NFL Games Head To Tottenham Hotspur

07 Jul 2015 | tshego

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The NFL and Tottenham Hotspur have announced that they have reached agreement for a minimum of two games per year to be played during a ten year partnership at the Premier League team’s new stadium in London.

The new stadium, due to open in the summer of 2018, will feature a retractable grass field with an artificial surface underneath that would be used for NFL games. According to the NFL, this field will add greater flexibility in the scheduling of games.

This field will be multi-use and capable of hosting other sporting, entertainment and community events.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said: “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.

“We share a vision and commitment to creating the best experience for our teams, fans and the local community.”

The stadium is part of the Northumberland development project, spanning more than 20 acres, and is the flagship scheme for the regeneration in north Tottenham.

In addition to the minimum of two games per year at the new Tottenham site, other NFL games may take place at different venues in the UK during the span of the ten year agreement. The NFL has two seasons remaining on an arrangement with Wembley Stadium, where it has so far staged 11 games since 2007, and is reportedly “optimistic” that the relationship will be extended beyond 2016.

Daniel Levy, chairman of Tottenham Hotspur, commented: “We have an opportunity now to deliver one of the most unique sporting and entertainment venues in the world, bringing together the EPL and NFL for the first time.

“The socio- economic benefits this will bring to the area will be immense and demonstrates our commitment to the regeneration of this priority borough in London.

“We have always underlined the importance of public sector support for the long-term regeneration of the area. This support is now clearly in evidence in the masterplans that have been brought forward by the London Borough of Haringey, both through the Northumberland Park project to the east of the stadium and the High Road West scheme. These plans, alongside the commitments made by the Mayor of London and the Greater London Authority to infrastructure and public realm investment, and with the support of Central Government, demonstrate that there is now a collective public and private sector desire to deliver lasting change to the area.

“This was an important factor for the NFL when they agreed to bring their hugely popular sport to Tottenham. I am delighted that we have succeeded in attracting them. We have a compelling and exciting partnership that will play its part as we begin transforming this area of Tottenham.”

Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, also welcomed the agreement: “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.

“We are already working very closely with the NFL, including on plans to get more Londoners involved in the sport, and we believe that building on the success of NFL at Wembley by staging more games in an area of the city that has been earmarked for a massive programme of economic regeneration and investment makes perfect sense.

“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.”

Following the announcement, Wembley Stadium said in a statement:

“Wembley has enjoyed a unique and successful relationship with the NFL since the International Series commenced in 2007. American Football has been embraced by fans in the UK and Europe and has grown year-on-year.

“Amongst the numerous successes has been the growth of the Jacksonville Jaguars whose community engagement and annual appearances have given a sense of the NFL’s long-term commitment to the sport in the UK.

“Wembley Stadium has a proven record of hosting some of the world’s biggest events, from record breaking concerts, UEFA Champions League Finals, to the upcoming Rugby World Cup fixtures and the UEFA 2020 European Championship Semi-Finals and Final and we look forward to the NFL remaining part of this iconic venue’s annual schedule.”