Bucstop.com’s interview with Bucs UK’s Paul Stewart about Bucs trip to London

Nick: So Paul, everyone is all GaGa (and I don’t mean Lady) over the trip the Bucs are taking to London next year. I opened my browser and couldn’t believe my eyes when I read it. How did you find out about the event?

 Paul: I found out the same as everyone else when the story broke on a Chicago radio station and the rumours started from there.  Then came the official announcement and just like all the other UK Buccaneer fans, could not quite believe it was going to happen all over again.

I can understand how exciting it must be! Some of the more ‘conspiracy theorist’ type fans are thinking this is a prelude to the Bucs actually moving to London!! What do you think of the idea of the Bucs MOVING to London?

 There will never ever ever ever be an NFL team based in London.

1 – Location and time difference

The simple and most obvious reason. Right now for London games, the two teams travel over on the Thursday night/Friday morning, do a brief walk-through practice, play the game and then fly home with a bye week to follow to allow them to recover.

 So do you offer every team that has to play London a bye week after their trip? And that is just East Coast teams who have the eight-hour flight. What about when San Diego, Seattle or Oakland have to come over? And of course London would have eight road trips in the regular season alone. How do they manage the jet lag and travel problems?

 Quite simply, until Concorde II is even invented, the travel logistics make a London franchise a total non-starter.

2 – The British fan base

So if Wembley sells out in hours for each International Series game, why would a London team not do the same?

 Because the October game is a one-off, a special event that people travel to all over the country from. They will spent vast sums on travel, accommodation and tickets because it is a one-off. There is no way your average fan from 100 miles away does the same more than once a year.

 So the fan base for a Wembley team would have to be around 30-40 miles around London and even that is generous knowing how bad the access is to the stadium itself. And British fans will not give up their current allegiance to follow a new franchise. The only reason they would go, would be to see their own team PLAY the London one.

3 – Stocking the roster with players

So let’s say you have invented a fast new plane and have convinced 80,000 mugs to shell out huge amounts for season tickets for the new franchise. Now you need players.

 There are two ways of stocking an NFL roster, free agency and the draft. Just how do you convince a player to move to pretty much the other side of the world to ply his trade for a new team. To uproot his family, to move away from friends and other interests.

Or the draft – how long would the NFL draft last under legal threat from a player being selected and told he has to move to England to play. From the initial forays done by a legal friend of mine in the States, this could shoot down the entire NFL draft faster than anything.

NICK: Excellent points, the NFL draft has been ruled illegal before in the past, but has since fallen under various parts of the NFL’s exemptions.

Now just to brag a little, Im going to let our readers know about our plans: on how You, the entire Bucs UK, (myself included) will be coming over to Tampa on invitation. Tell the readers about this trip and your thoughts on the event:

PAUL: The Bucs UK have had individual members get inside the hallowed halls of One Buc Place and might even have taken some Tarpon Springs-based friends along in the process!  But this was an incredible offer and will reward any of our members who have planned their vacations around the Houston home game on 13th November.  The British are coming – be afraid, be very afraid!

I wont tell anyone the story of what you and a member of the Tampa Tribune did to the wall of the St. Pete Times one night of one of your infamous trips of the 90s! (or was it 80s?) So Which event do you think will mean more? Bucs playing in your home? or your trip over here to see them play at Ray Jay?

The home game because I know what it means to some of our members to meet the players and see the Bucs play live.  A lot of them will never get the chance to go to Tampa for cost reasons so this is an amazing opportunity.  I saw the looks on their faces when they met Mike Alstott and Lee Roy Selmon in 2009 and it made the 27 years I have run the Bucs UK so worthwhile.

Makes sense….I can just imagine. Finally, during the Bucs last visit to the UK, you got TONS of press coverage! You were mentioned on every local paper, radio show, It was unbelievable. Are you expecting the same type of coverage?

Perhaps not quite so much this time which is probably a good thing as I might get to see some more of the game this time.  All I want to do this time is a better job on commentating alongside Gene Deckerhoff!

I would have been more nervous to meet Bucs like LeeRoy Selmon, Shelton Quarels  Mike Alstott like you all did from that last trip! If you could choose, which former players would you bring over across the pond for a trip?

For former players, how about Steve Wilson, Steve Young and Jerry Bell? All live in Tampa and have become good friends.  Then I would get the chance to show them round London.