Brits to get taste of NFL

[The Third Dukes]

Dolphins, Giants look forward to `breakthrough' game in London

By STEVEN WINE, AP Sports Writer

February 2, 2007

MIAMI (AP) -- Miami Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga said he was willing to give up a home game and help promote the NFL overseas by playing the New York Giants in London this year.

The game will be Oct. 28 at the new, 90,000-seat Wembley Stadium. It will be the league's first game outside North America.

"We're proud to be part of this historic event," Huizenga said Friday. "It's important for the NFL to move forward on a global basis. If we can make the NFL stronger around the world, we will help."

The Dolphins will give up one of their eight home games. New coach Cam Cameron said the team will be happy to make the trip, but All-Pro defensive end Jason Taylor conceded some teammates disliked the idea.

"Some guys have had some issues with it, but nothing big," Taylor said. "It's different from driving 20 minutes to the stadium, but it'll be fine. We have no choice now. We're on board and we're excited about it."

An agreement to play the game at Wembley was completed Thursday night, the league said. Twickenham, home of English rugby, was also considered.

Kickoff will be 6 p.m. London time -- 1 p.m. on the East Coast. Both teams have byes the following week.

Announcing the game at a luncheon that featured fish and chips, the NFL endured a brief setback in its bid to foster international goodwill. Outspoken London Mayor Ken Livingstone was asked about the American sport coming to town in light of critical comments he has made in the past toward the United States.

"I just look forward to the day when the American people elect a government as great as they are," Livingstone said.

He was followed to the microphone by Huizenga, a Republican.

"I look forward to spending some time with you," Huizenga told Livingstone. "Maybe you and I can talk a little politics when we get over there."

The league expects the Wembley game to sell out quickly. Livingstone said 10,000 Americans are expected to travel to the game.

"It will be a great opportunity to showcase London to new visitors," Livingstone said.

The only other regular-season game abroad was played in 2005, when Arizona beat San Francisco in Mexico City. The NFL has played preseason games overseas for decades and hopes to play regular-season games again in Mexico, as well as in Canada, other cities in Europe, and in Japan, China and Australia.

Huizenga said the Dolphins will invite fans to their stadium to watch the game, and will help arrange for them to make the trip.

"We're not trying to do that to make money," Huizenga said. "We're just trying to get them over there at cost. It's a home game for us. We want to treat it as a home game. We want as many of our fans over there as we can."

Giants co-owner Jonathan Tisch described the game as groundbreaking.

"That's what the NFL is all about -- always pushing for new opportunities, breaking the barriers and understanding what our product means now on a global basis," Tisch said.

Giants coach Tom Coughlin didn't attend the luncheon, but quarterback Eli Manning said he looked forward to playing overseas.

"It's important for the NFL to try and expand the game," he said.

[gunnar hendershow]

It was. But a lot of people who would be interested by this news probably don't check the NFL Thread. It's like when Chelsea or someone come over to the States, we don't usually find out because we aren't checking the thread for that particular sport. If you get what I'm saying...

[Liam]

I'll be looking to get tickets, for sure.

[Buford Ripley]

I'll be looking to get tickets, for sure.

[Liam]

I'll be interested to see if they can actually sell-out Wembley....oh, and the ticket prices.

[alldaws1]

I'll be interested to see if they can actually sell-out Wembley....oh, and the ticket prices.

They'll sell it out alright, there's already been more than 100,000 requests for tickets.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

I might think about going. I followed the Dolphins when I first got to know about the NFL back in the very early 90s.

[lanky316]

Well they sed to have the Amerca Bowl here in the 80sand that used to sell well. Bastard about the demand though means it's going to be bloody hard to get tickets and how many will go to corporate people over the NFL followers?

Still... Maybe if it's a hit they'll bring back the Monarchs *crosses fingers*

[NobBe Nobbs]

I might think about going. I followed the Dolphins when I first got to know about the NFL back in the very early 90s.

[Thomas]

Poor Wembley .

[Colly]

I'm intrigued. Ticket prices, and day they go on sale confirmed?

[AJ]

If you check the official website (I got there through Sky Sports) you can register your interest in tickets.

The pricing bands are £30-£45, £45-£55, £55-£65 and £65+ or something similar to that anyway. I'd like to go and see it, but combine the difficulty in getting tickets, the price they'll end up being and the long trip. I might not bother.

[Dan]

Oh joy.

[Assy]

Poor Wembley .

Edited February 6, 2007 by Assassin

[Lowerdeck]

Poor Wembley .

lol britain

Shit, you beat me out to that.

Anyway, I'm surprised the Dolphins was willing to move a game out. I figured a team like Arizona or someone the like with poor home attendance would be more willing. Then again, the Dolphins stand to make a hell of a lot of money doing this even with the loss of a date in Miami.

[MDK]

Sounds like fun to me, I wouldnt mind getting tickets. I know a few lads that will want to go.

[Cactus Drags]

Well they sed to have the Amerca Bowl here in the 80sand that used to sell well. Bastard about the demand though means it's going to be bloody hard to get tickets and how many will go to corporate people over the NFL followers?

Still... Maybe if it's a hit they'll bring back the Monarchs *crosses fingers*

[GhostMachine]

Well they sed to have the Amerca Bowl here in the 80sand that used to sell well. Bastard about the demand though means it's going to be bloody hard to get tickets and how many will go to corporate people over the NFL followers?

Still... Maybe if it's a hit they'll bring back the Monarchs *crosses fingers*

I loved the Monarchs. We need a non-German team in NFL Europe. It's retarded, there's like 5 German teams and 1 Dutch. We'd never have lost the Monarchs if they hadn't lost Wembley, it was the roaming around the country that killed off the attendance.

But yeah, I'll be going, and anyone who thinks this won't sell is fucking stupid. I don't get how people think there's no interest over here. Would Sky really pay millions of pounds for exclusive TV rights if there was no one watching?

[Thrilla]

If SKY pay for exclusive rights, why was the Superbowl on ITV?

[alldaws1]

Well they sed to have the Amerca Bowl here in the 80sand that used to sell well. Bastard about the demand though means it's going to be bloody hard to get tickets and how many will go to corporate people over the NFL followers?

Still... Maybe if it's a hit they'll bring back the Monarchs *crosses fingers*

I loved the Monarchs. We need a non-German team in NFL Europe. It's retarded, there's like 5 German teams and 1 Dutch. We'd never have lost the Monarchs if they hadn't lost Wembley, it was the roaming around the country that killed off the attendance.

But yeah, I'll be going, and anyone who thinks this won't sell is fucking stupid. I don't get how people think there's no interest over here. Would Sky really pay millions of pounds for exclusive TV rights if there was no one watching?

I'm sorry that England lost the Monarchs team. I was a Claymores fan, myself.

We converted to Claymores fans... until they also folded

If SKY pay for exclusive rights, why was the Superbowl on ITV?

It was on Sky Sports as well. ITV get that one game a year, Sky shows at least 4 games each week. They have the draft as well as other programming that will be shown in the future.