Wendover’s NFL London Argument Stops at the Airport Gate

Wendover Productions' The NFL's Logistics Problem makes a compelling case that professional football is extraordinarily expensive to move. Its argument becomes considerably weaker when it tries to establish that a permanent NFL franchise in London is logistically possible.

The video compares Hawaii's college football team, the Kontinental Hockey League and Super Rugby with the NFL. All three demonstrate that sports organizations can operate across enormous distances. None establishes that a London-based NFL franchise could operate competitively, recruit elite players and justify its costs over an entire season.

There is a fundamental difference between proving that an aircraft can complete a journey and proving that a sports franchise can survive the consequences.

Wendover eventually asks the right question: whether adding London is worth the cost. But it never does the financial or operational work necessary to answer it.

The international comparisons prove less than they appear to

The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors are the video's strongest comparison.

In 2016, Hawaii played California in Sydney on August 26, Michigan on September 3, returned home to play UT Martin on September 10, and traveled to Arizona on September 17. The first two road trips accounted for approximately 19,112 air miles, with another 5,800 round-trip miles added for Arizona. The university subsequently recorded 46,568 air miles for the entire season.

That is genuinely extraordinary travel.

But the example establishes that a college football program can endure a demanding travel schedule. It does not establish that an NFL franchise can absorb the same burden without compromising player recruitment, preparation, performance or finances.

The other comparisons require even more qualification.

The KHL's 2019–20 regular season consisted of 62 games per team, including 31 away games. That is a fundamentally different competition schedule from the NFL's 16-game season at the time.

Super Rugby's 2019 season also had a different structure: 16 regular-season matches spread across 21 weeks, with two bye weeks. The enormous journey between the Japanese Sunwolves and Argentine Jaguares was a cross-conference fixture, not evidence of repeatedly operating an isolated NFL franchise across the Atlantic.

These examples demonstrate that extreme travel is manageable under certain sporting arrangements.

They do not establish that those arrangements can simply be transferred to the NFL.

There is another important change. Since 2021, the NFL has played 17 regular-season games across 18 weeks, rather than the 16-game format examined in the video. Any contemporary London feasibility assessment must account for that additional game and the revised schedule.

The video offers comparisons of distances. What it needs is a comparison of complete seasons.

The flight estimates are not a financial model

The video quotes charter aircraft costs of up to $50,000 per flight hour and estimates that transatlantic transportation could cost an East Coast franchise approximately $650,000 and a West Coast franchise as much as $1 million.

Those figures deserve closer examination.

There is independent evidence supporting the underlying charter problem.

In May 2018, Sports Business Journal reported that NFL aircraft leasing costs had nearly doubled to an average of almost $4 million per club. The Jacksonville Jaguars' Atlas Air arrangement alone reportedly reached $4 million. The league was considering pooled aircraft arrangements and longer-term agreements with airlines.

That supports Wendover's central observation: NFL travel is expensive, and commercial airlines have little incentive to dedicate valuable aircraft to teams that need them sitting idle.

But the video does not provide a reproducible calculation for its transatlantic estimates.

It does not establish:

• The precise aircraft configuration and charter quotation.
• Whether the quoted amount represents a complete round trip.
• Whether empty positioning flights are included.
• The cost of cargo, airport handling and additional ground operations.
• How many Atlantic crossings a London franchise would actually require.

These distinctions matter.

For illustration, if the quoted $650,000–$1 million represents a complete round-trip charter, eight visiting teams would generate approximately $5.2–$8 million in combined flight costs for eight London home games, before additional cargo expenses.

That is an illustrative calculation, not a verified annual budget. The video's failure to define its pricing assumptions prevents readers from establishing the actual bill.

The London franchise would also have its own American away schedule. Its transportation costs would be separate from those imposed on visiting teams.

The video identifies the expensive flights but never builds the complete operating budget.

The single-team model is the real structural problem

Wendover correctly identifies the difficulty of placing one franchise thousands of miles away from every other NFL team.

But the video spends much of its argument trying to establish that extreme isolation can be tolerated rather than examining whether the league should organize its international expansion differently.

This is not merely theoretical.

In September 2025, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell acknowledged that having a team across the Atlantic presented a major logistical obstacle. He specifically suggested that multiple European teams might be more attractive because they could make scheduling and training arrangements easier.

In September 2026, Goodell again identified Europe as the most likely destination for an international franchise and indicated that having more than one team could make scheduling easier.

That is a materially different proposition from placing one isolated team in London.

Consider a four-team European division.

Its members could play six divisional games against one another without crossing the Atlantic. Their remaining American fixtures could potentially be organized into extended road trips.

That would not eliminate international travel. It would change its frequency and structure.

It would also require several franchises, additional stadium arrangements, ownership investment and a more complicated league schedule.

But this is precisely the kind of alternative that a serious feasibility investigation should examine.

The video recognizes the isolation problem without developing the most consequential possible solution.

The player recruitment problem is missing a financial calculation

The video acknowledges that American players might need to be persuaded to live in Britain.

It does not properly examine why that persuasion could become expensive.

Taxes are a significant part of the problem.

For the 2026–27 tax year, England's additional income tax rate is 45% on taxable income above £125,140.

A London-based NFL player could also face complicated interactions between British taxation and American tax obligations.

The United States offers foreign tax credits to reduce double taxation, but the IRS limits those credits according to the US tax attributable to foreign-source income. They are not an automatic reimbursement of every additional foreign tax payment.

