NFL in London

National Football League in London

2023 Germany NFL games

Best Places in London to Watch NFL

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Another season is about to kick off and reward us all with football greatness, but where are the Best Places in London to Watch NFL?
Well, we’ve got you covered with our list for 2023.

As a group who have been promoting and hosting live NFL viewing parties over the past 18 years across the capital, we have quite a bit of knowledge of the sport viewing landscape.

Any punter will tell you that after Covid, the whole bar and entertainment industry took a punch on the chin.
Independent pubs shuttered, quality staff found other work, and the price of pints continued to rise.

As promoters, we look to offer people the best value and service when it comes to hosting NFL nights.
Sure, we might hold things to a North American standard, but why shouldn’t we, when he have always attempted to deliver that threshold across all of our events.

So these are just our independent thoughts on almost 20 years of watching and promoting the NFL across the UK.

1. Home

Home?!?! What a lame answer to start this list off!

Well, not really if you’ve seen the price of a London pint recently, as they near ever closer to the £8 range.
When we first started promoting the NFL in London, pints were still in the £3 range, and pitchers were £10.
Those were the days!

It’s not just the crazy price of booze at London pubs and bars, but there is also the Rugby World Cup and Premier League to throw wrenches into the works of NFL viewing.
With many times and dates over-lapping with the NFL, UK-centric bars are more likely to NOT put on the NFL, with so many Sundays in contention.

The 2023 Rugby World Cup will take place MOST Sundays until Week 7 of the NFL, with games airing between 4-10pm GMT.
If you’ve never experienced a RWC during the NFL season, then you’ll quickly find out that rugby trumps American football in the UK.
They might SAY they are showing NFL, and then bartender changes the channel.
Too bad.

With DAZN taking over from Gamepass, there also hasn’t been a commercial license on offer, which means it could be illegal for many bars and pubs to show the NFL, taking us back to 2013.

Independent pun chains have also been swallowed up over the past few years, gobbling up former sports bars, and then cutting costs, taste, and fun when they rebrand it into a corporate image.
Sadly these chains are very inflexible, and demand that promoters must increase attendance week on week.
Not worth it when half the customers have to pop over to McDonald’s because the food is so dire.

When’s the last time you threw a truly awesome, NFL party?

The best NFL nights are when you have hook a few devices up to Gamepass, and invite over some friends, foes, or just fellow fans you met on social media for a few bevies and a game.

You’ll not only save lots of money, but maybe make some new friends in the process!

2. Famous Three Kings

This Fulham sports bar has a legendary status in the city, as it always seems to be the ‘go to’ place for sports viewership.

Located in West London in the posh bit of town, the Famous Three Kings has been a perennial favourite for sports fans looking to stare at loads of TVs across a cavernous pub.

Although part of a large chain, the food isn’t as abysmal as those burgers with the pre-grilled marks on them that you find in some chains.

Like many London sports bars, it closes at 10pm on Sundays.

Find out more here.

https://www.crafted-social.co.uk/famous-three-kings-west-kensington

3. King Sports Bar-Empire Casino

Leicester Square has also changed in recent years, going from a glitzy West End destination, to a urine soaked playground for the drug addled and destitute.
Great place for a night out.

The King Sports Bar at the Empire Casino benefits from not only having loads of TVs on the go with NFL action, but also being open 24 hours for your viewing, and gambling pleasure.

NFL fans will be happy to have a place to watch the games, and be centrally located enough to be able to snag a night bus home.

The food is rather mediocre, which is why it’s good to have a lot of late-night food options to explore.

https://www.thecasinolsq.com/kings-sports-bar

4. Bodeans-Soho

Bodeans is the original Canadian BBQ joint, that has a long, and storied history in Soho.

Famous for their burnt ends, Bodeans also has two floors of TV action, with NFL and Saturday College Football on tap.
Speaking of on tap, they also have a ridiculously good selection of beer and top North American food.

Of all of the London pubs, Bodean’s has the best NFL food bar none.
However, they do close at 10pm, so you won’t be able to watch the late games.

https://bodeansbbq.com/soho/

5. Sports Bar-Marylebone

One of our OG locations back in 2008, the Sports Bar Marylebone found fame due it being across from the Landmark Hotel, where many of the teams, players and cheerleaders have stayed.
The fact that Jerry Rice could walk in, sit down beside you and order wings made it a crazy place to go.

Time has seen the Sports Bar & G bought by new owners, who dropped down the food quality, but marked up the prices, so authenticity is lacking in the food, and their pints have rocketed to top end London prices.

The bar does benefit from being on the train to Wembley, making it a good place to start and finish after the game.

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

There are loads of other places that say that they will show NFL, but will also refuse to put it on when people show up, or just turn it off at the whim of a manager.
We can’t recommend any of these places, as we have worked with many before, and they are horrible.

