Touchdown for London 2007
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.
The Miami Dolphins will host the New York Giants at London's Wembley Stadium in the first NFL regular-season game to be played outside of North America, National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell announced today.
Speaking in Miami two days before Super Bowl XLI, Commissioner Goodell said the game will be played on Sunday, October 28 in Week 8 of the 2007 season and will kick off at 6:00 PM local time.
"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 something that is in our 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.
The Dolphins and Giants are two of the most recognizable teams in the NFL, with four Super Bowl wins between them. In 1972, Miami became the only team in history to post an undefeated season on its way to winning Super Bowl VII with an overall 17-0 record. The Dolphins successfully defended their title the next year. The Giants have been NFL champions on six occasions, including victories in Super Bowls XXI and XV following the 1986 and 1990 seasons.
"The Dolphins are proud to be a part of such a historic occasion," said Miami owner H. Wayne Huizenga. "We were one of the first NFL teams to play in the United Kingdom with our American Bowl appearance in London in 1988. Dolphins games always have been among the most popular NFL telecasts in England. We have a great following there, including fan clubs throughout the country. We look forward to playing in front of our overseas fans, as well as our U.S. supporters who will make the trip overseas."
"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 Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, said the city is excited to be hosting the game. "We are very pleased about having teams of the caliber of the Dolphins and Giants coming to London," said Livingstone. "We are looking forward to giving them a memorable experience. We are expecting nearly 10,000 American fans to travel to London to watch the game as well as people from Europe. There will be many millions of TV viewers in the United States alone, so it will be a great opportunity to showcase London to new visitors and for people to see the way we uniquely enjoy our sport.
"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. "It is an honour to have been chosen as the host venue for the first regular-season NFL game outside of North America," said Wembley Stadium Managing Director Alex Horne. "Wembley Stadium is known around the world for having staged some of the biggest and most important events in sport and entertainment history and it is great to see American football return here. We hope that this fantastic event will help to bring the drama of the sport to a much wider audience and showcase London and the magic of Wembley Stadium to the US and the rest of the world."
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