China will stage regular-season game, says NFL official
New England Patriots star Tom Brady says his “dream” to play a game in the mainland before the quarterback retires
China will stage a regular-season NFL game “down the road” as American football targets a more global fanbase, the sport’s top figure in the country said on Wednesday.
New England Patriots star quarterback Tom Brady said during a visit to Beijing and Shanghai this week that it was his “dream” to play a game in China before he retires.
Richard Young, managing director of NFL China, said despite several challenges: “We really believe that a regular-season game is the right way to go because you want to see the real thing [and not an exhibition game] and China demands the real thing and we want to respect that growing fanbase.”
Last year, reports said that the NFL was working to stage a game in China in 2018.
“To get a real game over here, you have to understand that teams only have eight home games so one team is going to have to give up one eighth of their home team schedule, which is a difficult thing,” Young said.
“They’ve got to fly a long, long way and then go back and compete the next week in a very physical sport.