NFL in London

National Football League in London

london NFL 2020

London 2020 Games

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Damn you Covid 19 for taking away the London NFL games for 2020. Imagine, we could be basking in the glow of having these four games played on our soil right now. But alas, that damn virus has other plans.

The NFL will be back. We can’t guarantee this, but with the amount that the NFL has invested in the UK, coupled with the huge appetite for NFL tickets, it seems pretty dang likely.
Tottenham literally changed its stadium to accommodate the game, and tied in sponsors and partners to make the game happen here, so all signs point to the NFL returning to London, and potentially other places in the UK.
Liverpool and Manchester have all signalled moves that they would like to adapt their stadiums to host NFL games in the future.
The only real question is when.

Earlier in 2020, when everything was rosy and had the potential for an amazing year, we took a stab at which teams would be coming to London for the 4 games split at Tottenham and Wembley equally.
We used some maths, insider tips and our own gumption to determine which teams MIGHT be coming to the UK for this year.
We have no idea if they were right or wrong, but we did use some logical inference based on previous years.
Here are the games we THOUGHT would happen.

Broncos vs Falcons
Week 3-Sept 27/ 20
Tottenham Stadium

Arthur Blank had confirmed that the Falcons were going to be hosting a home game in London, although he didn’t know who they would be facing. Given that the Jags usually host the last 2 games of the London series, we assumed that Atlanta would be one of the first games up.
London gets very busy in the autumn, and their are traditional events like Diwali that are big draws in the centre of town.
The NFLUK usually dresses Oxford Circus in NFL garb at the beginning of the season to get the UK crowd hyped for the start of the season.
We looked at other events scheduled, keeping in mind the London games signify the start of bye weeks, to give teams a chance to rest when they get home.
Given all of this information, and prospecting on the Falcons schedule, we chose an AFC/ NFC matchup between the Falcons and Denver Broncos.
Were we right? We’ll never know

Patriots vs Dolphins
Week 4-Oct 4/ 20
Tottenham Stadium

Part of what determines who comes to London is home attendance. If your team is struggling to draw home fans, then the league will move you up to chuck across the pond. The Dolphins have seen attendance dwindle in recent years, so they would be at the top of the queue to come over. Add to this the mercurial hurricane weather in Florida up til November, and Miami made sense.
You also have to look at which teams HAVEN’T been here in a while, and the Patriots are a prime candidate. The Brady-less Pats and a scorned Robert Kraft might not have the gumption to say no to the league, so this AFC East matchup would make sense.
We also had an inside tip from Boston that this was on the cards, so we went with our gut.
Again, we will never know if we were right.

Colts vs Jaguars
Week 7-Oct 25
Wembley Stadium

One of the takeaways from previous NFL in London games, is that the NFLUK generally likes to schedule games around the time change. This makes the difference between the east coast only 4 hours, as the US time changes happen on different weekends. They have also made an effort to finish the UK games before America gets hit with November holidays.
Jacksonville Jaguars were due to play 2 games at Wembley, with a division rival being one of the prime targets. Since Indy hadn’t been to the UK in ages, and Phillip Rivers was at the helm, we assumed that this would be a logical bet.
Too bad, because this would have been a heck of a game.

Lions vs Jaguars
Week 8-November 1/20
Wembley Stadium

Detroit Lions were another team we were secretly told was on the chopping block for a trip to Blighty.
Their home attendance was at Covid levels even before the virus was discovered, and they hadn’t been to London in a few years.
These dates also branch over the time change, so week 7 and week 8 were the Jaguars weeks here we assumed with a great deal of certainty.
Ending the UK games by November 1st also allowed the teams to return to the chaotic November schedule, and the start of the REALLY rainy season in the UK.
Did we get this one right? We’ll never know.

Optimism is rampant for the 2021 games, as the MLB has confirmed that their 2020 games will be moved to 2021 in London. Will the NFLUK follow suit?
Hopefully, but it’s too hard to say at this point.
This damn virus is showing no signs of weakness, and adapts more than the Terminator.