Promote Your Venue

If you’re a venue looking to promote your NFL nights, let us know!

 

NFC North Peek

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The 2023 NFL season is just around the corner, as the boys take an NFC North Peek.

Yes, Wade is biased as a Bears fan, but as you can see, he doesn’t have them romping all over this division.

How do the guys all see it playing out?

All you have to do is have a listen right here:

Among some of the other things the guys talk about in this podcast, are all the latest stuff as well.

NFL News

Chief Problems

The reigning champs are looking to repeat, but all isn’t well in the wigwam of Chiefs Kingdom.
Hold-out Chris Jones is willing to last out until Week 8, but that hasn’t stopped Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce from begging Jones to return to the fold.
Will the Chiefs have enough wide receivers ready to top the speed heavy AFC?
Ryan and Wade discuss this in detail in the podcast.

Evan Off

Tampa Bay Bucs wide receiver Mike Evans is looking to get the word on whether the Bucs are going to bring him back after the final year of a 5 year, $81 millions contract.
Mike Evans is a constant 1000 yard gainer, so if Tampa doesn’t pick him up, it will be interesting who he could be paired with in a team looking to bust a nut into the playoffs.

Season Betting Tips

With the 2023 season about to begin, we all look at some of the cool betting options available as a savvy bettor.
It’s always worth throwing a few quid as to the ‘what ifs’ of the season, so we have a few in the podcast to consider.

Fewest Points Scored

Let’s bottom feed first, as we take a look at who could be the worst of the bunch when it comes to scoring the LEAST amount of points in the 2023 NFL season.
The obvious pick is to go with the Cardinals, but they could also just make it the James Connor game, and find ways to outlast their ‘doomed to be last’ moniker.
How about them Colts though? Starting a rookie QB can have its long term downsides, and Jim Irsay has already taken a toxic tone when it comes to how he sees his players. ‘Unless you’re a whale trapped, then I can’t help you. ‘
At +1100, Indy offers a good option as to being the floating turd left in the bowl.

Rushing Leader

Could Josh Jacobs repeat the title for rushing, or is it time to get your Chubb on?
Let’s take a look at some of the rushing options for 2023.
Derrick Henry pops up right away as a guy who might be emboldened with the arrival of D Hop, to make it their year in the AFC South bucket. With massive disrespect shown their way in the form of the Jaguars, Henry, Tanny, and D Hop could make for massive gains.
Bijan Robinson is a tasty option at +1200 to gain the most rushing yards, but can you really trust a rookie this year? With RBs seeing their stock falling, there is no way some of the old guard are going out to a young punk, but who knows? Gotta stay healthy!
Tony Pollard looks a ripe option at +1800 to take the rushing title, after shedding that Zeke weight that was hanging around his gains.
Pollard has the real chance to lead a Dallas squad that is loaded with talent, and with eyes on the Eagles in a dogfight of a division.
Those are just some of the bets we look at in the podcast, make sure that you listen to NFC North Peek, and make your own decisions.
Good luck in your fantasy drafts, and bring on the 2023 season!

AFC West Peek

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The preseason is finally done, as the boys take a look at the AFC West Peek in a hot new podcast.

The Chiefs look to rule the roost for yet another year, with their eyes on repeating as Super Bowl champs, but does anyone in this division look to stop them?
Wade and Ryan discuss it all in the latest podcast, if you want to have a listen, just click right here!

Among some of the other stuff that the guys discuss in this episode.

Trey Lanced

Talk about a butt-fumble, as the San Francisco 49ers traded away their ‘precious’ Trey Lance, in a deal that makes them look like total schmucks.
After tossing out first round drafts like candy to acquire Lance, they leveraged part of their future, and gave Miami plenty of weapons in whimpering trade with the Cowboys to put Lance out to pasture.
San Fran has been in the playoffs since acquiring Trey, yet he had zero impact on the team, nor on their wins.
The fact that they moved heaven and earth to acquire the 3rd ranked Lance, to then just dump him off to Jerry must sting the young man quite a bit.
All he has to do know is wait for Dak to go down.

Jacobing

Josh Jacobs finally gets paid, as the Las Vegas Raiders finally shifted some cash in the cushions to pay the man to a 1 year deal for close to $12 million.
As running backs around the league look for leverage in a age of RB-Hate, Josh is able to return to the Vegas fold, and put up some of the only yards that Jimmy G’s arm can’t reach.
Too bad the Raiders O-line is going to make it difficult for Jimmy and Josh.

Rodgers That

Aaron Rodgers did the impossible, and played in a preseason game this week for the first time in years.
Head coach Saleh wanted to get Aaron used to playing in his new home, and he quickly declared that the Jets are ‘ready to go.’
Too bad commercial directors didn’t get Rodgers to ‘warm up’ for some of the horrible commercials he’s been in, which is why he was probably cut from being the State Farm spokesman.
Want that Rodgers rate? Your screwed now cheesehead.

