NFL in London

National Football League in London

2023 NFL in London

Week 1 Picks

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The 2023 NFL season is finally here, as Ryan and Wade blow out a podcast with their Week 1 Picks.

So many great games going on this week, and the boys take the time to go through ALL of the games, offering some of their best advice this early on in the season.

Week 1 can be a crap shoot in the NFL, as teams try to figure out themselves, while trying best an opponent doing the same.

Which team will be set and balanced the best for the start of week 1?

To listen to the whole dang podcast, make sure that you click the link here to listen to it.

So which games are the guys most interested in, and which ones might be worth taking a look at for you betting value?
Let’s take a look at some of the best ones that Wade and Ryan like for Week 1 Picks.

Choice Picks

Texans at Ravens (-10) + 43.5

Lamar loves to light up week one historically, so the odds are that the Ravens might surpass the 10 points offered to them in the spread against the loveless Houston Texans.
CJ Stroud, Dameon Pearce and the tough Houston D might have an answer for the Ravens as they visit the set of ‘The Wire’, but will they be the right answers?
Ryan loves Lamar and Baltimore to stomp the bigness out of the Texans, and put up a solid and crushing domination of the visitors. He also likes Lamar to have a lovely fantasy day as well, with him spreading the ball around.
Wade is a little suspicious of the spread this early on, and 10 points has known to be a tough call having not seen either of these two teams.
While he does like the Baltimore Ravens to win, he thinks that the Texans might keep it close thanks to their reliance on the running game in the second half.
Ryan-Ravens 31 Texans 17
Wade-Ravens 30 Texans 23

Bengals (-2.5) vs Browns + 47

Cincy has just signed QB Joe Burrow to ‘big daddy bucks’, making him the highest paid quarterback on the planet (for now).
Will this influx of money, and the closeness of defeat last season propel the Bengals to the AFC top spot?
The Browns have no expectations this year, as pundits look beyond Deshaun Watson, perhaps the best running back in the game, and a D that features a still cagey Myles Garrett.
So why the hate when they dummied Cincinnati in a game last year?
Ryan likes the Browns to upset the Bengals, and sees Mixon getting nixon’d by that tough Cleveland D.
He likes the Browns in a field goal game.
Wade agrees with Ryan, which is weird to have their both shared upset so early on, but there you go.
Wade likes the Browns at home, and thinks that the Ohio fervour will take Cleveland to victory.
Ryan-Browns 24 Bengals 21
Wade-Browns 28 Bengals 24

Bucs at Vikings (-6) +45

How you like the Vikings this year? No, really.
Kirk Cousins and co. got rid of Dalvin Cook, but they still have that double J that crushes you as the best wide receiver right now.
Can the Vikings D answer back when they get shot down though?
Baker Mayfield is baking in Tampa, with a slew of star receivers who are under appreciated.
The Bucs defence has also been whittled away since the shine of Tommy left the stadium, and there are questions as to the durability of the whole team.
Ryan is taking the Vikings at home, and thinks that this should be a solid win against a shaky team, giving Minnesota that first push in the NFC North.
Wade is calling an upset here, plugging Baker and the boys to throw a monkey wrench into the Minnesota launch.
Sometimes you look ahead too much, and don’t see an opponent with nothing to lose right out of the gates.
That’s what could happen to Minnesota on Sunday.
Ryan-Vikings 24 Bucs 20
Wade-Bucs 21 Vikings 20
That’s it for our Week 1 Picks podcast, make sure that you listen in to the next one, where we lament how poorly we did.
Thanks for listening, and have a great week 1.

Promote Your NFL Nights

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Are you a UK pub, bar or club who is looking to promote your NFL nights?
Then reach out, and we can help you promote your weekly NFL showings to millions of fans across the UK and Europe.

At NFL in London, we know that having a good place to watch the games with your friends is key, as well as some good food, and reasonably priced drinks.
That’s why we’re offering bars and pubs the opportunity to promote your NFL evenings across our social profiles.

Big Reach

With a weekly reach of over 25M across Europe, our NFL in London socials are the perfect place to target NFL fans in the UK, as well to showcase your American football offerings for the fans.

Facebook has 26k+ Likes, and 20k Followers on our main page, with another 2k on our Groups.
X (Twitter) brings in 3.5k followers, with another 1.5k on Instagram.
Add in the 10k per month in website traffic, 30k per month in podcast listeners, and you can hit a huge swath of NFL fans across Great Britain.

Events

To help get the word out, we can also promote your weekly NFL viewing parties through our website, and Facebook pages, so that fans can seamlessly book a table at your location with ease.

