The four commissioners have seen the future of professional sports, and it isn't us.

That's U-S as in us, as in United States.

The Wall Street Journal brought the commissioners -- in descending order of regalness, Roger Goodell of the NFL, Bud Selig of Major League Baseball, David Stern of the NBA, and Gary Bettman of the NHL -- together on Wednesday for a panel discussion billed as "The Future of Sports."

Two things stuck out: The three others fear and admire Goodell and his massively popular league the way the rest of the Cleveland Cavaliers regard LeBron James. And the key to combating the NFL for revenue is to mine foreign markets for every possible yen, yuan and euro.

Stern talked more about China than a bride setting up her wedding registry.

The NBA has three offices in the world's most highly populated nation. Soon, there will be more hits on NBA.com from China than from people in the United States.

"All of our sports are global in some way," Stern said. "The opportunity is astounding."

Even in a down economy. While it is harder to sell corporate sponsorships, luxury suites, and season tickets here, there are hundreds of millions of new fans to woo in China, India, South America, and along the Pacific Rim.

At times, the big three commissioners (3Â 1/2 if you count Bettman's NHL) sounded like the Big Three automakers discussing globalization, circa 1984, except that instead of outsourcing jobs, these guys plan to outsource fan interest.

The irony is that the NFL, while the undisputed champion here at home, is the least promising of the four leagues in terms of overseas popularity. After a number of initiatives, ranging from the playing of games in Europe, Mexico and Japan to the now-defunct NFL Europe, it is apparent that the NFL will remain a novelty everywhere outside North America.

It is soccer in reverse.

The NFL-envy was most pronounced during a discussion of the league's proposal to eliminate two preseason exhibitions to add one game and one bye week to the regular season. But would the season start earlier, in August, or end later, in February?

"As a Giants season-ticket holder," Stern joked, "I love August football."

Bettman concurred.

"You may love it," countered Selig, the only one whose game is in season in August, "but I don't like it at all."

Selig was able to tout the TV ratings in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan for the recently concluded World Baseball Classic. He also mentioned the excitement generated in the Netherlands and Italy by the performances of those teams.

"You won't recognize it in a couple of years," Selig said of the WBC. "It will be that big."

He clearly envisions something on the order of soccer's World Cup. That may sound crazy to Americans who seemed uninspired by the WBC.

It was Stern who made the comparison. In the States, the NFL sets the bar. In the rest of the world, it's soccer. The challenge in growing basketball, baseball and hockey globally is similar to the challenge of growing soccer here.

"Soccer's best athletes aren't here yet," Bettman said.

The best football, basketball, baseball and hockey players are here, even if they're coming from other places. Bettman said 28 percent of NHL players were from outside North America. The influx of Latino and Asian players has helped baseball's popularity.

But that's now. The future could include NBA franchises in Europe and China, and maybe a true World Series between the U.S. champion and a Japanese champion. There are competing hockey leagues in Europe and Russia.

There's even speculation that the NFL will consider awarding a Super Bowl to London. That seems like a terrible idea in the present economy -- why give millions in revenue to a foreign city when American cities are struggling? -- but the very notion is a sign of how important globalization is to the future of sports.

And it is the one and only area the NFL doesn't dominate.