Turf Show Times

NFL Commissioner Rodger Goodell addressed the issues surrounding the St. Louis Rams and their decision to surrender a home game in each of the next three seasons for a game in London. He also made it quite clear that the league wants the Rams to play in the UK as part of their three-game deal.

"We're going to play the London games," Goodell said. "We hope it will be with the Rams and the New England Patriots next year. That's what we planned. I think it's great for the city of St. Louis to be able to get that global exposure, but there are issues that are going to have to get resolved."

Fans in the city of St. Louis had a more mixed feeling about the games overseas. The St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission is definitely not a fan of the idea, noting that the team is in violation of their lease by playing a home game at Wembley Stadium.

As first-reported on TST yesterday, ticket sales for the UK game have been suspended. They have to resume as of Friday. Ticket sales for that game are handled by the NFL directly, actually by their subsidiary NFL UK. A representative from the Rams ticket office told TST that technical difficulties resulted in the delay. But the vagueness of from NFL UK and Goodell's statements make it sound as though ticket sales are suspended while those "issues" get resolved.