NFL stars, and NFL games, seem to have solid international appeal. The “American Bowl” series (NFL games played internationally) has been a raving success, for a long time a pre-season game played in Mexico City was the highest attended NFL game ever. But even pre-season games feature real NFL stars taking a couple of snaps. NFL Europe didn’t do that, a few of the players made it to the NFL proper, but most of them landed 3rd or 4th on the depth chart. Nobody went to Europe a star, nobody left Europe to become a star. Which is why it failed, while real NFL games in Europe do quite well, getting 2 next season.
Many thanks for the incisive comments..