NFL considering hosting Super Bowl in London?

Given the popularity and success of the NFL’s International Series, the league isn’t ruling out the possibility of hosting a Super Bowl in London, according to commissioner Roger Goodell.

London has been a central part of the league’s initiative to expand to a global brand, so hosting its biggest event of the year would likely go a long way toward growing the NFL’s international footprint.

"It is not impossible, and it is something that has been discussed before," Goodell said, via ESPN. "…I think that is not out of the question. But at the end of the day, I think right now our formula will stay the same about playing [Super Bowls] in cities that have franchises."

Any future London Super Bowl would be years into the future. The next three Super Bowls already have host cities in Las Vegas, New Orleans and Santa Clara, Calif.

Of course, playing a Super Bowl overseas also presents a myriad of obstacles, the biggest likely being the time difference. 

Sunday’s Baltimore Ravens-Tennessee Titans game kicked off at 9:30 a.m. ET, which equates to 2:30 p.m. London time. The typical Super Bowl start time of 6:30 p.m. ET would put an 11:30 p.m. kick off in London. 

If the Super Bowl were to start at 6:30 p.m. in London, the game would start at 1:30 p.m. ET in the U.S.

An overseas Super Bowl also means that none of the cities already with NFL franchises would benefit from the economic impact experienced by hosting the event, which is an estimated $250 million to $450 million.

"I think being able to play it in one of our cities — it's at a huge economic boost to those cities," Goodell added. "Our fans live in those cities also. I think that is important. Not that we do not have great fans here [in London]; we do. So as the international series develops, maybe that is a possibility as we play more games here."

Goodell has also mentioned before possibly putting an NFL team in London and an entire division there as well.