From BAFA.org.uk
The National Football League (NFL) is coming back across the pond.
By NFL UK Offices
Jan 17, 2024 - 7:34:02 PM
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 Goodel. “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 Kirwood, 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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