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Foreign Football: The Rise and Fall of NFL Europe
How NFL Europe Paved the Way for Today’s International Series
The National Football League (NFL) has had a long infatuation with Europe. For years, there has been speculation that American football would jump over the pond to Europe. American Football is highly popular in Europe despite not having any teams of its own. What most people don’t realize is that the NFL has already attempted to launch a European league to middling success.
Beginning in 1989, the NFL launched the NFL Europe League (and it went through numerous names and iterations during its lifespan). The idea was to launch a developmental league or minor league that linked North America and Europe. The first iteration of this idea saw seven teams located in North America and three in Europe.
WLAF/World League, as it was known for its first two years, featured European teams in London, Barcelona, and Frankfurt. London won the first “World Bowl” in 1991. Hopes were high for the “first trans-Atlantic major sports league,” but initial returns were dismal. The first year saw the league post a $7 million loss. Not a single team turned a profit. The WLAF/World League lasted just two years before it folded. The NFL then went back to the drawing board and relaunched the league in 1995 as NFL Europe.
