Sunday 22 January 2017 23:19, UK
Commissioner Roger Goodell says the passion of British fans is bringing the possibility of a permanent NFL franchise ever closer.
Goodell says ticket sales for the four UK games in 2017 suggests that the appetite exists for even more matches.
There will be two games at Wembley [Jacksonville-Baltimore, Miami-New Orleans] and two at Twickenham [Minnesota-Cleveland and Arizona-LA Rams] this autumn, making four in total for the first time.
And Goodell exclusively told Sky Sports that the NFL were delighted to have expanded their programme of London fixtures.
"The first thing is the passion of the fans over there," he said. "Every year we come over and you see that the fans understand the game better, there are more of them, and the passion just goes up to another level.
"The four games is something we are testing and the fans are reacting with even more enthusiasm.
"We have already sold more tickets across the four games than we did last year across the three games, which really speaks volumes about their passion."
Asked if the expanded London programme meant a permanent franchise was a step nearer, he added: "I think it does move you closer to that, because we keep raising the bar and the fans keep jumping higher over that.
"I think that is an indication that the passion is there.
"Now we still have to work though some of those competitive issues, to see if can we do that and do it in a way that will allow that [UK] team to have the same competitive balance that every other team in the league does."
