How often do Premiere League teams play? Is it once a week like football, or several times per week like basketball, hockey, etc.?
How often do Premiere League teams play? Is it once a week like football, or several times per week like basketball, hockey, etc.?
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Sam_nyj
Guest
Up to twice a week. With 38 Games a season. Obviously your bigger clubs get more attendees and there are 92 Professional clubs in England meaning that attendances are very spread out.
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flgreen
Guest
Believe it's 5 hours difference between NY and London. As it is WC trips really put teams at a disadvantage because of the jet lag. A London trip would give a team problems for 2 weeks. Don't see it happening unless there were a whole division, that teams could play one after the other. Just not anywhere near the support for that in Europe.
Games sell out now for the novelty factor, if it was every week, don't think it would do so well
The only thing that will prevent a team being put into London is if studies show it would not enhance revenues. I think that's the only limiting factor. I suspect eventually we will have 7-days-a-week games too, just like MLB. Anything for increased revenue.
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ucrenegade
Guest
Why don't they just do what baseball does and use overseas like a farm team? I always thought it would be cool if each NFL team had a farm team maybe that would be to much wear and tear and the body?
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flgreen
Guest
That was the concept of NFL Europe. A lot of things prevented it from being successful. One was lack of fan support. Very expensive, and last but not least there are political considerations that had to be pandered to.
I am much more in favor of this new Wednesday night league that made a run this year. it was looking for support from the NFL, not competition.
It mostly played in small minor league baseball parks, and was just much cheaper to run then NFL Europe. I hope the NFL picks up on it
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ucrenegade
Guest
must have been living in a cave because i never heard of that league this year.
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flgreen
Guest
First year, think it's a great idea
Meet Brooklyn’s new minor league football team
By Zach BrazillerOctober 15, 2014 | 2:15am
Meet Brooklyn’s new minor league football team
They are the NFL’s leftovers, players who couldn’t catch on but aren’t prepared to give up on their dreams. They’re not ready to enter the professional work force or go into coaching. And now, rather than having to sign a two-year deal in Canada with the CFL, they have an outlet.
Meet the Brooklyn Bolts — New York City’s new professional football team.
The Bolts, who open their season Wednesday night against the Boston Brawlers at MCU Park in Coney Island — the home of the Mets’ Single-A affiliate Brooklyn Cyclones — are one of four teams in the fledgling six-week Fall Experimental Football League (FXFL).
The FXFL isn’t trying to compete with the NFL. It will play games Wednesday and Friday nights. The league’s goal is to become a minor league feeder system for the NFL. A majority of the league’s players are NFL washouts or former players, guys who got a taste of a practice squad or were invited to workouts and aren’t ready to call it a career.
“It’s about time,” Bolts coach and former Jets offensive lineman John Bock said. “There’s only two options for a player if they’ve been released: Sign a two-year deal with the CFL or you got to sit the season out. At the same time, the waiver wire is consistently active during the season. If you grab somebody now, they haven’t played football since August.
“Now you have a league showcasing them and giving these young athletes films scouts can see. They have a player who’s been coached, who’s in football shape, who’s ready to play right now. The league and the NFL belong together.”
Each player receives equal pay, $1,000 a week, and the opportunity to put together film to attract an NFL team. Games will be broadcast on a handful of local networks, such as SNY locally, and streamed online on ESPN3. Just last week, Bolts offensive guard Jordan McCray was signed away by the Packers.
Kicker Nick Marsh, who went unsigned after graduating from Rutgers, is putting off his career as an investment banker for the moment, hoping he can impress someone enough in Brooklyn to get his shot.
“Teams don’t have kickers on practice squads,” he said. “This is the next best thing. This is much better, in my opinion, than sitting at an office desk crunching numbers.”
The league is funded by a group of private investors. Its commissioner, Brian Woods, studied the NBA’s D-League and baseball’s minor league system before the launch.
“We’re a minor league model but a major league project,” Woods said. “If you go to minor league baseball games, several of those players have never put on a big league uniform. If you come to our game Wednesday night, a majority of our players have played in the NFL or put on an NFL uniform.”
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Ex-Jet Marvin Jones, a Bolts coach, enjoys a perk of the job: a Nathan’s hot dog.
Photo: Anthony Causi
The Bolts’ most recognizable name is one of its coaches — former Jets linebacker Marvin Jones. The team’s linebackers coach, Jones was brought in by Bock, his former Jets teammates. Jones was dabbling in a few ground-level entrepreneurial pursuits at the time, but the chance to get into football and be part of a league giving players another shot at their dreams drew him back to the sport.
Lineman Mike Golic Jr., the son of NFL All-Pro defensive lineman Mike Golic, has been in camp with the Steelers and Saints. He said from what he has seen with the Bolts, it is comparable to the back end of an NFL roster. Jones agreed, saying it’s a minor step down from a typical practice squad.
“It’s better than the Arena League. We have better players than the CFL,” Bock said. “It’s going to be equivalent to your first or second preseason game in the NFL.”
Bock is a living example of what the FXFL can be. As an undrafted rookie, he was signed and quickly released by the Bears, went to play in NFL Europe, wound up the Jets starting center the following year and went on to enjoy a productive six-year career. He has shared that story frequently with his new players.