By hosting these regular Sunday events, you’re demonstrating fans that you are committed to showing the games all season, and they don’t have to worry about coming for the 6pm matches, and cricket is on.

We’re also looking to work with like-minded bars for the 2023 London NFL games, so make sure you get in touch!

Commitment

We do ask from the bars we work with that there is a commitment to showing these NFL nights, and that you’re not going to advertise it, and then there’s no games.
That pisses off NFL fans, and happens too often.

Some of the questions we will have for venues includes:

  • Are you showing the NFL all season, or is this just a whim to get in fans?
  • How many games are you showing? How many TVs? How late are you open?
  • Are there any special deals for NFL fans across food, drink, seating etc?
  • Do you have DAZN, or are you showing just Sky games?

We want to help you deliver the best fan experience for NFL viewing, so let us help you finesse your NFL nights to make them more authentic.

Packaging

As much as we appreciate the massive pub chains asking for us to ‘help spread the word’, you’re making money off of this, so don’t expect free advertising.

You get what you pay for, and we’re happy to create bespoke packages for any bar or pub to help you pack your place with NFL fans, with prices starting from £5 per week.

Bigger packages can include more marquee level weekly promotions, appearances and ads on our podcasts, as well as dedicated spaces on our website to promote your location.

Subscribing bars will also be added to our weekly calendar, so that fans can directly access your venue and book themselves in.

We also have options to help promote the London NFL games, Thanksgiving, playoffs and the Super Bowl, as well as live podcast recordings with NFL celebrities live from your pub.

NFL in London frequently works with UK betting companies who like to do ‘pub takeovers’, and as such can your location get massive exposure and highly elevated NFL viewing events.

Get in Touch

So what are you waiting for?

If your bar or pub wants to promote your NFL nights, get in touch and we can work out a reasonable package to help get football bums in seats every week.

Are you committed to a great 2023 season?
We are!

Feel free to send us an email, at mapleyankeesports@gmail.com

 

 

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!

NFL Top 100

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It’s the offseason still, which means fans are obsessing over data as their Fantasy Draft looms, and with the NFL Top 100 list being released by the NFL Network this week, fans and players are up in a tizzy.

This annual list compiled by the NFL is always good for motivating players, as professional athletes are fuelled by ego, so telling someone that they are ranked ’89th’ when they feel like they should be ‘#1’ is quite common.

We’re not going to look at the whole list in this post, instead focusing on the Top 10 players provided by the NFL

We’ll look at the top 10 ranked players by the NFL Network for the 2023 season, and decide if we agree or disagree, and slot in the person we think should be there. Sound good?

NFL Top 10

1. Patrick Mahomes-AGREE

Patrick Mahomes is our top player for 2023, after another commanding performance and Super Bowl in 2022. Mahomes is the best playmaker in the league, whether it’s consistently finding Travis Kelce ANYWHERE on the field, to his amazing baseball and side throws. In 2022 the NFL world claimed that Joe Burrow was going to win it all, but then came Mahomes and set the records straight.

2. Josh Allen-DISAGREE

Josh Allen is a great QB, but if 2022 was any indication, there is still a lot to be done in Buffalo. Allen has a tendency to force the ball down the field on long attempts, which made the Bills either playing catch-up, of Josh getting picked. With all the drama going on in Buffalo, and changes to the AFC East, maybe the Bills time has passed.

Our #2-Joe Burrow

3. Joe Burrow-DISAGREE

We had Joe Burrow in second place to Mahomes, after two solid years of playoff contention. Burrow has had to contend with depleted O-lines, injuries to his wide-receivers, and to himself, but still this LSU boy continues to deliver competitive performances. The Bengals have made the changes to support Burrow this season, and the only way is up!

Our #3-Tyreek Hill

4. Nick Bosa-DISAGREE

Nick Bosa is a beast, and has an amazing impact on pushing the 49ers D into the directions that they need to go. But number 4 ranked player in the NFL? One could argue that TJ Watt (when healthy) has more of a dramatic effect on D in changing game tempo.
Bosa is good, but maybe not that good.

Our #4 Travis Kelce

5. Myles Garrett-DISAGREE

Garret is a monster in the trenches, and can single-handedly change a game, combined with the whole Browns D, but number 5 is pretty high for a guy who has had some up and down seasons.
This good be a pivotal year for Myles, especially if Deshaun finally comes into gear.

