The English Football Association is desperate to bring an NFL team to London and make Wembley Stadium its home.
The FA – which owns Wembley Stadium – is desperate boost its revenue and sees a permanent NFL franchise in London as the answer. Meanwhile, the NFL is keen to see the UK obtain the league's first ever overseas franchise.
The Football Association is already under contract to hold matches at Wembley until 2017, while the NFL has already suggested that it would like a London team in place by 2021.
Speaking to BBC 5Live, NFL UK managing director Alistair Kirkwood said:
"We're very interested in exploring the idea of a British-based franchise and seeing if we can pull it off.
Fan growth has grown considerably in recent years. But we've seen in all forms of sport, having something that's considered national really transforms your potential popularity.
If we were to finish it off, it would be a big project realised."
The popularity of NFL continues to rise in the UK with three regular season games due to take place at Wembley in 2014. The first game, between Miami Dolphins and Oakland Raiders last month, drew a crowd of 83,436.
The Jacksonville Jaguars will play one game per season at Wembley between 2013 and 2016, which has led to speculation that the franchise – which is owned by Shahid Khan, who bought Fulham FC in 2013 – could be open to a permanent relocation.
Any decision to relocate an NFL team to Wembley would also hold ramifications for the England national football team, who would be forced to leave Wembley and play their games at Premier League grounds up and down the country.
[via BBC Sport]