“He’s been where we are and gone where we want to go,” Golic Jr. said. “Having that example is invaluable.”
The Cyclones, who are sharing the Bolts’ revenue with the league and running its day-to-day operations, decided to get involved as a way to expand their brand. The fall is usually a dead period in Coney Island as visitors dry up. But Cyclones vice president Steve Cohen envisions families coming out, for the price of $20-$35 a ticket.
With a short turnaround, the plan was to sell 6,300 tickets for the three home games, and he expects to hit that number by Wednesday. That would equate to 2,100 fans per game, filling up less than a third of the stadium, which has a capacity of 7,500.
“It just seems like something that has long-term legs,” Cohen said.
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ucrenegade
Guest
so what has been the outcome of this was it successful?
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flgreen
Guest
I really don't know. In order to survive it has to have NFL financial support, much the way minor league baseball does. I know for sure if there was a game in my area I would definitely go.
Have a minor league baseball team reasonably close to my house now, and go to at least one game every two weeks. Usually on $1 beer and hot dog night, Great time. Enjoy it more then the hassle of going to MLB games.
I have a college all-star team in a town near where I live. Lots of fun going to those games. And they won the league championship this year!
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ucrenegade
Guest
a yankees minor league team is coming near me this year I am stoked...#PulaskiYankees
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flgreen
Guest
If I were the FXFL, I would limit the teams to Florida and Texas for now. Two reasons. One sitting at Coney Island on a cold November night to watch a minor league game, drinking frozen beer doesn't sound to appetizing.
Fall and early winter nights in Florida, are just beautiful to go out and watch a game.
Second, in Florida and Texas it is not unusual to get 10,000-15,000 people for a high school game. Football is really big here.
I sure hope they bring one close to me. Just read, but can't find it right now, an article that said they are going to do a second season. We'll see if it happens. Can't survive without NFL support
Fall and early winter nights in Florida, are just beautiful to go out and watch a game.
Second, in Florida and Texas it is not unusual to get 10,000-15,000 people for a high school game. Football is really big here.
I sure hope they bring one close to me. Just read, but can't find it right now, an article that said they are going to do a second season. We'll see if it happens. Can't survive without NFL support
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flgreen
Guest
Another thing the NFL might consider, is NFL teams actually having control of various FXFL franchises, like MLB does. Perhaps having some preseason games down here, which right now are a burden to season ticket holders, and really don't want to pay for the seats, or attend the games.
In Florida, they would quickly sell out if the Jets had two preseason games here. Think most of the teams would. A lot of transplanted Yankees down here.
The NFL teams could look at the teams as an extended PS, where the players would actually get some coaching. They get very little in the NFL. The coaches are occupied with the roster players. The PS are warm bodies often playing out of position on the scout team.
A good example of this is what's going on in NCAA/NFL right now with QB's. Most NCAA teams run the read option, rather then the pro set. It's much simpler to run. It's one of the reasons the NFL is starved for good QB's A lot of college QB's, would really benefit
from a season in the Pro set in that environment, where they are actually coached up. Could easily be called up to the NFL practice squad, or even the 53, if they showed promise.
Just think it's win, win. Problem is the NFL is greedy, and doesn't want to invest money unless there is an immediate return.
In Florida, they would quickly sell out if the Jets had two preseason games here. Think most of the teams would. A lot of transplanted Yankees down here.
The NFL teams could look at the teams as an extended PS, where the players would actually get some coaching. They get very little in the NFL. The coaches are occupied with the roster players. The PS are warm bodies often playing out of position on the scout team.
A good example of this is what's going on in NCAA/NFL right now with QB's. Most NCAA teams run the read option, rather then the pro set. It's much simpler to run. It's one of the reasons the NFL is starved for good QB's A lot of college QB's, would really benefit
from a season in the Pro set in that environment, where they are actually coached up. Could easily be called up to the NFL practice squad, or even the 53, if they showed promise.
Just think it's win, win. Problem is the NFL is greedy, and doesn't want to invest money unless there is an immediate return.
There is actually a federal law (The Sports Broadcast Act of 1964, I believe) that made it illegal to broadcast professional on Friday or Saturday during the college/high school season. It was put in place to protect scholastic football programs from losing their audience. So, the NFL would have to get that regulation overturned to broadcast 7 days a week.
But, I'm sure they could grease enough palms in Washington to make that happen.
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ucrenegade
Guest
bump
Screw London, Too many cities in the U.S. want teams, then maybe Canada / Toronto before England / Europe.
Go Jets...Cyborg
Go Jets...Cyborg
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Matriculator
Guest
London is inevitable. The NFL has maxed out their viewership in the US. The only way to increase that is to expand abroad. The London Jaguars has a nice ring to it, no? The natural progression would be into Germany - Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt...you get the idea.
And perhaps that is what brings about the demise of the league. How would you feel about a Berlin team hoisting the Lombardi? Or watching the Jets play over there at, what, 4 in the morning?
That would be awful. I think they should expand there but have their own euro league. I know they tried and failed but maybe this time around its better. Timing is everything.