NFL in London

National Football League in London

2021 London NFL

Season Predictions

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The 2021 NFL season is about to begin!
Can you feel those excitement butterflies swimming around in your stomach?

To honour the start of the 2021 NFL season, Wade and Ryan once again are back with their picks on how this one plays out.
The guys break it all down in one Seasons Predictions podcast.

After a whoop-ass season delivered by the Tampa Bay Bucs, the Chiefs and the AFC will be looking for vengeance this year.
With so many great teams, who are the teams that actually have a shot at winning it all?

Luckily Wade and Ryan are armed with their predictions for all the teams and their records this year.
The guys also made their pretty early Super Bowl picks, a punt in the dark as to who they think will be the two teams making it to the big show.

AFC

Being a Bills fan, Ryan is prone to favouring the AFC at every moment.  Fortunately he has some pause in this podcast to appreciate that the Bills might struggle to dominate the whole division this year.

Wade on the other hand sees the AFC as Chiefs Kingdom, and think it’s going to be pretty tough for anyone to take the divisional throne from the heir apparent.

In the AFC East Ryan likes his Bills to smack around the Patriots, Dolphins and Jets. He has them capturing the division with a 13-4 record, and moving their way to a Super Bowl appearance.
Wade also has the Bills taking the division, but has the plucky play of the Fins taking them just ahead of the Pats for second place and a potential wild card spot.

It’s Browns for both guys in the AFC North, as they both like Cleveland to punch their tickets to the playoffs ahead of their rivals.
Ryan likes the Ravens to post a 10-7 record, behind the leading Browns at 11-6, and ahed of both the losing Steelers (8-9) and woeful Bengals (5-12).
Wade has the Steelers pipping a 10-7 record, behind the Browns and ahead of the Ravens and Bengals. He’s not big on this division, and has them beating the crap out of each other first.

The AFC South will not rise again, as a tepid division looks to crown its champion.
The Titans are tops for Wade and Ryan, who both have them taking the division ahead of their rivals.
Both guys have the Colts at 8-9, followed by the losing season of both the Jaguars and Texans.
Houston will most definitely have a problem this season, and like a NASA craft, will have to figure this out on their own.

The AFC West is best when looking at which teams have the ability to go all the way.
KC is favoured by both guys to crush it this year, as Wade & Ryan like them to go 14-3.
Both guys are hot on the LA Chargers and Justin Herbert, pegging them at 10-7, and a chance for a playoff spot as well.
Las Vegas has promise now that they can finally fill that shiny new stadium, and the guys expect some surprising things from them.
As far as the Broncos, it’s another lonely season out to pasture.

NFC

What bright spots does the NFC hold?
Will the Packers suit up for the Last Dance, or leave the dance floor early?

The NFC East has been a total joke for the past few years.
Too ugly to turn away from watching, the division has failed to be competitive outside of their own teams, often getting blown out by real teams.
This year should be different, with the Cowboys looking to post a healthy season under Dak.
Wade likes them to win this division, whereas Ryan has sipped some Fitzmagic, seeing the WFT taking top honours.
Ryan thinks that the Giants have a chance over the Eagles, who will finish bottom of the heap.
Wade is more bullish on Philly, and thinks that they will cause divisional problems for everyone this year.

Aaron Rodgers is pretty confident that he and the Packers will cruise to a Superbowl just like Jordan did. Let’s see if his arrogance and attitude make him look like a visionary, or a cheesehead.
Wade and Ryan both think that Green Bay will win the NFC North, but that they won’t be able to make it all the way.
Wade likes his Bears to run to 9-8, atop the Vikings and Lions, who will both struggle.
Ryan thinks the Vikes will take second, followed by the Bears and Lions.

Hitting the road to the champions in the NFC South, the Bucs are heavily favoured to repeat.
Ryan & Wade both like Tommy Boy to repeat his stint as champions, although they differ as to how the other teams will end up.
Ryan thinks Jameis can lead the Saints t0 10-7, with the Falcons able to jump atop the Panthers for third.
Wade thinks Carolina will surprise some folks this year, and has them going 11-6, to take second place in the division.
Ryan thinks that Matty Ice and the Falcons will be back and ready to attack.

