Football Betting on Foreign Teams in 10 Years from Now?

Fans who bet on NFL might be able to put their football betting money on teams outside of the U.S. in as soon as 10 years, according to Mark Waller, the league’s executive vice president of international. Among the possibilities mentioned by the exec in an interview with ESPN.com were Mexico – where “we’ll be… possibly even more popular than soccer.” (Dream big, Mark) – the United Kingdom, and Germany. On the other hand, the NHL is unlikely to put a franchise in China, even though the league does plan to play a game there by 2018.

The league has been flirting with the idea of putting a franchise in a foreign city for a couple of years now, even going so far as thinking about relocating the Oakland Raiders to Las Vegas. Waller is convinced that London will have an NFL team by 2022 at the latest, a goal backed by league commissioner Roger Goodell. Huh, I thought he was dead. Anyway, I think it’s a great idea. I still remember when the New England Patriots played the London Silly Nannies in 2006. Looking back, though, it probably wasn’t a good idea putting all my football betting money on the Nannies.

However, there is one small detail still left to consider, and it has to do with the logistics of flying a team – especially one like the Sand Diego Chargers or the San Francisco 49ers – to London on a short week during playoffs. Moreover, would the NFL expand or relocate an existing team? Regardless, people around the world who bet on NFL will be happy to know that the league is sparing no expense in their bid for world domination. I mean global expansion. Three games will be played in England for the third year in a row in 2016. Additionally, the Raiders and the Texans will play in Mexico City.

Even if there’s isn’t an NFL team in every city of the free world – and a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage – the league still aims to grow in popularity in at least 6-10 countries. As Waller put it, “If we’re big in Canada, the U.S., Mexico, Brazil, U.K., Germany, China, Japan and Australia, we’d be in a great place.” Well, everybody knows that things are easy when you’re big in Japan. Also, I’m turning Japanese, I think I’m turning Japanese, I really think so. All things considered, football betting fans should not be surprised to see their favorite team playing in Brazil, Japan or Australia. Save your awe for truly shocking developments like, for example, Von Miller not turning down a $114 million dollar contract.