The game might not have been the most exciting, but it did help the NFL move the ball a bit further down the field towards its goal of at least MORE games abroad…and maybe even an international team.
The New England Patriots beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 35-7 Sunday at the third regular season NFL game to be played overseas.
The game was played before a sell out crowd of 84,254 at London’s Wembley Stadium which usually plays home to the soccer (or “football”) crowd. And if you think it was just an ex-pat crowd you’d be wrong.
“The vast majority of the crowd were British fans of the sport,” NFL UK publicist David Tossell told me. And the majority of them came from outside London, some even from continental Europe.
For their trouble, aside from the somewhat one-sided game, the fans got singers Toni Braxton and Katherine Jenkins in a battle of the national anthems, flags and graphics which gave the game the feel of a “home” Tampa Bay game, and the very well- received Tampa Bay Buccaneer cheer leaders.
So could there be more NFL games abroad next year? “It will take a little more groundwork to develop the fan base here,” NFL official Tossell told me. The teams don’t love the travel, and the owners miss the home game revenues.
But all spoke highly of the reception and the facilities. “It was like a Super Bowl,” New England Patriot quarterback Tom Brady is quoted as saying.
When the Giants played here in 2007 they went on to win the big game. It might work again for the Pats!
The New England Patriots beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 35-7 Sunday at the third regular season NFL game to be played overseas.
The game was played before a sell out crowd of 84,254 at London’s Wembley Stadium which usually plays home to the soccer (or “football”) crowd. And if you think it was just an ex-pat crowd you’d be wrong.
“The vast majority of the crowd were British fans of the sport,” NFL UK publicist David Tossell told me. And the majority of them came from outside London, some even from continental Europe.
For their trouble, aside from the somewhat one-sided game, the fans got singers Toni Braxton and Katherine Jenkins in a battle of the national anthems, flags and graphics which gave the game the feel of a “home” Tampa Bay game, and the very well- received Tampa Bay Buccaneer cheer leaders.
So could there be more NFL games abroad next year? “It will take a little more groundwork to develop the fan base here,” NFL official Tossell told me. The teams don’t love the travel, and the owners miss the home game revenues.
But all spoke highly of the reception and the facilities. “It was like a Super Bowl,” New England Patriot quarterback Tom Brady is quoted as saying.
When the Giants played here in 2007 they went on to win the big game. It might work again for the Pats!
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