Lastly, but definitely not least, is the tough as nails NFC West division.
Matt Stafford has made the Rams the big head of the group, and both guys think that they will go 11-6 to lift the title.
Ryan likes Seattle to chase the heels of the Rams, followed by a struggling 49ers squad, and lastly the Cards.
Wade has San Fran punching a wild card ticket, with the Seahawks ending up as the low face on the totem pole in this one.

Super Bowl

So who is going all the way to the big show?
Depends on who you ask.

Ryan Cull believes that his Buffalo Bills will face the Los Angeles Rams in February, but he won’t say who he thinks wins it. (pssst Bills!)

Wade McElwain throws his tomahawk at the Chiefs bandwagon to return as AFC champs, to face the Super Bowl hosts the LA Rams.

Los Angeles Rams will make the Super Bowl!
Of course that’s just our way too early picks.

Who do you have?

Have a listen to the podcast!

Welcome to Clapham

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Clap hands everyone as we celebrate the return of the NFL to leafy Clapham in south London.
We’re proud to be working with the Sports Bar and Grill down there, as we extend a hearty Welcome to Clapham.

For those of you unfamiliar with London, Clapham is in the south part of the city, located just within Lambeth.
Traditionally, the only way to get there was via the Northern Line (tube), but with new rail lines popping up every year, Clapham has more ways to fit you in.

Sports Bar & Grill

Located conveniently near Clapham Common Tube station, the Sports Bar and Grill is a beautifully updated Sports Bar right in the heart of south London.

Very close to the green pastures of the Common, as well as the lovely high street, the Sports Bar and Grill is the definition of a community pub.

NFL Sunday nights are a new thing for this location, and they are keen to work with fans to ensure that you can get to watch all the games that you’re looking for.
The bar will offer Sky Sports NFL games, as well as Redzone, and a selection of featured games, so that you can have the game you want, delivered right to your table.

Wings, burgers and cold beers await you as this fresh and vibrant location.

NFL fans won’t have to wait for the Premier League to finish, as the NFL will be set up on dedicated TVs and an area just for NFL fans to gather.

Unlike the Old Street location, Clapham will ONLY show the early games on Sunday (6pm), as the bar closes at 11pm GMT.
They will be looking to add special event nights, and late night pop ups throughout the season so that fans can get stuck in for a great night in.

Here’s the website for more information and bookings:

https://www.sportsbarandgrill.co.uk/clapham

Bookings

We encourage all NFL fans planning on attending at the Sports Bar and Grill Clapham to book ahead to avoid disappointment.
Booking ahead guarantees you a table, and can even allow us to screen your game at a table just for you and your friends.
Your own game, at your own table.
This is a whole new NFL in London.

London Games

For any of you staying in south London during the 2021 London games, make sure you consider the Sports Bar and Grill Clapham as your pre and post party location.
Direct trains can get you north to the stadium in under an hour, and after the game you can avoid the traffic by grabbing a fast train south.

Book now for the London games, and we can set you and your group up with an unforgettable night!

If you would like a custom NFL night at the Sports Bar & Grill, get in touch!

We can help you plan the best NFL viewing nights for you and your friends.

See you Sunday!

 

Empire Fantasy Football

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With the NFL only days away, everyone is frantically getting ready for what the season ahead holds.
Will the season go on without any hiccups?
Will the extra week of games add to more injuries?
How will my fantasy season go?

Let’s face it, Fantasy Football is the lifeblood of NFL fans during the season.
Diehard fans bleed their teams, often splattering this information to anyone who will listen.
‘Is Zeke trying to screw me?’

Thankfully, this season there is something new to fill the void in your fantasy football life.

Empire Fantasy Football is a new way to play along with the NFL, in a season long contest like no other.

Billed as the ‘World’s Biggest Season Long Fantasy Football League’, Empire taps into a massive gap in the football betting market.
Too often UK players have lamented about the lack of season long fantasy options, and now we have a solution to smooth that gap.

Here’s the basic intro video to give you an idea of what Empire is:

The Basics

First off, Empire Fantasy Football is a new product, and with that comes a new learning curve.

