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NFL set to announce 2007 preseason game in China
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/peter_king/09/23/week4.insidethenfl/index.html
Posted: Saturday September 23, 2006 3:36PM; Updated: Saturday September 23, 2006 3:57PM
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/services/rss/
Super Bowl MVP and international man of intrigue Tom Brady is an ideal fit to initiate the NFL's big foray into China next summer.
The New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks will make history twice next summer. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is expected to announce Sunday night that the Patriots and Seahawks will play the league's first game ever in China on Aug. 8, 2007.For New England and Seattle, the other half of the story is that they'll become the first teams in modern NFL history to play back-to-back preseason games against each other. The Patriots, on their trip to the Far East, will stop in Seattle and play the Seahawks in the preseason opener for both teams on Aug. 2.
The game in China will be played at a stadium in Beijing and telecast on NBC.
The NFL has long wanted to break into the Chinese market, and the Patriots have been a leader in trying to gain a foothold there. New England has a Web site written in Mandarin Chinese, and owner Bob Kraft has business interests in China. Kraft, one of the leading proponents of the NFL's return to Los Angeles, has also been bullish on the NFL expanding into new territories.
The NFL's entry into China will follow the National Basketball Association's by three years. Houston and Sacramento played two games there in 2004, and the NBA has a television and webcasting presence there now.
The trip could be a windfall in a business sense for the league and for the teams, the first to plant their flags in a football-virgin country of 1.3 billion people. But it will be interesting to see how the teams will respond to the news, particularly Patriots coach Bill Belichick. It could be a training-camp nightmare for the clubs. Belichick hates any distractions and prefers camp to be run on a strict routine. But camp will be broken up for 10 days in the middle of the summer with a six-hour flight to Seattle, then a game, then a 12-hour flight to Beijing, then practices and public displays in a country totally unfamiliar with the game, then a game against the same team, then a 16-hour flight back to New England. And don't think Mike Holmgren will be too thrilled with the arrangement, either -- assuming he's still the Seattle coach next summer.
The NFL has played preseason games overseas for two decades. This year was a rare season without an international game, but next year could make up for it. It's believed the Dallas Cowboys want to play an exhibition game in Mexico next summer.
NFL set to announce 2007 preseason game in China
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/peter_king/09/23/week4.insidethenfl/index.html
Posted: Saturday September 23, 2006 3:36PM; Updated: Saturday September 23, 2006 3:57PM
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/services/rss/
Super Bowl MVP and international man of intrigue Tom Brady is an ideal fit to initiate the NFL's big foray into China next summer.
The game in China will be played at a stadium in Beijing and telecast on NBC.
The NFL has long wanted to break into the Chinese market, and the Patriots have been a leader in trying to gain a foothold there. New England has a Web site written in Mandarin Chinese, and owner Bob Kraft has business interests in China. Kraft, one of the leading proponents of the NFL's return to Los Angeles, has also been bullish on the NFL expanding into new territories.
The NFL's entry into China will follow the National Basketball Association's by three years. Houston and Sacramento played two games there in 2004, and the NBA has a television and webcasting presence there now.
The trip could be a windfall in a business sense for the league and for the teams, the first to plant their flags in a football-virgin country of 1.3 billion people. But it will be interesting to see how the teams will respond to the news, particularly Patriots coach Bill Belichick. It could be a training-camp nightmare for the clubs. Belichick hates any distractions and prefers camp to be run on a strict routine. But camp will be broken up for 10 days in the middle of the summer with a six-hour flight to Seattle, then a game, then a 12-hour flight to Beijing, then practices and public displays in a country totally unfamiliar with the game, then a game against the same team, then a 16-hour flight back to New England. And don't think Mike Holmgren will be too thrilled with the arrangement, either -- assuming he's still the Seattle coach next summer.
The NFL has played preseason games overseas for two decades. This year was a rare season without an international game, but next year could make up for it. It's believed the Dallas Cowboys want to play an exhibition game in Mexico next summer.
