Social media reports that the Chicago Bears will be renamed Indiana Bears were put to rest. ESPN reported that even if the Bears do move to Indiana, they will remain the Chicago Bears, just as the New York Jets/Giants play in New Jersey but are still called New York. The possibility remains that the Bears could relocate to Hammond, Indiana, a city right on the Indiana/Illinois border, about 25 miles south of downtown Chicago. While the reports are that things are "moving forward" with the city of Hammond to find a stadium location for the Bears, things are still in the early stages. On top of everything else the league owners have to vote on it. You can't just get up and move a team on a whim. For the vote to pass it would need at least 75% approval from the owners, or 24 YES votes.

In other NFL news Roger Goodell has confirmed that he wants multiple NFL teams outside of the USA. The NFL has increased their number of international games to nine this year, one more than last year, and is looking to make it 10 games next season. "At some point there will be NFL teams outside the USA. I have no doubt this will happen," Goodell said in a recent interview. It appears this is still many years away, but there is no doubt that Goodell and the NFL want to expand and there is also talk of having the Super Bowl overseas (possibly London), but Goodell said he wants to see a team in that city first. The NFL puts money and profits about all else, so as long as they see more money in expanding that is what they will do. It might take a generation or two, but I think we will eventually see teams in Europe. South America, and Australia, as well as exposing their North American teams to Canada and Mexico. This will eventually lead to a worldwide NFL competition that will result in the Super Bowl being a world championship game that could be moved from one country to the next year after year.

Personally, I miss the old days of the NFL. I was watching a game from 2012 last night and thought "this era of football was so much better." No gambling ads, fewer weekday games (which means more football on Sunday) a 16-game schedule which I thought was perfect, and it was much more about the game instead of the side show. I am sure the NFL will continue to set record profits year after year and use that to claim their product is better than ever, but to me the NFL peaked years ago and the golden era is gone. It won't be coming back.

They tried NFL Europe years ago, and it didn't last too long. However, there's a difference between running a developmental league and professional team. Personally, I would rather have a professional team anchored somewhere and maybe do away with some of these international one-offs. The international games they have tend to draw good crowds, but planning for a single event like that makes it easier to draw fans than sustaining them for a full season. The other thing to consider is they have to compete with soccer. I don't know if the NFL can do that in other countries.

I dislike these international games because they take home games away from the teams and the fans that have bought season tickets, and the travel schedule and time adjustments is a nightmare for the teams. Of course, they all just say they enjoy it, and they won't say anything negative about it, at least not without getting fined. I'm not sure what the answer is.

On a related note, I just drafted my fantasy team yesterday.