Green Bay Packers: Potential London candidate in 2016?

The Green Bay Packers are an anomaly in professional sports: a publicly owned franchise from a small American city that has not only stayed alive, but thrived. The recent success of the Green Bay Packers has grown their fan base nationally while the star power of Aaron Rodgers has heightened their appeal around the world and outside of the sports realm. With this in mind, could the Packers cross the pond to play at Wembley Stadium in 2016?

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Before you gasp too loudly, keep in mind that the Packers would never be forced to surrender a home game for a London appearance, and obviously never would. Green Bay is scheduled to play at Jacksonville in 2016, and with at least one year remaining on their London contract, the Jaguars hosting Aaron Rodgers and the Packers could be a prime option for Roger Goodell and the NFL.

Nov 8, 2014; London, UNITED KINGDOM; General view of the NFL Shield logo at Wembley Stadium in advance of the NFL International Series game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Dallas Cowboys. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The 2015 NFL calendar is scheduled to see the New York Jets face Miami, Buffalo face Jacksonville and Detroit face Kansas City. With Calvin Johnson and Ndamukong Suh the two most prominent names in this instalment, it hasn’t been since 2012 and 2013 that the league sent a star quarterback to London with Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger, respectfully.

Past the scheduling logistics, this conversation has begun to stir after comments made by Aaron Rodgers following the greatest victory of his career: a win on Celebrity Jeopardy this past week. In an interview with Jason Wilde of ESPN Milwaukee, Rodgers revealed that appearing on the show was a “bucket list” item of his, but not the only one. Along with hosting Saturday Night Live and “winning a golf tournament”, Rodgers has one football-related goal. “I would love to play in Wembley”.

Hosting SNL should be no issue for Rodgers, especially if the Packers are able to return to the Super Bowl in the coming seasons. I recently brought up Rodgers’ name in conversation and was asked by a friend “Isn’t he that guy who’s dating Olivia Munn?”. That he is, and the celebrity status that Rodgers has quietly adopted is a strange new phenomenon in quiet Green Bay.

The NFL’s voyage into Europe has not been without it’s challenges. While the league has experienced great success and fanfare for their product, it is difficult to regularly uproot top-level teams such as New England, Seattle or Green Bay to fly overseas. While the “Bills in Toronto” series ultimately failed, largely due to a cavernous, half-empty Rogers Centre, the London project shows promise and could be pushed further by a visit from Rodgers and the Pack.

Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

While Jacksonville themselves initially felt like an underwhelming offering testing the relocation waters, the Jaguars are slowly becoming a great fit to the London series and I hope to see their stay extend by two or three additional seasons. That would give the European crowd not just a taste of live NFL football, but the opportunity to see a professional team start from scratch, building around a young quarterback, fiery head coach and rapidly-improving defense.

The voyage from Wisconsin to London is far and improbable, but in 2016, we may see the most likely opportunity yet for the Packers to make the flight. International fans would surely love to get up close and personal with one of the game’s biggest stars, while Rodgers would be able to tick one more thing off his bucket list.

What do you think, Packers fans? Would a trip to London benefit the Packers with international exposure, or are the mid-season travel demands and Wembley’s uncertain field conditions too great of an undertaking for a team eyeing a top seed in the NFC?

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