Way back when there was this idea called the United States Football League. It had a few good years and a few big names (Jim Kelly, Herschel Walker, and Reggie White) before it failed. Then there was the World League of American Football, featuring teams across the U.S., but no true big-name players. Eventually the World League became just that, with expansion into Europe and the moniker NFL Europe;then that league failed.

Then there was the once-popular Arena League, which boasted Kurt Warner and owners like Jon Bon Jovi. The Arena League lasted nearly 20 years before it took last season off and appears ready to fade into oblivion. Oh, and let's not forget the Extreme Football League (XFL), run by Vince McMahon (of WWE fame). I mean who can forget "He Hate Me?" This terrible business decision lasted one season (and I was suckered into an XFL fantasy league).

As American major league sports approach the saturation point in the U.S. market, they are increasingly looking overseas for growth opportunities. Since basketball has been embraced in countries as diverse as Slovakia, China and Brazil, the NBA is clearly leading the pack in this effort. Next week, however, as reported by The Wall Street Journal (subscription), the National Football League will attempt once again to find cleated footing in the European market for American-style football.

The patsies for this effort will be the Miami Dolphins and New York Giants, who will face off in London on Sunday the 28th. Neither team, I'm sure, is eager to interrupt its mid-season routine in this way (although the Dolphins, winless to date, might appreciate having an ocean between themselves and their irate fans). This represents a new initiative for the league, which has tried to promote the NFL in Europe with exhibition games, which didn't work, and by establishing a minor-league NFL with franchises in major European cities. The league announced this week that it was folding this NFL Europa after 15 years.

League commissioner Roger Goodell made the absurd statement recently that they are "looking at" holding a Super Bowl in London, which makes me wonder if he's had his bell rung a few too many times. Basketball thrives internationally, I believe, because it does not require much equipment and does not directly compete with already entrenched, similar sports. It is also a sport that, even played badly (that's me), can be enjoyable. Football, on the other hand, required a tremendous amount of equipment, special facilities, and isn't much fun for the schmucks (I speak from experience) who block and tackle.

Europe already has football-- a type that allows everyone to play, that requires everyone to run and get fit rather than pork up, and has a history much older than Red Grange. I doubt the NFL will have any more luck converting them to our game than Major League Soccer has had establishing its sport in the U.S.

After 16 seasons, the National Football League's NFL Europe is no more. NFL Europe served as a developmental minor league for the NFL, with such future stars as Kurt Warner, Adam Vinatieri, and Jake Delhomme spending time in the league.

Yesterday the NFL also announced that it's making a push into China, trying to convert the largest population in the world to the religion of the gridiron. According to the Associated Press, "The league is on a promotional tour to explain the strategy and tactics of American football to fans and reporters in China, where a few million people watch a weekly NFL game on TV. The league is hoping to play a game in 2009 in the Beijing stadium being built for next year's Olympics. And it's already sponsoring a flag-football league for about five-thousand school-age children."

This is just another small example of the shift in power from the west to the east. Apparently the NFL sees more potential in China, where football translates as "American-style olive-shaped ball," than it does in Europe, where the sport has a fairly good track record.

Will football catch on in China the way baseball has in Japan? The NFL is hoping it will.