It’s too late to go back now.
With Sunday’s game between the Steelers and Saints kicking off in Paris less than 13 hours away, as of this publication, the plan continues to move full speed ahead for Steelers-Saints at Stade de France. Even though the league is potentially going to find itself in a hot pile of Shit.
Via Mark Maske of Sports at receptionthe game remains set for a 9:30 a.m. ET kickoff after another day of local demonstrations in Paris. More than 400,000 people participated in the protests, which resulted in more than 1,000 arrests. According to the Associated Press, a march that started peacefully ended with protesters. throwing fireworks and other objects at police. They responded with tear gas, stun grenades and water cannons.
The question remains whether protesters will target the NFL game, aiming to send a clear international message. No matter how secure the stadium is, the path to the venue’s security perimeter may not be.
Let’s hope there will be no incidents. This is still a calculated risk for the NFL, one that many would consider unnecessary.
For the NFL, the need to play stems from the ongoing obsession with exporting the game to other countries. If something happens, it will be impossible for the league to shrug its shoulders and say, “We didn’t know this could happen.” And this will put a brake on the project of globalization of the game.
Even without any particular issues Sunday, the situation underscores the reality of potentially placing teams in other countries, with other governments and other citizens, which could potentially complicate efforts to play all games as scheduled.
For now, the league doesn’t care. He sees only one thing: the possibility of turning a billion-dollar company into a trillion-dollar behemoth if fans in other countries become as passionate about professional football as Americans are.
Gn sports
