The Brits Want Our Super Bowl But Face One Insurmountable Obstacle

England is a lovely place with its tourist sites such as Big Ben and Buckingham Palace, its traditions such as afternoon tea, and its nearly 2,000 mosques. And the Brits would like to add the Super Bowl to their points of interest portfolio.

That's right, our Super Bowl.

Luckily for Americans, Brits will be hard-pressed to ever get America's biggest sporting event as long as, you know, Great Britain is way over there, and we're way over here. More on that in a tick, as they say over there.

US President Donald Trump, left, and Peter Mandelson, British Ambassador to the US, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, May 8, 2025. Trump announced a trade framework with the UK, hailing it as a "breakthrough" that will bring down barriers and expand market access for American imports. Photographer: Bonnie Cash/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Images

U.K.'s Mandelson Lobbies For Super Bowl

Firstly, understand that the British desire to bring the Super Bowl to their King's doorstep is real. 

Peter Mandelson, the United Kingdom’s ambassador to the United States said last week he has been lobbying since taking the role in February for the Super Bowl to be hosted by the U.K.

"I’ve made a big pitch for the first Super Bowl outside the U.S. to take place in Britain," Mandelson told the Chicago Council on Global Affairs last week, per C-SPAN.

"I want that Super Bowl in Britain. I don’t care when it takes place, but I want it announced during my time as ambassador. We love it, we love it."

London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who attends one of the nearly 2,000 mosques in the U.K., has also called for the Super Bowl to be hosted in his city. He wants London to be known as the "sporting capital of the world" as well as a place where many people not from England can come.

"The Super Bowl is really important for us," Khan said last year.

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - FEBRUARY 3: NFL commissioner Roger Goodell smiles during a news conference ahead of the NFL Super Bowl LIX football game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs at Caesars Superdome on February 3, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images)

NFL Focused On International Games

Cool, good for the Brits.

But there are problems, including one seemingly insurmountable one that seems to ensure this is never going to happen.

Firstly, neither London nor any other place in England has an NFL team. And although NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has teased someday having a franchise in London, that isn't happening anytime soon.

The league is more focused on playing more international games. And that's international games not named the Super Bowl.

So, nice try, British Ambassador guy.

U.K. Super Bowl Would Face USA Backlash

Secondly, the NFL outsourcing its grandest event would face a significant, significant, significant backlash here at home. The general feeling in the States, based on my conversation with my wife, is that the Brits can kick rocks if they want to take our Super Bowl.

They have never sent an official Premier League match to the United States, but want our Super Bowl? 

And then there's the argument-ender on this British Super Bowl flight of fancy:

Greenwich Mean Time is not American time.

Said simply, England runs five hours ahead of the Eastern Time Zone in America. It runs a full eight hours ahead of the Pacific Time Zone.

So at what hour, precisely, would a London Super Bowl kick off that makes any sense in America – the biggest market for the Super Bowl on the planet?

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - DECEMBER 14: The Super Bowl 59 logo on a promotional display in the French Quarter on December 14, 2024 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Aaron M. Sprecher/Getty Images)

Record American Audience For Super Bowl

Super Bowls have consistently kicked off between 6:17 and 6:40 ET, dating back to 1991. It's a thing because the NFL's television partners want the biggest possible audience for the game so they can charge the fattest prices for in-game commercials. They also want a sizable run-up to the game for their pregame shows that include more money-making commercials.

The problem for the Brits is that 6:30ish on the East Coast in the United States is 11:30 p.m. in London. The final gun would come around 2:30 a.m. GMT.

They would obviously want to start the game earlier but, again, that would hurt the American audience, which came in at a record 127.7 million for Super Bowl LIX.

That doesn't even include the Canadian and Mexican audiences – who are also in the western hemisphere and time zones -- which accounted for another 42.9 million viewers.

The United Kingdom, by the way, accounted for 3.7 million viewers. It all presents huge problems for a Super Bowl being played over there.

But all good, blokes. You still have cricket.