Empire bills itself as a single format league where you compete against an unlimited amount of players.
This makes the game bigger, and better given that you are taking on the world each week, opening up the global appeal.

Players are given 200 ‘credits’ to start the season, on which they can draft their rosters.
You must have 2 QBs, 3 RBs, 3 WRs, 1TE, and 6 Bench players.
Buying and selling of players occurs throughout the season in The Market, and you can get more credits by wagering on other weekly games.

Winning is a 50/50 chance, with the top half of managers being declared the ‘winners’ each week, and adding to your season record.

Credits for weekly betting can be used in the Market to add or drop players.
Savvy bettors will like the reactive process of being able to use your knowledge of the NFL to win big.

The top player of the season will win $1000 USD, and some pretty big bragging rights.

Gameplay

Obviously we don’t know how the gameplay works yet, as the NFL season hasn’t started.

The layout of Empire Fantasy Football is pretty straight forward, and the positioning map makes it easy to be able to see who you need, and for what role.

A search function would be nice, instead of scrolling through the list trying to find those value picks.
Given that the game is beta, this function should surely be added down the line.

Once your line-up is set, now comes the waiting game, as you follow along to see how your team fared during week 1.
We’re not there yet, so we will be keen to test this out week on week.

It’s always great when a new NFL product arrives on the market for fans.
The simplicity of Empire Fantasy Football makes it an easy addition to any weekly activity for NFL fans.
It’s also great that fans in the UK can compete with other fans from around the world, and a chance to show off our NFL knowledge.

To play along with Empire Fantasy Football League, just sign up here.

https://www.empireff.com/

 

 

Preseason Intro

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The NFL is officially back baby, as we rock down the latest news in our Preseason Intro podcast.

Ryan is back from his vacay and fired up on his Josh Allen love, with high hopes and deep fears about his 2021 Buffalo Bills season.

Hard Knocks is back on HBO, wide receivers are bitching and getting into trouble, and Carson Wentz is injured again. Quelle surprise!

In this episode of the podcast, Wade & Ryan look at some of the latest drama popping up in the NFL, check in with our Hall of Fame game and entrants, lament on Michael Thomas, and give their take on the new taunting rules.
All this for free in an easy to listen to episode.

Hard Knocks

The dulcet tones of Liev Schrieber is back once again, as the voice over artist for the greatest NFL show in August.
It’s pretty much the only NFL show in August, but it’s HBO, so that makes it very entertaining.
The Dullus Cowboys are back on the Knocks once again, as we get to witness the dithering decision makings of Jerry Jones as he treds his way softly through a new world of woke.
All eyes will be on Dak to see if that horrendous injury of last season has any lingering effects, or has tempered that competitive spirit.
Zeke has been fed, and let out an almighty poo of transformation, hopefully that still makes him in a competitive league of ageing running backs.
It’s on NFL Gamepass, or HBO if you’re that lucky in the UK.

Table Mafia

Ryan is stoked on his Bills, and hoping that they all get the Freedom Jab of a winning season.
Josh Allen has just signed a whopping contract to keep him in western New York, and putting him in the ‘Mahomet-zone’ of premier paid slingers.
Will Joshy crush the AFC East, or lose the steam he built from the past few seasons.
All signs point to a solid Bills team, who will be ready for southwest Texas in 2025.

MT

Michael Thomas is back, and he wants to be traded!
Trying to capture the crown of ‘most annoying wide receiver’ of 2021, Thomas is off to a flash start, pissing off the team and any chance he has of fitting in with a new one.
After splashing out a whack of dough on MT, it is unlikely that the Saints will rid themselves of the pest, especially since their offence is pretty much a run and gun deep.
Without Drew Brees to smack him around with his mighty bling, Thomas requires someone to sit his ass down and show him the lack of rings on his fingers.
Winning an award on a Nickelodeon game against the Bears doesn’t look as good to a future team.

From Wentz it Came

Carson Wentz is inured again, and the preseason hasn’t even started.
Having put his ‘foot up someone’s ass’, Wentz is back on crutches, the finest pine he has ever rode.
It is no surprise (to anyone but the Colts) that his brittle return to battle would be fraught be breakage.
He is about as easy to keep healthy as a sunflower in a basement flat, and no matter what you do, you’re just going to get left with some rotten pulp.
Next time you get try to grow a sunflower, name it Carson Wentz and see how long you can keep it healthy.

