NFL considers holding 2020 season opener in China

NFL owners are expected to discuss the possibility of moving one of the 2020 regular season games to China with Beijing or Shanghai as host city, reported Matt Barrows of The Athletic on Monday.

The San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams, both of which showed their interest in playing in China, might become the teams for the game and the 49ers could be chosen as the home team.

"As a football guy, you're usually pretty protective. Like, 'Hey, let's make sure this is good for our team.' I think one thing we feel comfortable with is that (CEO) Jed (York) and (team president) Al (Guido) always keep that in mind, so we're not going to do anything that's going to put us at a disadvantage. But if we can grow the game and also have a cool experience we'll make it work," said John Lynch, San Francisco's general manager on Monday, per Barrows.

Players of the Los Angeles Rams in action at the Super Bowl LIII at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, February 3, 2019. /VCG Photo

This was not the first time for the idea of holding a China game to be raised by the league. In both 2016 and 2017, the 49ers and the Rams were listed as possible options for such an event. According to Barrows, the NFL was considering making the China Game opener of the season in Week 1 so players could have enough time to rest after it and prepare for the Week 2 game.

This was understandable considering that teams would have to cross the Pacific Ocean to reach China and that could mean trips longer than 10 hours by plane. Besides, the time difference could range from 12 to 15 hours. With all these exhausting factors on the table, the players could be physically drained.

Playing overseas was nothing new for the NFL. Besides the annual London Games, the league also had multiple games in Japan since 1989. Moreover, Roger Goodell, the NFL commissioner called China "a priority market" for the league, before the 2019 Super Bowl. "We believe that our game has a great deal of potential to expand to grow and bring new fans into our game. We have had double-digit growth this past year in China in our fan base and people engaging with our game. So we are excited by it," said Goodell.

(CGTN)