End of the World as NFL cuts European League

After 16 years of losing money, the NFL folded its development league in Europe, calling the decision a sound business move that will allow for a stronger international focus on regular-season games outside the United States.

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The announcement came less than a week after the Hamburg Sea Devils beat the Frankfurt Galaxy 37-28 in the World Bowl XV title game in Frankfurt before a crowd of 48,125. Five of the league's six teams are based in Germany, with the other in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

"The time is right to refocus the NFL's strategy on initiatives with global impact, including worldwide media coverage of our sport and the staging of live regular-season NFL games," Mark Waller, senior vice president of NFL International, said in a statement.

"We will continue to build our international fan base by taking advantage of technology and customized digital media that make the NFL more accessible on a global scale than ever before and through the regular-season game experience."

The league was used by NFL teams to test young talent and produced players such as quarterback Kurt Warner, who led the St. Louis Rams to the 2000 Super Bowl championship and won two NFL Most Valuable Player awards; Carolina Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme; and star Indianapolis Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri.

Some franchises drew strong crowds, especially Frankfurt, and broad newspaper coverage. The fans liked the party atmosphere in the stadiums, much more relaxed than soccer games with their often rowdy supporters.

But the league got little television exposure locally. Apart from the Super Bowl, no other NFL games are shown on free-to-air TV in Germany.

"The disappointment and the frustration are great," Hamburg general manager Kathrin Platz said.

A statement on the German-language edition of the NFL's Web site said the NFL decided to concentrate its "strategies and resources" on regular-season games outside the United States in an effort to reach as many people as possible.

"We thank our fans for the great support in the past years," NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was quoted as saying.

Goodell said it was time to develop a new international strategy, describing the move to fold NFL Europa as the "best business decision."

The league reportedly was losing about $30 million a season.

"From now on we will focus on regular-season games and use new technologies to make NFL more popular worldwide," he said.

NFL team owners decided in October to play up to two regular-season games outside the United States. The first such game is Oct. 28 in London between the Miami Dolphins and the New York Giants.

The NFL is preparing to stage regular-season games in future seasons in Germany, Mexico and Canada, with Germany being a strong candidate to host a regular-season NFL game in 2008.

The league began in 1991 as the World League of American Football, with 10 teams from the United States and Europe, spreading from Scotland to Spain. After closing for two seasons in 1993 and '94, the league returned with six European teams and retained the same format until the end.

NFL Europa managing director Uwe Bergheim said the league had succeeded in establishing a fan base for football in important European markets.

"Despite the great support of fans, business partners and the cities where we were active, we decided that it was time to change the strategy," Bergheim said.

The German teams were in Berlin, Hamburg, Duesseldorf, Cologne and Frankfurt.