NFL finds new home in London, partners with Tottenham Hotspur
Ian McCue - Jul 8, 9:38 AM 0
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(Photo: Kirby Lee, USA TODAY Sports)
The NFL took its next step toward overseas expansion on Wednesday when it announced a 10-year partnership with Tottenham Hotspur to play at least two games per year in the English Premier League's new stadium.

Tottenham is building a new stadium in London, set to open in summer 2018, that will include features specifically designed for NFL games. An artificial turf field will sit underneath the grass field the soccer team uses. With the press of a button, the field can switch from soccer venue to football venue. This makes it much easier for the league to schedule games in the United Kingdom because the venue does not need to be overhauled before it can host a game.

"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," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. "We share a vision and commitment to creating the best experience for our teams, fans and the local community."

This is another sign that America's most powerful sporting league could launch a London-based club in the near future. Wembley Stadium, the city's iconic sporting venue, hosted its first NFL games in 2007. There has been at least one game there every year since, with three games there last year and another three planned for 2015. Two games per year is the minimum under the new deal with Hotspur, so the league could aim for more games than that if it believes the interest is there.

The league says amateur football has grown by 15 percent over the eight years since the International Series started. It clearly wants to keep that trend alive in England.

Cringe. Keep that shit out of Aus.

A London team in the NFL would be a laugh, just don't bring it here!

Why do they need to change the turf? Aren't a lot of NFL stadia using natural grass again these days?

Cringe. Keep that shit out of Aus.

Don't agree with you much, but can on that 100%.

Whatever you call it, it's no secret that the league considers the international market untapped. It's why there are three regular-season games in London this season (they're all sold out, by the way). It's why the league is reportedly considering Brazil for the 2017 Pro Bowl. And it's why, according to NFL.com's Albert Breer, the league is interested bringing the game to Mexico, Germany, Canada and China.

"The work we're doing now is to ask, 'How do we accelerate the agenda in Mexico, Canada and China?'" Mark Waller, NFL EVP, International, told Breer. "Those would be our next stage, and we have offices in those three countries. And then, after those, where should be our focus? I think we've concluded that Brazil and Germany are the next two frontier markets, which is where the Pro Bowl idea comes from."

The league wants to extend the International Series beyond London, Breer writes. The target date is 2017 and Mexico and Germany are the target countries. The stadiums in Mexico City still need work, and the biggest issue in Germany is finding an over-the-air carrier for the regular-season games.

More from Breer: The league "is starting to look at options to bring some form of preseason football to Mexico in the short term -- it could be a team having a part of training camp there, it could be a set of scrimmages."

And while we were joking about [size=7]world domination[/size], it may not be far off. Waller says the NFL is "absolutely" on track to have a team based in London by 2022.

That's pretty awesome. Wish they played regular games in Aus.

The NBA plays a regular season game in London at the millennium dome now too, maybe they'd be a better shout for expansion?

Definitely in my opinion. I'm not into either American football or basketball, but there is a lot of, uh, well I'm not sure about the word, but it's going to take a long time before people stop looking down on American football over here I think. I can't speak for Aussie rules regions, but in NSW and QLD I don't think it can take any decent kind of foothold.

Basketball on the other hand I think the NBA teams would go down well here. Personally couldn't give a shit but if they brought LeBron James or someone like that over it'd be massive. I couldn't name a single NFL player other than that Douche McDouche that does his prayers on the sideline.

"the field can switch from soccer venue to football venue."

That is just all kinds of fucked up.

The league says amateur football has grown by 15 percent over the eight years since the International Series started. It clearly wants to keep that trend alive in England.

I actually agree. More because if it is fine for Real Madrid to play Roma in Australia why couldn't the NFL do the same and during their actual season. Because its American is a bad excuse. Likewise "it's ok because it's football". I'm sure many people in Australia dream of watching an NFL game live but can't afford or would never put the money towards it.