There is another complication. Under changes effective April 6, 2025, Britain's foreign income and gains regime does not exempt professional sportspeople's performance income. Crowe's tax analysis identifies sporting performance, endorsements and sponsorship income among the relevant categories.

This is important because NFL players do not earn money exclusively through base salaries.

Their commercial value can include endorsements, sponsorships and other performance-related income.

The precise tax treatment would depend on residence, income sources and individual circumstances. It would require detailed legal and financial planning.

Nevertheless, a London franchise would need to compete for players whose alternatives are American teams.

Would the franchise offer higher gross compensation? Would the league negotiate special arrangements? Would players accept lower after-tax earnings in exchange for the opportunity to live in Britain?

These are not minor administrative questions. They affect the team's ability to attract and retain talent.

Wendover mentions financial incentives but never calculates this additional recruitment burden.

The British fanbase is real, but it is not a franchise business plan

The video cites 13 million British NFL fans, including 4 million regular followers and 47,000 people buying tickets to every London game.

The figures were not invented.

A 2018 Los Angeles Times report confirmed the NFL's estimated 13 million UK fans, 4 million avid followers and 47,000 season-ticket purchases covering the three London games that season. It also reported that all but three of the 22 London games played since 2007 had sold out.

That demonstrates substantial demand for international NFL events.

But there is an important distinction between selling tickets to three annual games and sustaining a permanent franchise playing eight or nine home games every season.

The 47,000 figure represented buyers attending the London games, not a verified season-ticket base for a permanent team.

The video does not establish how many British supporters would purchase a full franchise season, how much they would spend, or whether local sponsorship and broadcasting revenue could support the additional operating costs.

Nor does it establish that a permanent franchise is necessary to capture the market.

By 2026, the NFL had expanded its international schedule to nine games across seven countries and eight stadiums. Its Global Markets Program also involved all 32 clubs, with commercial and marketing rights across 22 international markets.

The league can expand its international audience through games, commercial partnerships and local marketing without immediately establishing a permanent overseas franchise.

That alternative deserves serious financial comparison.

The final verdict: possibility is not viability

Wendover's argument has a recurring weakness: it treats logistical possibility as though it answers the larger commercial question.

Hawaii demonstrates that football teams can survive extraordinary travel. The KHL and Super Rugby demonstrate that international sporting competitions can operate across enormous distances. Historical NFL charter expenses demonstrate that aircraft availability is already a serious financial problem.

None of those findings establishes that a single London franchise would be economically sustainable or competitively fair.

The more revealing development is that the NFL's own commissioner has increasingly discussed multiple European franchises as a way to make international scheduling easier.

That changes the question entirely.

The choice is not simply between putting one team in London or abandoning international expansion. The NFL could pursue a European division, continue expanding its international game schedule, or combine those approaches.

Each requires a different financial model.

I would not claim that London cannot support an NFL franchise. The available evidence does not establish that.

But I will not accept the suggestion that demonstrating the feasibility of long-distance travel establishes the feasibility of an international NFL business.

Wendover explains the cost of moving football. It never establishes the economics of moving the NFL.

References

1. The NFL's Logistics Problem — Wendover Productions, original video. YouTube. The original argument and comparisons examined in this critique.

2. NFL considers airplane fleet to alleviate team travel costs — Sports Business Journal, May 27, 2018. Read article. Documents the Jaguars' $4 million charter expenses and the NFL's consideration of pooled aircraft arrangements.

3. League confirms structure, conference, and divisions for the new season — Kontinental Hockey League, May 7, 2019. Read article. Establishes the KHL's 62-game regular-season format and 31 away games.

4. 2019 Super Rugby Draw Released — SANZAAR, 2019. Read article. Establishes the 16-match, 21-week competition structure and two bye weeks.

5. 2016 Football Schedule — University of Hawai'i Athletics, 2016. View schedule. Establishes the dates and locations of Hawaii's Sydney, Michigan, Honolulu and Arizona games.

6. 'Bows get ready to 'Bear Down' — Hawaii News Now, September 13, 2016. Read article. Documents the team's 19,000 miles of initial travel and additional 5,800-mile Arizona trip.

7. Football, NFL style, making inroads in U.K. — Los Angeles Times, Mike DiGiovanna, October 19, 2018. Read article. Provides the original reporting behind the British fanbase and London ticket figures.

8. NFL season to feature 17 regular-season games per team — NFL.com, March 30, 2021. Read announcement. Documents the expansion from 16 to 17 regular-season games.

9. NFL International Games — NFL Football Operations, 2026. View official information. Documents the nine-game international schedule and the league's international expansion.

10. NFL commissioner: International market can support NFL team — Reuters, September 25, 2025. Read article. Reports Goodell's concerns about transatlantic scheduling and his suggestion that multiple European teams could make expansion more practical.

11. Roger Goodell: Europe is the most likely destination for a franchise — NBC Sports, Mike Florio, September 18, 2026. Read article. Records Goodell's more recent comments about European franchises and the advantages of multiple teams.

12. UK Tax Update for Professional Sportspeople from 6 April 2025 — Crowe UK, Pete Fairchild. Read analysis. Explains the tax treatment of professional sports performance, endorsements and sponsorship under Britain's revised rules.

13. Income Tax rates and allowances for current and previous tax years — HM Revenue & Customs, updated April 6, 2026. View official rates. Establishes the applicable British additional income tax rate.

14. Foreign Tax Credit – How to figure the credit — Internal Revenue Service. Read official guidance. Explains the limits on foreign tax credits and why international player compensation requires individual tax calculations.