Jimmy G

Jimmy Graham was arrested a few weeks ago for appearing to be intoxicated in public, which later was determined to be a medical episode for the Saints TE.
Many fans were surprised to hear that Jimmy STILL plays for the Saints, after they brought the 36 year-old back to New Orleans for one last time.
Thankfully Jimmy has recovered, and the Saints must be happy with an ESPN prediction that gives them a 60%+ chance of making the playoffs this year.
Likely?

AFC West Peek

Wade and Ryan are also back with another prediction of an AFC Division, this time they turn their gaze to the West.
Mahomes and Reid have been a powerful tandem in the West, and with another Super Bowl ring on their fat fingers, it seems likely that they will once again look to dominate the division.
But what about the other teams that are looking to slug their way to the playoffs?
The Raiders are going to struggle this season, with the often-injured Jimmy G sure to only make 50% of the games this season.
Add to that problems on both sides of the line, and Vegas could find themselves ‘tanking for Caleb’ as the season wears on.
Russell Wilson will need some new recipes this season if he wants to feed hungry Broncos fans.
Sean Payton is going to have to turn this ship around, but can Russ even cook anymore, or has the hunger strike hit home?
The Chargers of LA are hoping that their recent signing of QB stud Justin Herbert will finally put them on track to start making repeat playoff appearances.
There’s a lot of age on that team, and it will be curious if Herbert can rally them for one last ride.

Promote NFL at Your Bar

Looking to promote the NFL at your bar or pub?
Get in touch and we can help you get regular bums in seats every week!

Fantasy Drafting

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With the season only weeks away, have you been practising your Fantasy Drafting to help you craft the best team for your league?
You haven’t?
Well we can give you some tips to practise your draft so that you can get ready for the real thing.

Drafting

If you haven’t been doing it already, your NFL app has ongoing NFL Mock Drafts happening every few minutes.
Just jump into the lobby of the kind of draft you want to be in, choose your spot in the draft, then get drafting!

Fantasy Drafting on the NFL app is a great way to get in some practice so that you can prepare for the real deal when it goes down.

If you’re in a group where you already know your draft order, these drafts are helpful in letting you know who could potentially be on your team.
After all if you’re in 7th place in a mock draft, going 7th in your real draft could get you almost the same team.

Mock Drafting

We’ve gone ahead and done one of these drafts to show you folks what it could be like, and to potentially give you some strategy for your draft.

I this one, we jumped into a 10 person, regular draft. The whole thing lasted less than 20 minutes.

Round 1-Travis Kelce

With all the notable big names gone, the biggest name on the board was Chiefs TE Travis Kelce. As everyone knows he is a scoring beast that continues to cross the field for big points.
This daddy always brings it home.

Round 2-Derek Henry

Although Bijan was ahead of Henry, it’s hard to trust a rookie in a tumultuous running-back drama NFL.
Sir Henry has a legacy of going on weekly points tears, and with a depleted Titans O-line, could find Derek leading the league again this season.

Round 3-Jahmyr Gibbs

Lions running back Gibbs will be splitting the workload with former Bear ‘Old Man’ Montgomery.
With Monty taking on injuries the past few years, it seems likely that he will probably have to take another few weeks off in 2023, solidifying Gibbs as the number one RB.

Round 4-Travis Etienne

Normally we would be looking to bolster our wide receiver options at this point, but with Etienne being open at this spot, might as well add him to the roster!
Etienne will be the running force of the Jags offence this year, and should easily make the top 5 running backs of the year.

Round 5-DJ Moore

There were quarterbacks like Herbert; Tua and Murray available in round 5, but who needs a QB that early in a 10 person draft?
You’re going to get two QBs, why blow your load so quickly on someone so early on?
DJ Moore looks to thrive with Justin Fields this year, and will be the number one WR on the Bears.

Round 6-Jerry Jeudy

You’re always tempting fate with Russ’ cooking, as you’re more likely to get struck down by salmonella than a touchdown.
Jeudy has been safe hands over the past few years, and hopefully Russ can sling this young man some passes to lead the Broncos receiving corps.

Round 7-Dalvin Cook

Surprising that Dalvin Cook would still be open in the 7th round, but that’s a 10 person draft for you.
Cook is now a NY Jet, and if the team can put together an offensive line, they might have a playoff chance.
Cook is a steal in the 7th round.

Round 8-Christian Kirk

Things are getting crowded in the Jaguars receivers room, as Calvin Ridley is back to bet on his NFL future. Speedster Christian Kirk is a favourite target of Lawrence, and if Ridley starts to get a lot of looks, Kirk could find his way to single coverage touchdowns.

