Which begs the question of why they need to put any teams in Europe at all instead of just cutting deals with European networks to broadcast NFL games.
International fans and international talent. European TV revenue is nice, but they know that the personal touch of having athletes in the city, at charity event, at school events, “preaching the message” is what build fans to the point of them actually wanting to play. And they need the players. International players have done wonders for the MLB, NBA and NHL. But they’re all aided by being truly international sports. The NFL wants and needs to become an international sport to keep those pumps primed. Soccer and hockey both have at least as much of a concussion problem and American football, but you don’t see anybody talking about them running out of players because of it. Why? International footprint. Even if 10% of prospective soccer and hockey players are kept from the sport by their moms when you’re pulling players from the entire planet that 10% is easily overcome. As a purely American sport that can kill the NFL. They NEED to be able to pull talent from the other 6.7 billion people. They needed it even before the concussion issue started, it just helps the sport to have that wider pool, improves the talent, improves the quality of the game. But now it’s imperative.