The British are coming! The British come… for the Super Bowl.
An English diplomat apparently wants to bring the jewel of the crown of American sports in the United Kingdom.
“I want this Super Bowl in Great Britain,” Peter Mandelson, British ambassador to the United States, told a Chicago audience last week.
“I don’t care when it goes, but I want him to announce while I am a ambassador,” he added. “We love it, we love it.”
Slow down your roller, Lord Sport.
The Super Bowl is ours. It is as American as apple pie, type 2 diabetes and student loan debt. You don’t see us trying to steal your precious cricket championships – or even understand the rules, moreover.
There is no precedent to export one of the professional sports championships in this country, unless you count Canada. And who can even remember the last time that one of the teams of our North neighbor won a Stanley Cup?
We understand why the United Kingdom would like to welcome the first international super bowl.
First of all, there is money. Loads. The United States Chamber of Commerce estimated the local economic impact of the Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas at $ 1 billion – around 740 million pounds for our friends across the pond. This quid will buy a lot of hats and jerseys from Ye Olde NFL Fan Shoppe on Oxford Street.
Then there is the growing world popularity of the league. The NFL has been playing regular season games in England since 2007, including three in the next campaign. However, regardless of the number of Jacksonville jaguars games that we continue to send to London, the interest of fans continues to swell. The tickets are already sold for the match of October 5 between the Vikings of Minnesota and the Browns of Cleveland at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
We get it, England. But there are many crazy American football cities that could use an economical boost. And where would it end? The NFL also plays games this year in Brazil, Spain, Germany and Ireland.
A strike against a British super bowl is sadly famous weather. When the heads of Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City met in the Super Bowl Lix on February 9, it was sunny with temperatures in the mid-1970s in New Orleans. The same day in London, he was rainy and 40 years old. It’s Fahrenheit, by the way. Football is not a Celsius sport.
Then there is the jet lag. Big game kicks off is generally around 6.30 p.m. he. If you started the match at 6.30 p.m. in London, it’s until 10:30 am in Los Angeles. You could enjoy the “breakfast in Wimbledon”, but we need much more time for an over-match over-indulgence.
Forget the Super Bowl, in England. The closest we want to reach the royal family is a prince’s half-time hologram show.
In addition, a team called New England already shares the bloody record with six super bowl victories. Isn’t that enough?
Revenge is perhaps a dish that is best served cold, but while waiting for a quarter of millennium to obtain even for the declaration of independence of your former colonies? It’s colder than a day fish and chips.
With all the respect due to His Excellency the very honorable Lord Mandelson, you can borrow our jaguars, sir, but stay away from our rights inalienable to life, freedom and the Lombardi trophy.