Taunt This

The NFL has announced new taunting rules, only a few years after heralding the return of the end zone celebration.
It’s ok for a D line to ‘run a train’ on someone’s mama after a pick six, just don’t give a thumbs up to a guy after a bug catch.
It makes sense to nip this problem in the bud before it gets bigger.
The amount of times that players would taunt and flaunt each other after inconsequential yardage began to inflame game play, and lead to more sever incidents.
With a ‘two and out’ policy, the NFL looks to remove the narcissists and nogoodnicks and send a message to shut up and get back to the huddle.
Good call.

Gamepass

NFL Gamepass is back, and subscribers may have already felt the hit to their bank account.
For NFL fans in the UK, Gamepass is a MUST HAVE, and a far superior product it was in days of old.
At around £150, you will definitely get 12 months worth of action…well at least a GREAT 9.
Sky Sports NFL is fine if you want the weekly game and Redzone, Gamepass offers so much more for die hard fans of the game.
Best of all, you can host your own NFL parties with Gamepass. Watch your team when you want to.

Here’s the podcast for everyone to listen to.
Share, care, wear clean underwear.

London Venues

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The 2021 NFL season is so close you can almost smell it, and we’re excited to announce some new London Venues that we are partnering with.

NFL in London is going ‘OG’, as we return to our roots with some wicked NFL parties at the Sports Bar & Grill-Old Street and Clapham.
We are thoroughly looking forward to working with their team again, and offering all the UK fans a great place to watch NFL throughout the season.

COVID has certainly changed the sports viewing landscape in the past few years, and we were pretty nervous as to how late night, live sports viewing would return.

We wanted to make sure that NFL fans in London could have:
-a dedicated venue to showing the NFL games.
-zones where NFL fans could sit outside of football
-open late enough to show the 9pm Sunday games in their entirety
-good sports food
-located to major transit hubs
-a destination for London game after parties.

TVs

There are over 25 TVs in Old Street, and 15 in Clapham-enough to watch all of the NFL games.
The Old Street location also has 8 tables with their OWN TV, so that you and your mates can have the game right at your table.
The bar will also have different viewing zones, so that you can watch the game that you want.

History

Our history with the Sports Bar and Grill goes back to 2008 in the olde Marylebone location, and was the original London venue.
Those who visited us ‘back in the day’ were treated to comedy shows, Madden tournaments, and celebrity appearances.
We are working with some new partners to bring all of that stuff back again!
Just watch this space, and we will let you know the latest news.

Locations

We are proud to be working with the team(s) at the Old Street and Clapham locations, who will be pivoting both branches towards Sunday Funday’s of NFL.
Both bars will be showing loads of NFL games, Redzone, as well as offering burger, wing and beer deals for you hungry fans.
Old Street will be open EVERY SUNDAY for NFL, with a ‘last call’ at midnight, so that you can enjoy the end of the 9pm games (and not get rudely rushed out).
Clapham will not be open late EVERY Sunday, but we will be working with them to create special events, and viewing parties for fan takeovers.
Want to book the joint to watch your team dominate?
Get in touch!

Reservations

If you want to come down one Sunday, or have a particular Sunday in mind, you’re going to need a reservation at one of our London venues.
These help us let the bar know how many people are coming, as well as plan seating, staffing, and in general makes the whole process flow better-so please contact us if you want a table.
Initial bookings should be targeted to us, and we will work with the bar to get you in front of the TVs you are looking for.
You will need to provide the SB&G with a credit card to hold the table, which is standard and fair.

London Games

Yes! We will be going hard for the London games.
Both matches start at 2:30pm GMT (9:30am EST), so we will be offering before and after options for you and your crew.
The Old Street location will be open LATE for both games, so make sure that you get in touch with us so that we can guarantee you a table for all the action.
We will have more information for you over the next few weeks.

We are very excited to be working with the team at the Sports Bar & Grill once again, and look forward to welcoming you to our parties at both Old Street and Clapham.
More exciting news to be announced over the coming weeks, watch our spaces.