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DraftKings Week 4

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Week 4 of the NFL is here, and it’s time to get your DraftKings picks ready so that you can either win big, or just play for free. Make sure you join our DraftKings League. It’s free to join, and we have a mix of contests there for you to enjoy. Add more Funday to your Sunday by playing along with our gang.
http://shorturl.at/xBMQ6

Injuries were the star of the NFL in week 3, with loads of teams getting handbagged and some serious ouchies that have taken some players out of the season. If there was a way to bet on ACL Injuries, you could make some serious cash…all while being a sick mofo.

When you’re looking at who to target for Week 4 it’s always good to look at who the worst teams are, and who they are playing. Chances are that team is going to give up a bucket load of points.
You should also look at pairing a good QB with a WR, as those combinations are going to increase your point value.
Let’s take a look at some of the key players to target in week 4.

QB

Russell Wilson $7800

The best QB in the league is playing one of the worst teams in the league, which smells plenty of points to go around. RW has as many TDs as all the QBs in the NFC East, which gives you an idea of how good he is. $7800 isn’t that bad considering he got 5 TDs last week. Miami will struggle to contain him, and the only downside is they might rest Wilson if they go up by 40 points.

Nick Foles $5700

Big Dick Nick might be facing one of the top D’s in the league, but this is Foles dang it. Yes, the Colts looked great…against the Jets last week, but this is a whole different story. Foles has better pocket awareness that Trubisky, so he will look to hit some medium yardage passes to break up their zone. Good value at $5700.

RB

Joe Mixon $5800

Mixon has had a less than stellar start for the Bengals, no thanks to the porous O line. Luckily he is facing the Jaguars this week who are very weak against the run. Look for Burrow to establish Mixon as the secondary of the Jags might give him some trouble. Mixon should score at least 1 TD.

Myles Gaskin $5000

A Miami player against the Seahawks? Yep. The secondary of the Hawks will be focused on picking off Fitzmagic, which should open some opportunities for Gaskin who already has 152 yards this year. He’s a great value at $5000 as the Dolphins have no choice but to use him.

WR

DK Metcalf $6800

Metcalf has to be kicking himself after letting the ball get smacked out of his hands in the end zone last week.
DK is a huge, fast receiver who will give Miami plenty of problems on Sunday. The Dolphins will most likely smother Tyler Lockett, giving Metcalf plenty of opportunities.

Andy Isabella $4500 

Who? That’s right, Andy had 2 TDs last week to increase his performance heading into week 4. Chances are Hopkins will be getting double coverage, which means this speedster will find himself open at many times.
He’s a good deal at $4500, and perfect if you’re trying to save some space.

TE

Jimmy Graham $3800

Is Jimmy back? It sure seems so, as both Foles and Trubisky were able to find the big man last week against the Falcons. He’s a veteran, so you know that Foles is going to find him on short yardage and redzone situations.

Darren Waller $5200

More on the pricey side, Waller will factor heavily as the Raiders figure out ways to beat the Bills. He’s a big dude with big hands, let’s just hope he can stay healthy.

DEF

LA Rams $3900

The Rams are playing the Giants, which is all you need to really know. Aaron Donald will make a mess out of poor Daniel Jones, and it’s likely that Jones will have another no good, truly bad day.

Hit up our DraftKings League and join for free. You can also win cash in some of our Sunday games.

 

London 2020 Games Update

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Patriots vs Dolphins at Tottenham? 2012 was the last time they came. It’s possible.

We have changed our predictions for the 2020 London games based on some recent info and projections for the season after CBA.
The Dolphins are coming, but who will they host. There’s a 1/8 chance, but the factors that mitigate who comes lead us to believe…it will be the Patriots!

Who will be playing in London in the four international matches of 2020?
We know a few teams thus far, but who will actually make it across the pond to entertain us hungry fans in this new decade?
Short answer-we don’t know yet.
There is much speculation as to who will come, and when you add in rumours, schedule confirmations, attendance and mitigating factors like who HAS to play here, we can come up with some pretty close projections.
There has been a pattern to when, who, and how teams are allocated to our fair city, so we have come up with our predictions of the London 2020 NFL International series.
NFL in London fan guesses.
Corona virus is also going to have a massive impact on the game going into 2020, especially if the NFLPA is realistically protective of their clan.