Our #5-Justin Jefferson

6. Travis Kelce-DISAGREE

When you look at the TE stats, and how much of an impact player Kelce is, it is truly amazing. Probably the best TE to play the game, Kelce continues to deliver across the middle of the field, shaking of tiny defenders with ease.
The tandem of Mahomes-Kelce is the most consistent point-scoring machine in the NFL.
Hard to see if slowing down in 2023.

Our #6-Josh Allen

7. Justin Jefferson-DISAGREE

JJ is the top wide receiver in the NFL right now, and is top of the list in most fantasy drafts for 2023. It’s a shame that he has Kirk Cousins as a QB, but the Vikings still look like top candidates for the NFC North title. Jefferson is a beast, that’s why we had him earlier up at #5.

Our #7-Nick Bosa

8-Micah Parsons-AGREE

Micah Parsons IS the Dallas D, becoming one of the best edge rushers in the NFL. While most people shudder at the thought of watching the Cowboys play, seeing Micah on the field is an absolute delight.
Dallas has a lot to do this season if they want to pip the mighty Eagles, but Parsons will be one of the keys to shut down D.

9-Aaron Donald-DISAGREE

Oh the poor Rams. They spent to buy a Super Bowl, and now they are stuck with some thing, and often injured talent. Donald is 32 years old and missed 5 games to injury in 2022, so it’s surprising that the NFL Network ranked him so highly on this list.

Our #9-Chris Jones

10-Trent Williams-DISAGREE

There is no denying that Trent Williams is the best left tackle in the league, and definitely belongs in the top 15, but top 10 might be a stretch. There are a lot of pieces to the San Francisco D, and Williams is deffo a big part of it.

Our #10-TJ Watt

That’s it for review of the NFL Top 100 put out by the NFL Network. Who do you think should be in the top 10?

 

 

June News

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You hear that May? It was a ‘see ya!’, as we move ever closer to the start of the 2023 NFL season, and we hit you with some June News!

You see once June is gone, then it’s July, and then hoo-wee, it’s preseason, and training camp, and time to start thinking of your fantasy options for the new year.

Here are some of the stories that we have been following:

Brady Owns You

So Tom Brady is finally an NFL owner, and everyone starting thinking the same thing ‘he’s going to play again.’

With a tough set of rules that includes needing a positive vote from every NFL team, not to mention the fact that fat-Brady hasn’t been seen doing anything physical, means that Brady will most definitely not be suiting up for the Raiders.

It would be nice if big-wig owner Mark Davis forced TB12 to have to get a haircut similar to his, and they could match outfits and walk around like twins.

For one of those men, this would be a major league dream. Let you guess who that player might be.

Dee-Hopping

Now that the Cardinals have flushed away the big time payday of star WR Deandre Hopkins, now comes the big question as to who could afford him.

With DH wanting at least $15M guaranteed, that is a big-ass bridge too far for many clubs who are struggling to do the maths on their salary caps.

Given that he asking for that much money, it looks like the Cowboys and Giants are out of the discussion, as there is no way they can find that kind of cash in the couch cushions.

Of course one team that does have that kind of money is the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs. Be a scary thought to put all that action together, but it seems likely.

Bear the Eff Off

It looked like the Bears were going to be shuffling off to Arlington Heights in a few years, as the tattered Soldier Field seems less and less desirable for the Bears org.

Boasting the smallest stadium in the NFL with one of the oldest franchises, many are wondering where the Bears will go to build on the next hundred years.

It seems that Arlington might be off the table, as a recent look at the tax situation means that the Bears might not only NOT get a good deal, it is now WAY more expensive to move north than they originally thought.

Chicago Bears org has now been crying that they will need some sort of tax help to make the move a reality. Really hard to see through those tears in a cost of living crisis.

Ed Bills

The Buffalo Bill finally stretched their tight pants to pull out the wallet, and pay DT Ed Oliver.

Often inconsistent, Oliver was a top 10 pick that has had moments of shine for Buffalo.

The Bills agreed to a four-year, $68 million deal that guarantees Ed at least $45million, and should have him settle in nicely for the Bills.

Going to be a tough D division with a Patriots squad that just seems to keep getting better.

Pools, Pools, Pools

Just an FYI for all you NFL fans in the UK that we are looking to expand on our Weekly Fantasy Pools once again this year.

After expanding on our offerings last season, we are now looking to add a few new leagues for UK fans to play along in.

With a mix of free and pay to play leagues across the NFL app, ESPN and Sleepr, we are hoping to create a big more excitement this season, and develop a bit of a fantasy hub so that you guys can get involved as well.

Please feel free to reach out to us, and we will get you on the list of potential players for this season.

Thanks for reading our June News, and here’s to having a great summer of 2023!