NFL Europa (RIP 1991-2007)

It had many names. The World League of American Football, the World League, NFL Europe and NFL Europa.

The developmental league of the NFL also lost money hand over fist and now it's no more.

After 16 seasons the National Football League pulled the plug on it's European venture, citing lack of interest (except in Germany) and the fact the league was losing $30 million per season.

The announcement came less than a week after the Hamburg Sea Devils beat the Frankfurt Galaxy 37-28 in the World Bowl title game in Frankfurt before a crowd of 48,125. Five of the league's six teams are based in Germany, with the other in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Commissioner Roger Goodell said the NFL will focus on bringing regular season games to the continent, in particular, Germany and England. The league also will have games in Mexico and Canada.

NFL team owners decided in October to play up to two regular-season games outside the United States. The first such game is Oct. 28 in London between the Miami Dolphins and the New York Giants.

The European league began in 1991 as the World League of American Football, with 10 teams from the United States and Europe, spreading from Scotland to Spain. After closing for two seasons in 1993 and 1994, the league returned with six European teams and retained the same format until the end.

The league was used by NFL teams to test young talent and produced players such as quarterback Kurt Warner, who led the St. Louis Rams to the 2000 Super Bowl championship and won two NFL Most Valuable Player awards; Carolina Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme; and star Indianapolis Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri.

In its latter years, the European league became far less a laboratory for player development and more an excuse for exemptions into NFL summer training camps. Teams that allocated players to NFL Europa received exemptions that permitted them to bring more guys to training camp every July, and to keep them around longer.

The other reality is that NFL teams stopped sending quality players over. Most head coaches in the NFL prefer to have their players participating in their own offseason conditioning programs, rather than several thousand miles away under the tutelage of another staff. So a lot of the players allocated to Europe weren't even fringe guys.

And that coupled with rising costs and debt spelled the end for NFL Europa.