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Thursday, 17 January 2008 |
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The NFL has announced another trip back to Wembley Stadium in London for 2008.
Direct from NFLUK.com comes this announcement: NFL returning to UK
The National Football League is coming back across the pond. After playing a highly-successful game in London last October, the NFL announced today it will return to the United Kingdom for a competitive game in 2008 as part of the league’s International Series of regular-season games.
“The game in London was undoubtedly one of the highlights of the entire 2007 season,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. “The fan interest was tremendous. The passion they demonstrated for our sport that day continued throughout the season, as television viewership in the UK has grown by 40 percent since the game. “We had an overwhelmingly positive response to the event from all involved – the teams, our sponsors and business partners and of course the fans themselves. We look forward to another spectacular event in 2008.” Details about the game – including the venue and competing teams – are expected to be confirmed during Super Bowl week (January 28-February 3) in Arizona. The game at Wembley Stadium on October 28, when the Miami Dolphins hosted the New York Giants, was the first-ever regular season NFL game to be played outside North America. A crowd of 81,176 saw the Giants record a 13-10 victory after the NFL received requests for more than half a million tickets within 72 hours of announcing the game. In 2006, NFL owners approved a plan to stage a limited number of regular-season games outside the United States every year for the next five years. NFL UK Managing Director Alistair Kirkwood said: “In the build up to the Wembley game last October I said that it was an audition for future games. Clearly, the fans – with their passion and enthusiasm – have convinced the NFL that the UK should be rewarded with another game in 2008. “We are very excited as we begin preparations for that game and conclude this historic season next month with BBC TV showing its first-ever Super Bowl and Sky Sports continuing its long-standing relationship with the NFL by airing the game for the 13th straight year.” |
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 17 January 2008 )
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Discuss (5 posts)
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London in 2008
Jan 17 2008 21:34:05
This thread discusses the Content article: London in 2008
Back for another pint...
NFL RETURNING TO LONDON
Posted by Mike Florio on January 17, 2008, 1:19 p.m.
The National Football League has announced that American football will return to Wembley Stadium in 2008.
“The game in London was undoubtedly one of the highlights of the entire 2007 season,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said. “The fan interest was tremendous. The passion they demonstrated for our sport that day continued throughout the season, as television viewership in the UK has grown by 40 percent since the game.
“We had an overwhelmingly positive response to the event from all involved – the teams, our sponsors and business partners and of course the fans themselves. We look forward to another spectacular event in 2008.”
That said, the game itself wasn’t very compelling, given that the already-slick soccer pitch was made even slicker by rains upon the non-domed stadium.
Details as to the 2008 game are expected to be announced in connection with Super Bowl XLII. The league also is expected to continue to explore the possibility of adding a seventeenth regular-season game, which would allow every team to play one game per year in other countries (and/or, as we’ve suggested, neutral sites like huge college stadiums) while still playing eight home games each per season.
The identities of the teams to travel to England for 2008 currently are unknown. The Giants and Dolphins made the trip in 2007. Eastern teams with low attendance for home games would be prime candidates for the shifting of a game to London.
To me, this is an element the NFL wants for two reasons. First is to keep fertilizing the European market to eventually plant a team over there, and second to showcase the sport during for each team in a 17 game season. Each team will play that extra game at neutral sites in hopes of spreading the NFL love.
Do you think it is a good idea?
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#2396 |
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Re:London in 2008
Jan 18 2008 00:27:05
Wouldn't it be easier to expand the league (if that is indeed the goal) to move to the Great White North instead?
A lot of Canada already likes American football better than the CFL. They have stadiums in place in eight cities. Wouldn't be a big stretch to modify the fields up there to play American Football.
Who knows maybey the Vikings could be playing against the Toronto Argonauts in a few years. 
I bet the Canadian Owners would jump at the chance of a merger with the NFL. 
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#2397 |
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Re:London in 2008
Jan 27 2008 05:24:17
The NFL is sending two offensive minded teams over to the land of ever misting, raining, foggy weather. If they are lucky, they will play on one of the 3 Sundays that the sun shines. [I know, I lived there for two years.]
POSTED 8:57 p.m. EST, January 26, 2008
SAINTS TO PLAY CHARGERS IN LONDON
When Drew Brees left the Chargers and signed with the Saints, he likely never dreamed that his opportunity to prove the folks in San Diego that they kept the wrong guy would occur on the other side of an ocean.
Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports that the New Orleans Saints will "host" the San Diego Chargers on October 26 in London.
The game will be played at Wembley Stadium, the same venue where the Dolphins hosted the Giants in October 2007. There was some thought that the game wouldn't be played at Wembley again, because the slick soccer pitch coupled with a cold rain made the thing a sloppy mess last time around.
This time, the league wanted to provide England with a potentially high-scoring game, and the Chargers and Saints have two of the league's marquee offenses.
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#2449 |
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Re:London in 2008
Jan 28 2008 05:59:55
The NFL, whether they want to admit it or not, would like to make American Football as popular as soccer, and this is the beginning.
If the NFL continues to be a popular sport in Europe, look for expansion to England, Canada and Mexico.
I would suspect that the Vikings stay in North America, but they could make it work in London. The revenue produced by a team with a tradition and history like the Vikes in a large European city would be sick. Plus, they could keep the name "Vikings" since they raped and pillaged their way all across Europe during the dark ages.
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#2450 |
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Re:London in 2008
Jan 28 2008 16:30:03
That will be my guess because the public building that will be referred to as the one that the Vikings used to play in will still be standing, with political referendums to close it because it no longer generates revenue. The free things that used to take place like high school football championships move across the border to Fargo and Grand Forks, indoor baseball for the U om M ceases to exist and no other event is willing to rent the entire space because they cannot fill 60,000+ seats. The 15 to 30 million to just upkeep the building will be too much for the taxpayers to pay, for a public building that no longer is filled. The Vikings will be selling out the 100,000 seat Whembley and Minnesota fans will wonder what to do on Sunday afternoon.
But that lament is besides the point.
If the NFL wishes to become the world's favorite sport, shouldn't it send more marquee teams with history and popularity over there to play? The type games that CBS, FOX, and NBC tradition fight over and broadcast nationally? The Chargers have been good a while, but like the Seahawks have a limited following, and don't the Saints fall into the same boat? Just wondering...
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#2451 |
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