NOVEMBER | BIGGER PICTURE
Raiders of the
costly park
What: NFL in London
Where: Wembley Stadium
When: 14-28 October
Picture/words: Stuart Wood
T
he NFL’s three-week tenure in London began on
Sunday 14 October, with Seattle Seahawks taking
on the Oakland Raiders.
Access was in attendance alongside the Las Vegas
Convention & Visitors Authority, to watch the Raiders get
trounced 27-3. We were part of an 84,900-strong crowd,
which came close to filling the 90,000-capacity Wembley
stadium to the rafters.
LVCVA were in town to promote the Raiders, who are
moving to a new Vegas stadium home, which is opening
in 2019/20.
The London game is part of the NFL’s International
Series, which first came to London in 2007 with one
game a year. It has since grown to three a year, with the
Tennessee Titans taking on LA Chargers and Philadelphia
Eagles playing Jacksonville Jaguars in the next two
weeks.
The huge attendance numbers are a testament to the
popularity of bringing international sports events to the
UK’s stadiums, and there may be more to come.
Shahid Khan, billionaire owner of Fulham Football
Club and NFL side Jacksonville Jaguars, was previously in
talks with the FA about purchasing Wembley stadium for
£600m, but withdrew his offer on 17 October following a
‘lack of support from the FA council’.
This is good news for Tottenham Hotspur, who
already have a deal in place for at least two NFL games
to be hosted every year in their new stadium upon its
completion, which is scheduled to open in 2019.
If there is a possibility for a permanent NFL franchise
to move to London, Tottenham’s new stadium would be a
prime candidate for its residence.
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