As an Englishman, I've always been envious of how all-encompassing the American sports schedule is. Its scope is such that for an entire year, a sports nut from, let’s say, Boston, might never have to come up for air. With the combined efforts of the Patriots, Bruins, Celtics and Red Sox, (s)he can completely submerge from January through December.

This multiplicity of interests has always been the backbone of American fandoms. Theirs is a nation of sporting polyglots, and the rest of the world doesn't speak the languages. But this year-round extravaganza always has struggled to translate internationally, which, as the NFL has found in the past, is a problem when it comes to expansion.

In the United Kingdom, we don’t have an equivalent of the ‘Big Four’, because there’s never been much room for anything other than soccer. Yet, unperturbed by this, Wembley Stadium will host three regular season American football games this fall in the seventh edition of the International Series. But before the Miami Dolphins and Oakland Raiders even kick off, it can be guaranteed that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will have already taken the time to make a throwaway comment about the future of the mythical ‘London Franchise.’ (Assuming he even makes the trip, due to the pressure of what’s been called the worst week in NFL history; he’s been forced to cancel some events already.)

Past highlights include, but are not limited to 2011's ‘maybe’: “If we’re successful with [the International Series], then maybe a franchise is part of that.”; 2012's ‘possibility’: “I think we are quite a ways from having a franchise there, but I don’t rule it out as a possibility down the road if the game continues to grow.”; and, finally, 2013's inspiring ‘belief’: “We don’t have a timetable for [a London Franchise], we want to continue building interest, and if it continues to go well we believe a franchise could be here.”

Whatever tepid sound-bite comes out of his mouth this year, Goodell already knows that rushing into a London franchise is the wrong move, and perhaps not even the move at all. Because whilst America thrives on the diversity of interest, the U.K, or more specifically, England, doesn't.