“With growing enthusiasm for the NFL in the United Kingdom, we are committed to hosting NFL games in world-class venues and are excited to partner with Tottenham Hotspur to play games at their future stadium,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. “We share a vision and commitment to creating the best experience for our teams, fans and the local community.”
The state-of-the-art stadium, due to open in the summer of 2018, will feature a retractable grass field with an artificial surface underneath that would be used for NFL games. This innovative field will add greater flexibility in the scheduling of games, with the NFL having its own playing surface for games held at this venue. This field will be multi-use and capable of hosting other sporting, entertainment, and community events.
Both sports will have dedicated facilities ensuring that the new stadium, designed with a focus on atmosphere, will deliver the optimum experience for both teams and fans. It will be one of the most environmentally sustainable in the UK, and also will include a clear focus on accessibility via public transportation.
"We have an opportunity now to deliver one of the most unique sporting and entertainment venues in the world, bringing together the EPL and NFL for the first time,” said Daniel Levy, chairman of Tottenham Hotspur. “The socio-economic benefits this will bring to the area will be immense and demonstrates our commitment to the regeneration of this priority borough in London.”
Tottenham Hotspur will shortly be releasing images and details of the updated designs it has made to both the stadium and the wider scheme.
In addition to the minimum of two games per year at the new Tottenham site, other NFL games may take place at different venues in the UK during the span of the 10-year agreement. The NFL has two seasons remaining on a successful arrangement with Wembley Stadium, where it has so far staged 11 games since 2007, and is optimistic that the relationship will be extended beyond 2016.
The NFL International Series began on October 28, 2007, when the New York Giants defeated the Miami Dolphins 13-10 en route to a victory in Super Bowl XLII.
“Anyone who has seen American Football at Wembley Stadium cannot fail to have been thrilled by the spectacle, and the wise heads that run the NFL have clearly not missed the fact that Londoners are going absolutely gangbusters for Gridiron,” said Boris Johnson, Mayor of London. “We are already working very closely with the NFL, including on plans to get more Londoners involved in the sport, and we believe that building on the success of NFL at Wembley by staging more games in an area of the city that has been earmarked for a massive program of economic regeneration and investment makes perfect sense.”
In 2015, three regular-season NFL games will be played at Wembley Stadium in London. The slate features a first-ever division game in the UK when the Miami Dolphins host the New York Jets on October 4, as well as games played on consecutive Sundays – also a first for the NFL in London – when the Jacksonville Jaguars face the Buffalo Bills on October 25, followed by the Kansas City Chiefs meeting the Detroit Lions on November 1.
The International Series to date has contributed to increased NFL fan interest in the UK, with a current fan base of 13 million, including more than three million avid fans, a 50 percent increase in the past three years.
Participation in amateur football in the UK has risen since the start of the International Series by approximately 15 percent per year since 2007.
By Staff of TheDailySportsHerald.com and news services
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