The NFL’s initial plan was to play a regular season game in China this year. But as that goal was pushed back, it appears the league’s momentum toward such an effort has stalled.
According to Albert Breer of SI.com, there are problems with 2019 and 2020 which could prevent the league from expanding the international series at this time.
The league is hesitant to play a one-off game there, and apparently isn’t far enough down the line on dealing with the logistical issues which would prevent the game from becoming a competitive disadvantage, along with the small matter of the time-zone difference which would make it difficult to air in the United States.
If they aren’t able to figure it out for 2019, the opening of the new stadiums in Los Angeles and Las Vegas in 2020 will make the Rams, Chargers, and Raiders less likely to give up a home game to go to the Far East.
While the league loves nothing more than an untapped source of revenue, it appears their effort to start making all that Chinese money hasn’t developed as quickly as they’d hoped.
