http://www.skysports.com/skysports/article/0,,2021-1250611,00.htmlThe country's hottest sports ticket of the year looks set to be the NFL game at Wembley Stadium on Sunday, October 28, when the Miami Dolphins host the New York Giants.
In the 72 hours following the NFL's announcement of its first-ever competitive game outside North America, 160,000 fans registered for over half a million tickets; with 100,000 requests in the first 24 hours. The ticket request process will close next Sunday February 18 and comes at least two months before the game goes on sale to the general public.
The ticket registration process was set up as a low-key fan service for registered members of the NFL's UK website. Word soon got out about the soft launch for ticket sales on
www.nfllondon2007.com and the website's server crashed several times due to unprecedented traffic.
With Wembley's capacity for the event expected to be set at between 85-90,000, the NFL are now looking at how they can cope with the unexpectedly high level of demand the game.
Alastair Kirkwood, Managing Director of NFL UK, said: "This is an overwhelming response and endorsement of the NFL's decision to play the first regular season game outside North America in London.
"Nearly all these requests have come from UK-based fans. These figures do not take into account the allocation of tickets for Dolphins and Giants fans from the United States, so we anticipate a very quick sell-out when tickets go on sale in the spring.
"The positive reaction of the UK's NFL fans has caused shockwaves over in the States, and this shows the appetite for professional American Football from fans here. In addition we have had fans calling in from across Europe, and as far a field as Australia and New Zealand trying to find out how they can get tickets.
"My focus now is on making sure that all British sports fans, whether they get a ticket or not, have the opportunity to experience some of the excitement of top-level American Football. We are currently planning a series of events featuring current and ex-football stars, cheerleaders and coaches in the run-up to the game.
"Two years ago people were desperately trying to get their hands on Ashes tickets, last year it was all about trying to get to the World Cup in Germany - I believe that 2007's hottest sporting ticket will be for this NFL game at Wembley."
Super Bash, London's Super Bowl Party, was the biggest single Super Bowl event in the world, outside Miami. Now in its fourth year, Sunday night's event was attended by more than 4,000 UK fans who watched the game on big screens at the Battersea Evolution in Battersea Park into the small hours of Monday morning.
Mayor Ken Livingstone who was present at the Super Bash party promised during the party to close down Oxford Street to traffic and put up big-screens across the capital for the weekend of the game which will be shown live on Sky Sports.
