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Sending Miami Dolphins and New York Jets To London Is a Travesty

By @CouchGuyRants

Miami Dolphins, New York Jets

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In another prime example of pandering to the NFL’s interests, the Miami Dolphins are headed back to London next year, this time against the hated rival New York Jets. This will mark the first divisional game played outside the country and mars what will be the 100th matchup between the two franchises.

Don’t get me wrong, I understand the financial motives of both the league and the Dolphins owner Stephen Ross who is trying to bring another Super Bowl back to South Florida, but it comes across as a slap in the face to both fanbases. Aside from taking away the most looked forward to game of the season for local Dolphins fans, the large New York contingent that calls South Florida home, and those who religiously make the pilgrimage down from JFK or LaGuardia, now either have to miss the game or go across the pond.

On behalf of my fellow South Florida natives, lifelong Dolphins fans and season ticket holders, I would like to express just how much this one stings. If the NFL wants to send the team to London to play the Oakland Raiders, that’s fine, but don’t take away the most prized home game of the season. Factor in the playoff implications that the Dolphins-Jets matchup usually has for one if not both teams and a massive competitive disadvantage arises.

The Jets will still have a home game against the Dolphins, while the Fins have to make two of the toughest road trips imaginable. Playing in front of the rabid New York fans once is hard enough, but a transatlantic “home” game compounds the level of difficulty and adds another de facto road game to what is already a brutal conference schedule.

Simply put, this is a “long-term greedy” move and flies in the face of conventional wisdom while filling the NFL’s coffers at the expense of the team and the fans. In a league where every divisional matchup is critical, it is unfair to saddle any team with a London “home” game. It just goes to show that the monetary interests of ownerships and the NFL outweigh the interests of the games on the field.

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