deal completely. I really don't understand how you think that's a good thing for us? Your entire logic seems to be that it's great because we'd be in line to get the hypothetical second team years from now, but why is that better than just getting the first team i.e. the Jags? You're not making any sense at all.

This is why

 

[tttcowan]

Reports saying khan had been given first option on Wembley in 2015. If that's got into the press so easily now levy MUST of known when making decisions about the NFL pitch. That gives me some hope this isn't going to end up with us having half a white elephant.

Still, on the surface I can't see how it can be spun as a good thing for spurs.

 

[absolute bobbins]

Yes, Levy invested in the pitch/facilities primarily for the NFL but he certainly did not bank on NWHL being the confirmed home of a London franchise.

Levy would not have signed the 10 year deal without cast iron guarantees.

The EE Wembley deal has at least two years to run so our stadium rights deal will not be affected by a deal that has not even happened.

Some of you really need to chill the fuck out.

 

[Spursmatty87]

There’s gonna need to be some big changes at Wembley to make into a proper nfl stadium. Personally I agree with one of the previous comments that a nfl Europe league could be developed. Think they tried to early before, the nfl has grown so much in the uk over the last 10 years. Could be a bit like when they tried to do ‘soccer’ in the usa in the 70’s they just weren’t really ready for it.

 

[neilp]

Reports saying khan had been given first option on Wembley in 2015. If that's got into the press so easily now levy MUST of known when making decisions about the NFL pitch. That gives me some hope this isn't going to end up with us having half a white elephant.

Still, on the surface I can't see how it can be spun as a good thing for spurs.

Where is the info on a first option being agreed in 2015, I find it staggering if it’s true.