London awarded regular season NFL game in 2007

[Diesel1]

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Touchdown for London

London will be the venue for the first competitive NFL game ever to be played outside North America, the National Football League announced today.


The NFL will stage the first in its new series of international regular season games in the UK’s capital city in the fall of 2007. NFL owners voted in October to play up to two games outside the United States every year for the next five years, with the series kicking off with a single game in 2007.

“There is great interest in the NFL around the world,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.  “Playing a limited number of regular-season games outside the United States is the next step for us in serving that interest.  This is what our international fans, media partners, and sponsors want.  There is no better place to begin this initiative than London.  It is one of the great cities of the world with an established and growing fan base for our game.  We are thrilled to bring the excitement of the NFL regular season to the United Kingdom.”

London’s effort to secure the game has been backed by Mayor of London Ken Livingstone, who visited Commissioner Goodell in New York to state the city’s case for staging an NFL game. He said: “London is proud to host the first ever competitive NFL game held outside the American continent. There are many NFL fans in London – both American and non-American – and this will be a spectacular sporting occasion.

“After its success in winning the 2012 Olympic and Paralympics Games we want to bring to Londoners the greatest of non-Olympic sports. Bringing the NFL to London, after also winning the right to stage the start of the Tour de France this year, is a great step forward in this.

“The Super Bowl is followed by almost five million people in the UK. Hosting an NFL game in London will bring more than 10,000 international visitors to the city. London will be working with the NFL to build on this success to ensure that Londoners, NFL fans, international visitors, and the tens of millions who will watch the game on television have a great day of sport and a thrilling experience of London."

The NFL recently concluded its 2006 regular season, with average attendance reaching a record 67,738 and more than 97 per cent of games sold out. The current playoffs will conclude on February 4 with Super Bowl XLI in Miami, Florida, where more details about the London game are expected to be confirmed – including the participating teams – at the Commissioner’s traditional press conference on Friday, February 2.

Alistair Kirkwood, Managing Director of NFL UK, explained: “This is tremendously exciting news for the sport of American football in this country. It is a chance for our fans to see, in their backyard, for the first time a game that counts in the race to the Super Bowl, and an opportunity to show the excitement and passion of the NFL to a whole new audience.

“We aim to create an event that will capture the imagination of the sporting public, establish the NFL more firmly in the structure of UK sport and accelerate the growth of our game and fan base. Our goal is to create a smooth and enjoyable experience for the participating teams and deliver a memorable event that will persuade the NFL that this is the first of many regular-season games played here.

“For London to be awarded this game is a great achievement for everyone connected with the sport here – fans, viewers, those involved in the grassroots of the game and, most especially, all of those people, such as the Mayor and Visit London, who have supported the efforts to bring the NFL to the UK.”

London was selected based upon several factors, including general fan interest, current NFL visibility through existing media agreements, the range and quality of large, world-class stadia, including Wembley and Twickenham, the size and value of the overall sports and entertainment market and the potential to build year-round marketing, sponsorship and fan engagement.

Upon approval of the resolution to stage international regular-season games, the league identified four priority markets where the initiative was feasible from a logistical and broadcast perspective – the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada and Mexico, eliminating China and Japan. Toronto, Canada will host the Canadian Football League’s championship game in 2007, the Grey Cup, so the NFL eliminated it from consideration.

The NFL received interest from various venues in Germany in hosting an NFL regular-season game and having now selected London as the host city for 2007, the league will now focus on detailed stadium proposals in order to select the venue during Super Bowl week in South Florida next month.

The NFL staged its first regular-season game outside the United States in 2005 when 103,467 people saw the Arizona Cardinals play the San Francisco 49ers in Mexico City – the largest crowd for a regular-season game in NFL history.

http://www.nfluk.com/news-display.php?id=2291

Check out the forum, it'll give you an idea of how popular the American Football is in the UK
http://www.nfluk.com/community-forums.php

[RUDE BUOY]

you guys should send us some more of your footballers as a nice gesture it good for football im sure you guys will love a regular season game

[bmacsys]

Diesel, are there any true NFL fans in England? Not growing up playing the game can English people really understand it?

[Hedgehog]

Click for video

What do you guys think?

Check out the forum, it'll give you an idea of how popular the American Football is in the UK
http://www.nfluk.com/community-forums.php

I'm sure Londoneers are in relief...

You know, they usually have to settle with Little League shyte like Wimbledon Tennis, Chelsea-Arsenal, Champions League, England national games @ Wembley, et al, et al...

Put the Super Bowl on Wembley, or the AFC or the NFC final, then PERHAPS this could be interesting.

-Hedge

[Diesel1]

Diesel, are there any true NFL fans in England? Not growing up playing the game can English people really understand it?

There seems to be a fair few from what I know. There's plenty of live games on the telly, both terrestrial tv and Sky show games. There's even some amateur leagues.

Believe it or not, some people have super bowl parties. and the super bowl usually gets decent viewing figures

[Diesel1]

I'm sure Londoneers are in relief...

You know, they usually have to settle with Little League shyte like Wimbledon Tennis, Chelsea-Arsenal, Champions League, England national games @ Wembley, et al, et al...

Put the Super Bowl on Wembley, or the AFC or the NFC final, then PERHAPS this could be interesting.

-Hedge

They are deciding between which venue to use. Wembley with it's 90,000 capacity (if it ever gets finished) or Twickenham which has a 82,000 capacity. Which ever one they use it'll sell out no problem.

Remember it's a regular season game so people will be even more interested because the game will actually mean something. Both teams will be playing for real and not come over just for the sightseeing

[Camel Jockey]

Would be cool if the NFL became big in England. 

[Saxon]

There have been American Football games in England before...two teams played an exhibition match at White Hart Lane years and years ago...but as for interest in the UK...were are the Scottish Claymores and London Cardinals now? Wasn't much interest in them...

As for the stadium, Twickenham will be a no go in November due to Internationals and there are very strict agreements as to how many times Twickenham can be used each year...