photo courtesy Alyssa Powell/Bl-Getty Images
Fans of the NFL and NCAA Football love to watch their Americanized games. For years, American fans have been the ones who built this sport into what it is today.
Somewhere along the line, that all changed starting in 2005, when the NFL decided to host its first regular-season game outside the US. Now, the NFL plans to host a record 10 international games in 2027, up from 9 this upcoming season.
NCAA football has started to get into the mix of scheduling Week 0 regular-season games internationally. In 2027, Wake Forest and Syracuse will kick off in Toronto before Syracuse plays Penn State in Week 1.
While most fans believe that both the NFL and NCAA Football should play only games in America, there seems to be a double standard when the NCAA does so, and the NFL follows.
How does the Double Standard affect both levels of American Football?
It seems like NFL fans think that adding more international games takes away a home game from their area. Additionally, they think the NFL is globalizing the game and alienating those American fans who helped build the league. Most of the 32 league owners are billionaires who also work hard to continue growing the game internationally, putting more money in their own pockets.
While in the NFL, it’s the end of the world to add more international games, but it seems to be acceptable at the NCAA level.
On July 1, the NIL ERA will be five years old, marking a significant milestone that underscores how much the landscape has evolved. Unlike the NFL, there are basically no rules governing it as a direct pay-for-play scheme. College football programs, especially in the Power Four conferences, will go out of their way now to schedule any contest dictated by NIL money.
But when finding out that Wake Forest and Syracuse would be playing in Toronto next year, fans were singing a different tune. Instead of people being upset that a home game was taken away from Wake Forest, both fan bases labeled it a positive.
It is designated as a road game for the Orange in Canada, and it’s a way for both programs to earn NIL money now that the ACC and other major conferences are playing nine conference games, up from eight.
Why the Selective Outrage when NFL is adding more International Games similar to NCAA Football?
Maybe because the NFL is run by commissioner Roger Goodell. Since taking office in 2006, Goodell has put in excessive guardrails to try to make football a safer game. At the same time, he’s the same commissioner who, when it came to extending the season to 17 games from 16, made it about the owner’s special interests over player safety.
Meanwhile, in College, the president of the NCAA is Charlie Baker. Unlike Goodell, Baker runs more of a free-for-all with the transfer portal and NIL. But hardly anyone criticizes him for the fact that college football competes with the NFL now for ratings.
Both levels seem to agree that a playoff system is the best way to determine an end-of-season champion (RIP BCS system, forever). However, it’s funny that in the NFL, when Goodell has developed a negative reputation, adding more international games is ruining the old image of making the game “America First.”
When Charlie Baker, who has a more positive reputation, schedules international games for college teams, fans may see it as a way to increase NIL revenue for both teams.
Final Assessment
The bottom line is that both Goodell and Baker know that adding international games is good for business and lines the pockets of owners and athletic departments in their respective sports. Even with the double standard between the evilness of the NFL scheduling these games and the righteousness of the NCAA, they should both take into consideration how player fatigue fits into all of this and how their overall health impacts the quality of each game played.
Because as fans, we are going to continue to watch, as it will mean more football on both Saturdays and Sundays. And we will be demanding high-quality football games!