Round 9-Brandin Cooks

Everything is bigger in Texas, if Brandon Cooks gets his hands on it.
Cooks was a wasted talent in Houston, getting loads of fantasy points, but few wins.
Moving upstate to Dallas will see Cooks get plenty of looks from Dak, and could be the career boost he’s been looking for.

Round 10-Deshaun Watson

Rubbing the first QB out in the 10th round, we took Deshaun Watson-the top QB available at this point.
Watson didn’t look great last year, but has been a points machine in years past, so is he done?
Not bloody likely, as this could be the year the Browns sling some wins together.

Round 11-George Pickens

Pickens sure was fun to watch last year, even if his fantasy points left much to be desired.
George could benefit from a Steelers team that has a bit more direction this year, and way less Trubisky.

Round 12-Aaron Rodgers

With everyone going goo goo for Mahomes, Allen and Fields early on, don’t forget the value in a late round QB.
Snagging Rodgers at 12th is a pretty good deal for a future Hall of Famer.

Round 13-Chiefs D

With many of the good D’s gone, don’t forget, this is a 10 person league.
Even if everyone else grabs the top 9 defences in the league, you get the choice of the next 23.
It’s week by week, so don’t get bogged down with an early D. (that’s what she said)

Round 14-Greg Zuerlein

Greg the leg was available? He’s on the Jets now?
So many questions, but the reliability of old Zuerlein is a stabilising force on any fantasy team.

Round 15-Rashod Bateman

Normally we would leave the kicker to the last, but we thought the draft was done.
Ravens receiver Rashod Bateman was there, so we added him to the squad where he can sit on the bench, until that one week he scores loads of points, and you didn’t play him.

That’s it for this Mock Draft, what did you think?

If you’re interested in playing along in a Fantasy Draft this year, let us know.
We have our C League ready to be filled!

 

AFC North Peek

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The season is nearly upon us, as Ryan and Wade throw up a little podcast with an AFC North Peek.
Who will top this tough division?

Wade & Ryan also look at all the top NFL news going on in the league, and in your fantasy circles.

If you want to hear the full podcast, just have a listen here:

Some of the things that the guys hit on in this episode includes:

Preseason Koolaid

The NFL preseason games are finally here, and people are losing their minds!
Folks in the UK are struggling with their Gamepass/ DAZN woes, those in the US are watching stadium blackout, and every other fan is screaming ‘what about my fantasy team?!!?’
Worst of all are those ardent fans who watch one preseason games of 3 stringers, and suddenly proclaim that they’re team is now going to ‘win it all.’
‘Bro, it was Jordan Love against some bums. Most of them will be gone in 3 weeks.’
Doesn’t matter to this who believe, which is why this the best time of the year to snag them into a big season bet.
You think the Cowboys are going to win it all? How much?
After all, the best part about the preseason is being able to circle back months later to remind a friend about their August proclamation.
That’s a good Tik Tok.

Running Drama

Suddenly it sucks to be a running back in the NFL.

Gone are the highlight thrills of being an AP, or the shirt-term forgets about how dominating Dalvin Cook and Derick Henry could be.
The RBs of 2023 are all looking at league minimum contracts on teams that have spent all of their cash, and are just hoping that they can get a committee of bodies to throw on the pile.
Sound more like the Wagner unit?

Hamlin Hits It

Bills defensive player Damar Hamlin was finally back on the field and tossing hits, since his near fatal cardiac arrest in January.
Hamlin was admittedly nervous when he took to the field, with a bodily reminder that a tough hit can even stop your heart.
Fans will be anxiously watching all season as players on the cusp of re-injury put themselves back on the line again.
Let’s hope we never have to see what happened to Damar on the field again.

Pederson Problems

The Jacksonville Jaguars were all smiles when head coach Doug Pederson was able to use nepotism to bring his boy Josh onto the team earlier this year.
Although Josh had spent most of his career playing tight end, he was slotted to the enviable role of long snapper for the Jags preseason game last week.
All did not go well for young Pederson who overshot his mark, and send the ball flying away.
Is this an allegory for Pederson’s NFL career?
Perhaps. Odds are that Josh will be cut by the end of preseason.

AFC North Peek

Ryan and Wade also make their predictions for the standings in the highly touted AFC North.
The Bengals will be looking to go that step further this year, but don’t count out the feisty Ravens with Lamar, and the confident Browns with Deshaun back at the helm.
Ryan has the division going as such:
1. Ravens 2. Steelers 3. Bengals 4. Browns
He’s big on Lamar and Baltimore winning the whole thing, with the Steelers also making a run for a playoff spot.
Wade sees the AFC North looking like:
1. Bengals 2. Ravens 3. Browns 4. Steelers
Joe Burrow can’t be counted out in a year where they really need to get to the show, but the Steelers are not going to be as good as everyone predicts.
Which order do you have them in? Let us know!