The NFL signed a deal to play a minimum of two games a season for 10 years in London at the new stadium being built for Tottenham Hotspur, which is set to open in 2018.
The deal will start when the stadium – with a proposed 61,000-capacity – opens and although the stadium will include a retractable roof and a grass surface, the NFL games will be played on an artificial field that sits below the grass pitch. This will prevent the possibility of it get chewed up during NFL games, an issue that has affected games at Wembley Stadium in the past.
“This innovative field will add greater flexibility in the scheduling of games, with the NFL having its own playing surface for games held at this venue,” the NFL said.
The agreement suggests that the NFL remains committed to expanding into Europe. Commissioner Roger Goodell and other league executives have been coy about whether a franchise will be located in London.
After folding several European football leagues, the NFL shifted focus and began playing regular-season games at Wembley Stadium beginning in 2007. The success of those games, which featured a rotating cast of teams, has led the league to expand its schedule to include three regular-season games this season.
League officials, though, have looked for a more permanent home for its games in London because of some of the limitations at Wembley Stadium, which lacks some of the luxury suites and other amenities typically found at NFL sites.
The NFL owners are now focused on placing at least one team in Los Angeles, but they may turn their attention to putting a team in London afterward. The Jacksonville Jaguars, who agreed to play one home game in London for four consecutive years, concluding in 2016, have been discussed as a potential candidate to decamp to London.
But there are many logistical hurdles, including finding divisional rivals willing to play a road game in London every season. It is also unclear if English and European fans will support a London-based team as enthusiastically as they have teams like the Miami Dolphins and the Pittsburgh Steelers, who have played there every few years.
The new stadium in north London is part of Tottenham’s effort to join Arsenal and other teams that have expanded their home grounds as a way to generate more revenue. The team’s new home is part of the Northumberland Development Project, which includes more than 20 acres.
In addition to the minimum of two games per year at Tottenham’s new stadium, the NFL said it could play additional games elsewhere in the United Kingdom during the 10-year agreement. The NFL has two seasons remaining on its deal with Wembley Stadium, and the league said it was “optimistic that the relationship will be extended beyond 2016.”
"Anyone who has seen American Football at Wembley Stadium cannot fail to have been thrilled by the spectacle, and the wise heads that run the NFL have clearly not missed the fact that Londoners are going absolutely gangbusters for gridiron," London mayor Boris Johnson said in a statement.
He continued: “Touchdowns in Tottenham can only add to our reputation as a global sporting powerhouse and help us take another step towards our goal of having a permanent NFL franchise here in London.”
(New York Times service)
