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As if anyone cares but for those who do....
The National Football League has officially pulled the plug on NFL Europa.
The league, which began operations in 1991 as the World League of American Football, announced the decision on its German-language web site. Although it was originally conceived as a minor league that would have teams throughout the United States and Europe, Germany was the only country where the league gained any traction at all, and five of the six NFL Europa teams were based there.
We thank our fans for the great support in the past years," NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was quoted as saying in the statement.
By scheduling regular-season NFL games outside the United States, it was time to develop a new international strategy, Goodell said, adding that folding NFL Europa was the "best business decision."
"From now on, we will focus on regular-season games and use new technologies to make NFL more popular worldwide," he said.
NFL Europa was a failed experiment, and the fact that it lasted this long is evidence of how much leeway the NFL owners gave to the previous commissioner, Paul Tagliabue. But once Tagliabue -- by far the league's biggest supporter -- was gone, it was only a matter of time before this money-losing venture ended.
The National Football League has officially pulled the plug on NFL Europa.
The league, which began operations in 1991 as the World League of American Football, announced the decision on its German-language web site. Although it was originally conceived as a minor league that would have teams throughout the United States and Europe, Germany was the only country where the league gained any traction at all, and five of the six NFL Europa teams were based there.
We thank our fans for the great support in the past years," NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was quoted as saying in the statement.
By scheduling regular-season NFL games outside the United States, it was time to develop a new international strategy, Goodell said, adding that folding NFL Europa was the "best business decision."
"From now on, we will focus on regular-season games and use new technologies to make NFL more popular worldwide," he said.
NFL Europa was a failed experiment, and the fact that it lasted this long is evidence of how much leeway the NFL owners gave to the previous commissioner, Paul Tagliabue. But once Tagliabue -- by far the league's biggest supporter -- was gone, it was only a matter of time before this money-losing venture ended.
