The discussion surrounding the NFLs television ratings dip this season has spawned all kinds of theories. Among them: Has the league reached a plateau among its traditional fan base? After decades of growth, are there simply no more fans left to be captured?Those questions have put the NFLs international expansion into new light. As the league announces its schedule for next seasons London games, its goal is clear and public: Cultivate an international fan base that matches its stateside numbers.Speaking by phone this week, NFL executive vice president for international Mark Waller laid out the framework of a strategic plan that has become a mantra within the league. He hopes to develop a following that makes the NFL at least a top-five sport in five different regions or countries: The United Kingdom, Canada, China, Mexico and Germany.If you can do that, he said, and you measure the number of fans in those countries and add them up, that would give you a fan base that I would argue is the same as what we have in the United States.At the moment, according to Waller, the NFL counts between 180-200 million stateside fans. He estimates the league is about halfway there internationally, bringing its rough worldwide estimate of fans between 270 million and 300 million. Based on those numbers, the NFL is pursuing an audience of some 360-400 million people worldwide -- a big number until you remember that 7.4 billion humans inhabit the planet.New revenue is the obvious endgame, either as a net gain or simply to address a stagnant stateside market. At the moment, though, Wallers efforts are directed at building the structure and base for eventual monetization.To me, its always been a very much fan-driven set of goals, he said. If you build the fan base, everything else will flow out of that.The 2017 season will mark a new step in the International Series with four games in London, up from three in each of the past three years. This seasons games drew 242,373 fans -- including an NFL-record in London of 84,488 for a Week 8 game at Wembley Stadium -- but the league made its most notable progress in the local broadcast market.The BBC airs two NFL-related programs during the season, one on Tuesday nights and one on Saturdays. The latter, according to Waller, has brought the youngest demographic of any show on the network and the second-most ethnically diverse.The data there is good, he said. All the indicators that we have suggests that weve got good growth there and good momentum. Were finding that its real and domestic. Its not U.S. fans going over there for games and its not ex-patriots who are attending. Its very much a true U.K. audience.The NFL is now halfway toward a full regular-season home schedule in London, and there has been discussion about whether a franchise or a virtual franchise is the most likely consummation of its work there. Waller said a franchise is the ideal goal for maximizing interest -- The best expression of fandom is when you have your own team to root for, he said -- but its not clear if NFL owners prefer that direction. A virtual franchise would bring eight regular-season games to London, but spread out among multiple existing stateside franchises.As he works to prepare the market for a theoretical relocation, Waller compares the situation in London to the NFLs two-decade absence from Los Angeles.For 20 years, people talked about there not being an NFL team there, and there was always this speculation as to whether we would be there or not, he said. Ultimately, it happened when two or three owners decided it was time to make it happen.For now, the NFL will focus its efforts on staging recurring games in the five countries we noted earlier. The Week 11 game in Mexico City, a Monday night event between the Oakland Raiders and Houston Texans played in front of 76,473 fans, was incredibly positive, Waller said. He would like to see a return to Canada; the last game there was in Toronto in 2013. Germany is home to arguably the highest level of domestic leagues outside of the Canadian Football League.The NFL, meanwhile, has pushed back its timetable for staging a game in China because of travel and other logistical reasons. But Waller still thinks it can one day place a one-off game there to boost local interest.One of the things we need to show is that we can become a sustainable part of the sporting calendar in these countries, he said. There was always a sense that we would come into a market, play a preseason game -- a friendly, so to speak -- and then come back a few years later. When you take real regular season games there, you show that you can be part of the sport calendar.There was a time when that type of growth was considered a bonus for the NFL and its revenues. Does this years ratings discussion add a level of urgency to the dynamic? Is international development now a matter of league sustenance? Given weve seen this season, its fair to at least start asking those questions. Custom Packers Jersey China . The Lightning are 2-0 so far on a four-game road trip, giving the club five straight wins as the guest and improving Tampas away record this season to 11-8-2. Authentic Custom Packers Jersey . Instead of dwelling on the negative, Oates focused on what was good about the clubs recent play. It worked. http://www.custompackersjersey.com/custom-rashan-gary-jersey-large-72r.html . Calgary scored on the first shift, and Michael Cammalleri scored twice as the Flames cruised to a 5-2 win over the Washington Capitals on Saturday. Custom Rashan Gary Jersey . LOUIS -- Heading into the final stretch of the season, the issues for the Chicago Bears banged-up defence only seem to be getting worse. Custom Packers Jerseys . The CFLs leading rusher kept adding to his gaudy numbers this season and scored the winning touchdown with just over two minutes to play. The New Westminster, B.C., native plowed three yards into the end zone for the last score of a heated, see-saw battle between the two teams with the best records in the CFL. Three-time Olympic gold medalist Heather Mitts retired from soccer in 2013, then moved on to the next challenge: starting a family with husband A.J. Feeley. A lifelong athlete, she knew she wanted to continue working out throughout her pregnancy. Its a part of who I am, she says.When she became pregnant with her son, Connor, in 2013, less than a year after the London Games, she was able to do CrossFit until she was six months along, plus Pilates, elliptical work and running until two days before delivering.With her second pregnancy, it wasnt so easy. Living in the suburbs with a toddler in tow, she looked around and found she just didnt have as many options.When I was playing soccer, it was my job, she says. It was the first thing I would do every day. But as a mom, it can fall to the bottom of your list. I needed something I could do at home.But she wanted more from her training than what she could find online. She had struggled with diastasis recti, a separation in the abs experienced by as many as two-thirds of women during pregnancy, and she knew it was crucial to focus on safe core strengthening moves.Ninety percent of women arent even aware they have it and can actually make it worse by doing the wrong exercises, she says.And so, Mitts partnered with sports physiologist and fellow University of Florida athlete Shannon Grady to develop a plan of exercises she could do throughout her pregnancy to prepare her whole body for birth and beyond. For Mitts, it paid off.?I felt amazing, even toward the end of the pregnancy. I had a lot of energy, no back pain, and I was shocked at how quick I was able to get back in shape afterwards, she says.Mitts was so inspired by the knowledge she gained that she created aa series of workouts for pregnant athletes on her website, HeatherMittsEmpoweredPregnancy.ddddddddddddcom. She shared four of her favorite core moves with us:Modified side plankLie on your side with knees bent at 90 degrees. Raise your hips and torso off the floor, supported by your forearm with your shoulder over your elbow. Actively engage your core, and keep your hips lifted to form a line from the top of your head to your knees. Hold for 20 to 30 seconds, aiming to build up to a minute. Lower and switch sides. Do three reps per side.Prone plank with ballStarting with your fitness ball behind you, lower your hands to the floor for support and lift the tops of your feet or shins onto the ball. Come down to a plank on your forearms and elbows. Make sure to tighten your glutes, pull in your pelvic floor and keep your back flat. Hold for 15 seconds, then slowly come off the ball.Prone plank on ball with knee tuckGet into a plank position on your forearms with the tops of your feet or shins on a ball. Raise your glutes, and draw your knees toward your belly. Keep your core engaged and back straight. Straighten knees and roll ball back to plank position. Aim for 10 to 15 reps.Side plank with leg raiseLie on your side, knees bent and upper body in a plank supported on your forearm and elbow. Keeping your core engaged, including your obliques, extend your top leg straight and lift. Lower your leg, keeping it extended, and repeat. Do 10 reps, and switch sides. If raising and lowering is too difficult, start by holding your leg at the top for 10 to 15 seconds and work up to the lifts. ' ' '