00:00You ready?
00:00I'm going to agree with George Kittle here.
00:03Do you think the NFL is learning anything from what they're watching with the World Cup here?
00:09I mean, I look at some of these stadiums, Jacob.
00:11I don't recognize Levi's Stadium.
00:14I didn't recognize MetLife when they put that grass down.
00:19Do you think the NFL – now, Phil Simms was on with us yesterday.
00:22He thinks I'm nuts to think that the NFL would ever go down that lane because it's just too much
00:26money when it comes to the players.
00:28But, I mean, look at what they did with the World Cup.
00:31They ripped these carpets up.
00:33Now they're going to rip the grass up and put back the inferior carpets down for the players.
00:38What's your takeaway on that?
00:41Yeah, Dan, I think it's – you know, if you can put grass out for the World Cup, you can
00:45certainly do it for NFL games as well.
00:47And I know, to your point, it's all about the money.
00:50And the league will say, you know, hey, there's not a significant difference in players getting injured on turf versus
00:55grass.
00:56But based on what I've seen just on social media reactions, players talking about it, it seems like a large
01:01portion of them would just prefer to play on the grass over the turf.
01:04So, if your number one goal as the NFL and the teams is to protect your players, make sure that
01:09they stay healthy, and so that you can put the best product out on the field and have the best
01:13chance of winning,
01:14then I think it's a no-brainer to go with grass.
01:17Sure, it's going to cost some extra money.
01:18Sure, it's not going to necessarily be easy to maintain.
01:20But if it makes the players happier and it keeps them healthier, I think that's ultimately what the future should
01:25look like.
01:26But I think they're going to continue to hold on to this and say, hey, the turf stuff is fine,
01:30the turf stuff is fine,
01:31until it gets to a point where maybe in eventual CBA negotiations, players are like, we've got to play on
01:37grass.
01:37So, I don't know that it's going to just change outright.
01:40But I think this World Cup has started a really nice debate about it.
01:44It's kind of just shown a spotlight on this and said, hey, players want grass.
01:49Why can't they have it if we can do it for the World Cup?
01:51So, I think it's very interesting to see this kind of unfold and develop in front of us.
01:55And I think over the next 10 years, it'll continue to be a big talking point until the NFL eventually
01:59maybe does make a change.
02:01I'm going to stay in the World Cup lane here a little bit.
02:04You think the NFL has learned anything on how to promote the league overseas?
02:10Because I got to tell you, the World Cup here in America has gone over well.
02:14Look at the television ratings.
02:15I mean, you know, maybe Team USA doesn't know how to play in the game.
02:19They sure know how to put a party on.
02:21And it's been a hell of a party.
02:23How does the NFL get more of an influence overseas?
02:26I know we're playing more games.
02:28Is it going to be more cities, in your opinion, that we're going to start seeing more NFL games start
02:33to spread out a little bit more, maybe across the world?
02:36Because there's obviously an emphasis by the NFL to want to get their flag overseas.
02:43Yeah, I think they're going to continue to try to expand where games are being played internationally and try to,
02:48you know, have them go back to places where we've seen success.
02:52I mean, we've seen it in London.
02:53We've seen it in Germany.
02:55I think we're having an Ireland game.
02:57We're having an Australia game that I'm very interested to see how that's going to pan out because that travel
03:03in week one for the Rams and 49ers is going to be, it's going to really test the team that
03:07loses, has to come back and try to win their next game with that time change.
03:12So I think the time changes are a real part of when you look at like, hey, can we export
03:16this product overseas and have this happen?
03:19But I think you look at some of these European places.
03:21I know I'm from New England, so I saw like the Scottish takeover of Boston up here.
03:26And it feels like a no-brainer given how successful that was to, hey, let's try to put a Patriots
03:31game in Scotland at some point, get some of our people over there.
03:35The Scots will show up and just have a party there.
03:38So I think it's just kind of embracing the fan tradition that these countries have.
03:42Like you see all the chants they do at soccer games.
03:44Like bring those over to some international NFL games.
03:47Just try to continue to stoke the audience, make them have a good time.
03:50And I think they'll continue to grow overseas if they can do that.
03:53And I think they're on the right path for it.
03:55I think there's going to be a lot of international games.
03:57I think every team is eventually going to play one a season.
03:59But we're just going to kind of see how that goes as time goes on.
04:03I don't think we'll ever see a Super Bowl overseas.
04:06But do you think you could see an NFC Championship game overseas?
04:12I think that's an interesting question because I think the dynamic of having home field advantage for those championship games,
04:18I would think, would be critical.
04:20I don't disagree with you.
04:22I think putting a Super Bowl overseas would be kind of a hard sell because they want the Super Bowl
04:26in prime time, obviously, here in America.
04:29So if you put it in England and try to put that at 6 o'clock here on the East
04:33Coast, that's going to not line up time-wise.
04:35So I think you could see them export some big games over there.
04:39But anything that involves home field advantage I think is going to be a tough sell to the fan bases.
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