First played in the 2007 season, the National Football League flies two of its teams to London each year to play a regular-season game.http://www.nfl.com/international The 2010 NFL London game featured the San Francisco 49ers defeating Denver Broncos 24-16 at Wembley Stadium in London on October 31, 2010. The game aired live on CBS.http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/2010103100/2010/REG8/broncos@49ers#tab:analyze
The first NFL London game was played in 2007 featuring the Miami Dolphins falling to the New York Giants 13-10.http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/2007102803/2007/REG8/giants@dolphins The league returned to Webmley Stadium in 2008 as the New Orleans Saints defeated the San Diego Chargers 37-32.http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/2008102606/2008/REG8/chargers@saints More recently, the New England Patriots defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 35-7 in the 2009 London game.http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/2009102506/2009/REG7/patriots@buccaneers
London Calling
After the 2009 game, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell visited the possibility of adding a second game in London due to great fan response to the existing game.http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/11739186 Since 2007, each National Football League game played in London at Wembley Stadium has sold out.http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=5741331
Those feeling were revisited prior to the 2010 game in late October when Goodell again mentioned future possibilities to add other games abroad in coming seasons. He also touched on the possibility of adding a full-time NFL expansion team to a yet-to-be-determined location in Europe. Goodell added that while one of the two teams does give up a home game to play abroad, should the league adopt an 18-game schedule in the future, even teams playing abroad will still see eight home games each season.http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=5741331
Quotes
"This is another positive step in the effort to globalize our great sport. It's an opportunity for the NFL to show off two of its marquee teams and some of its best players as well as a chance for the Chargers to expand our international fan base. In particular, it's going to be good exposure for the team, our players and our city and another opportunity for our team to grow together. We're looking forward to it."—Chargers President Dean Spanoshttp://www.nfl.com/international/story?id=09000d5d8066c7d6&template=with-video&confirm=true
"Playing in front of the London fans is going to be huge. You think of the soccer matches and how huge the soccer matches are, 80, 90 thousand fans screaming. We're hoping to get that same impact, that's what I'm looking forward to the most."—Chargers linebacker Shaun Phillipshttp://blogs.nfl.com/2008/10/20/chargers-arrive-in-london-react-to-new-surroundings/
NFL Invades London in 2007
Prior to the 2007 game, a giant animatronic status of Miami Dolphins player Jason Taylor was unleashed on the streets of London as a promotional feature for the game. As shown in a news report, a number of celebrities and public figures came out to see the robot, including actor Christian Slater and London Mayor Ken Livingston.
References
Fast Facts
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Fact:
Two NFL teams play one regular season game in London each year
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Fact:
Started in 2007
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Fact:
Scheduled to continue until 2011
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Location
Wembley Stadium, London, England
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2007 game
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2008 game
San Diego Chargers vs. New Orleans Saints
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2009 game
New England Patriots vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
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Television coverage
CBS and BBC
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Fact:
NFL first played outside the U.S. when two of its teams played in Mexico in 2005
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Fact:
Buffalo Bills play an annual game in Toronto, Canada
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Fact:
2007 game featured a streaker
