Unfathomable to the English football fan for whom the journey to a home game is more like a pilgrimage, particularly for such crucial fixtures even at this relatively early stage of the season.

The 39th Step – taking Premier League fixtures to all corners of the globe – was mooted by the Football Association and booted by the traditionalists.

The Premier League is a global brand but stays firmly within its own boundaries, despite the myriad of European trips and marketing tours to the Far East and North America the big clubs take each year.

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The National Football League on the other hand, and American sports in general, have bucked the trend, taking their brand across the Atlantic and marketing their games with meaningful regular season fixtures.

Last night's International Series at Wembley between Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New England Patriots was American Football's third venture to our shores in successive seasons, and once again drew a crowd in excess of 80,000.

The appeal of a sport that first hit our screens in the 1980s continues to grow and the European market is one the NFL are eager to tap into.

That journey out of the United States and into Europe is becoming a familiar one for America's big team sports.

As well as the NFL, the National Hockey League regularly goes transatlantic. Two years ago Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings opened the season with a double header at the O2 Arena in London, and after games in Prague the following year, the 2009-10 NHL season began last month with double headers in Stockholm and Helsinki. Four teams crossing time zones to leave their comfort zone.

Just last month the NBA held a pre-season game in London between Utah Jazz and Chicago Bulls, for whom British-born Loul Deng plays.

Major League Baseball, the staple of the American sports diet, turned its focus onto Japan to host regular season games, a market where that sport is already huge.

Such has been the success of these ventures for the sports and for the worldwide fans they have inducted and entertained that there is talk in the NFL's corridors of power of extending the regular season from 16 to 18 games to allow all teams to play one game outside the United States.

A second fixture in the north of England next season has been suggested, while Spain, Holland and particularly Germany have strong gridiron followings thanks to the shortlived NFL Europe.

"The issue is continuing to go down this path of multiple games," said NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

"If you've brought more than one game here and you continue to have the same enthusiasm that is about as good an indicator as you could get that it could successfully support a franchise."

Therein lies the biggest yardstick for measuring the merits of the NFL's European enterprise – having a franchise based in London, a team that would compete on an even par with the likes of the Patriots, Buccaneers, Miami Dolphins and Dallas Cowboys.

With the great and the good of NFL in the English capital this week, a London team has been a hot topic; its viability, practicality, logistics and timescale.

It remains a pipe dream, and like the 39th Step, the blessing of the 32 Stateside franchises who would have to criss-cross the Atlantic every season could prove difficult to attain.

For the London team that journey would have to be made eight or nine times. Crossing time zones every other week would be demanding – just ask the likes of Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson whose squads suffer with fixture congestion following two-hour trips into Europe.

As always, money talks and if the International Series continues to prove a cash-cow for the NFL – last year's game saw Wembley generate its highest income in merchandising – then the pleas of the teams may fall on deaf ears.

For the fans themselves, the International Series is a marvellous occasion and continues to maintain its popularity among the sports followers and curiosity among the European media as journalists arrive in their dozens from across Europe to witness the game as close to their doorstep as it has ever been.

Tickets sold out within 90 minutes of going on sale and no matter who is competing, fans of all teams converge on the national stadium in their Packers' jerseys, Joe Montana replica shirts, Dolphins caps and Giants face paint.

It is the complete NFL experience, with tailgate parties off Wembley Way, fireworks before kick-off and cheerleaders on the sidelines.

What all the marketing and expansion boils down to though is the standard of play and the quality of entertainment on the pitch.
New England and Tampa Bay produced touchdowns and interceptions, penalties and big hits, but sadly for the neutral and for the Buccaneers, all the positive aspects of play were created by the Patriots, the designated away team.

Led by future Hall-of-Famer and superstar quarter-back Tom Brady, the Patriots have been the team of the decade, winning the Superbowl three times.
They take up a sizeable portion of the UK's NFL fanbase and silenced the 'home' crowd who waved their red and white Buccaneers flags frenetically when Brandon Meriweather intercepted Josh Johnson – making only his fourth start – in the first series to run in a touchdown.

Brady took charge of the game in a steady if unspectacular fashion, throwing for 300 yards plus and three touchdowns in a 35-7 rout to conclude a miserable day for the Glazer family who own the Buccaneers and Manchester United, but another good night for American Football and its UK fans.