While the offseason hasn’t lacked any excitement in New Orleans – with a tantalizing free agency period coupled with an exciting NFL Draft – my personal focus has admittedly remained on the NFL’s inaugural Paris game since it was announced in February.
As is the case for many of our readers, the game will be very special for me. But not only because the black and gold feature as the home team. It’s also the first Saints game on international soil since I moved home to Europe, and therefore my first opportunity
to watch the team in person once again since giving up my close proximity to the Superdome.
With that in mind, I’m electing to get ahead of myself and start talking about this historic occasion at the Stade de France in October.
I wanted to get an expert’s view on all of this, and there’s simply none better than Jeff Duncan of NOLA.com. He gave me plenty of insight, which is packed into the words below.
The NFL continues to expand its global reach
It is incredible what the NFL has done, and continues to do, to expand its worldwide audience in such a short span since the inaugural International Series game only 19 years ago. Duncan explained to me how both the league and the Saints are well aware of this unending potential.
“This is part of a larger NFL initiative to grow the brand globally. Roger Goodell sees this as an untapped revenue stream, and I think he’s right. The interest level is growing by the year.”
The game has indeed exploded onto the scene, especially here in Europe. The Britain that I left when I moved to New Orleans is not the one that I’ve returned to.
Before, you’d struggle to find a place to watch Red Zone on a Sunday. Now, pubs and restaurants all over the country advertise it prominently. NFL jerseys are on every turn. And, as Duncan points out, it still feels like just the beginning.
“I think what we’re seeing now is the nascent stages of a global explosion in interest in the sport.”
As for these new fans, they do need to learn the game before they can truly enjoy it. At nine years old, I was lucky enough to be dropped into New Orleans while a prime Drew Brees was doing his thing week in week out. My education as a foreign fan was unique. But for fans that live abroad, exposure to the game is vital.
“It’s a complicated sport, it’s complex to learn. It can be intimidating,” he says. “The league wants to try to let fans get used to it and understand what is so attractive about American football; the chess match, the mental part of it, and then obviously the physicality, the great athleticism that you see every weekend. That combination is what has made this sport so dominant in America.”
And as for the black and gold, they want to go beyond just playing 60 minutes of football. “The Saints want to do more than just play games over there; they want it to be kind of a year-round thing. Perhaps in Monaco, they’ve talked about even holding a minicamp.”
“That’s the best way for them to grow the product in Europe, is to continue to go over there and not just play a game but to spend more time over there year-round to show the commitment.”
Speaking of the Saints on the international front, kicker Charlie Smyth broke into the team this year after being a part of the international pathway program. And his story is exemplary of the knock-on effect of growing the game abroad: not only do new fans find the NFL, but the NFL finds new players.
I asked Duncan how far he thinks this could all eventually go.
“I’ll tell you what’s going to, I think, be the detonation point, is once an international player becomes a starting quarterback in the NFL. If that happens, it’s going to blow up.”
“Eventually, there’s going to be NFL teams based in Europe. It’s just a matter of when.”
While that’s a prospect I still struggle to wrap my head around, there is certainly an aura of inevitability surrounding it.
To think that we as fans already complain about the travel involved in back-to-back road games on the East and West Coast. Imagine the Saints routinely playing in Los Angeles one week, and Munich the next!
Do local Saints fans get the short straw?
While the ever-increasing number of games on European soil is exciting for those of us over here, the favor is rather unlikely to ever be returned with our version of football.
If, for example, the English Premier League ever attempted to play the Manchester United vs Liverpool game happening this weekend in New York or Florida, it’s no exaggeration to say there’d be riots in the streets.
Moving competitive matches away from teams’ home stadiums is simply unthinkable to us. So why is it so normal to Americans, who just seem to be fine with losing out on home games so that we Brits get to see their team live in the flesh?
Duncan explains that there are a few factors involved.
“The league is weighted into this. For decades, they’ve been playing preseason games abroad. People are used to it; they’ve slowly been growing the international series year by year.”
But, as he also points out, the league has expanded the schedule and is likely going to do so again. So, even with a “home” game all the way in Paris, home fans aren’t truly missing out. I hadn’t actually considered this.
“The biggest aspect is, it’s going to be part of the expanded regular season schedule. So the NFL is able to frame this as, hey, we’re taking away a preseason game. You’re still getting the same amount of home games in your regular season as you would’ve had in the 16-game schedule,” he told me.
So, while it’s still evidence of a huge cultural difference across the Atlantic, this does help explain why Saints fans in the Crescent City seem largely on board.
Let us know in the comments, regardless of where you are in the world, about where you stand on this.
Finally: the event itself
“I know the Saints and Gayle Benson have been planning this for a while. It’s going to be an event; it’s not just going to be a football game on Sunday. There’s going to be a lot of stuff to do; it should be a lot of fun.”
In true New Orleans fashion, it sounds like it’s going to be a party atmosphere in Paris in the buildup to the game.
And there is indeed so much to be excited about. There’s as much enthusiasm going into the new season as there has been in a long time for the black and gold. These games offer a chance for an incredibly diverse crowd of travelling Americans, first-time fans, lifelong supporters at their first game, and everyone in between to enjoy the sport together.
It promises to be a unique and thrilling experience in the French capital, and who better than the New Orleans Saints to bring the NFL to Paris for the first time?
I certainly can’t wait.
Let us know your thoughts on anything to do with NFL Paris. Are you planning on making it out to the game? Comment below!