Please know that this not official (don’t sue us NFL), we are just having some fun, backed by some factish ideas. Feel free to comment of make your own conjectures.

Dates

The NFL is scheduled for four London matches in 2020. Once again, these would be divided equally between Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and Wembley Stadium.
In the past the London dates have been held earlier in the season, between weeks 4-9, so as not to affect the US based schedule, travel, weather, holidays and fall attendance.
UK dates are also done in consideration of English Football and Champions League commitments for various clubs, who might need the stadiums as the season and Leagues move on in the autumn.
Previous London hosting have broken up the 4 weeks, which means a double/ double weekend within  September, October and November.
It’s tough to book out the city of London with so much going on, as well as hosting parties for a month straight.
Previous NFL UK events involved blocking Trafalgar Square, closing Regent street were great, but the security landscape has changed in scope and costs.
They will probably look to book Regent street again in late September, as it is also a good way to sell Gamepass.

Daylight Savings 
The NFL has also taken advantage of the daylights savings time difference between the UK and US, which occurs on Oct 25th & Nov 1st this year.
This means only a 4 hour difference which is more manageable for TV and travel & quite negligible for the players once they are in the UK.
2020 Schedule
NFL games will most likely start on Sunday September 13th, as the 10th is listed as the first Thursday, even though that would mean week 17 hits 2021.
It would mean that we would be looking at weeks 3-9, with London getting weeks 3, 4, 7 & 8.
Our prediction is Sun September 27th, October 4th, 25th, and November 2nd for London to host games at Tottenham & Wembley respectively.

Denver Broncos vs Atlanta Falcons

The Falcons name has been confirmed by Arthur ‘Blankity’ Blank as being a London player in 2020. He acknowledged in an interview that they were playing the Broncos, which is confirmed by various other sources in Denver.
With this AFC/ NFC matchup in the books, there will mostly be divisional matchups after this, as to not get owners knickers in knots.
Given that this one is the first confirmed, it will most likely be the first as they have had to alert their season ticket owners that London is in the works, so book now.
The Broncos haven’t been here since 2010, and the Falcons since 2014, so it makes sense since both of their home attendance records have been slow.
We predict that this will be the first game in week 3 at Tottenham. 

New England Patriots vs Miami Dolphins

Miami is in for a London home game as of Feb 2020.
That settles the debate on the last home team, so it’s only a matter of looking at their home schedule projection & who hasn’t been here recently.
Miami hosts their division rivals as well as the Chargers, Chiefs, Rams, Seahawks & Bengals.
All of these teams have been here recently, save the Chiefs.
There is no way the SuperBowl champs are risking a repeat on an Atlantic journey.
New England Patriots haven’t been here since 2012 the Bills in 2015. The Bills have stadium issues, but the Pats might look to spin the story to the continent.
It’s their turn.
Don’t forget, it’s also about who has a stadium problem, attendance problem, or fan problem. And if Tom Brady leaves, they have a problem.
What if one of the reasons for his hold out is having to go to London?
While the players aren’t keen on it, it’s amazing for the game-but try selling that during the CBA when owners want you to work another week of body damage for the same pay.
Give ’em weed, give ’em London.
The Patriots would make the most sense if the Brady era ends, Bostonians would be shell shocked & less likely to watch their team lose to a second rate QB.
It will be an AFC East rival, but who?

We predict Patriots vs Dolphins week 4 at Tottenham.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Jacksonville has officially confirmed that they will play back to back London ‘home’ games to make ticket money. They were a hot sale a year ago, but somehow fell down the stinkhole once again.
Fans will be looking for some Minshew Mania or any kind of miracle to turn this team around again.
Sadly, the best hype the team had last year was on the Netflix series ‘The Good Place’.
The Jags are going to play at Wembley. They always have, and despite the bidding to buy it being stalled/ killed/ murmured, he has a tie to the place and it is his home stand.
Jacksonville has usually played the last of the London games, and will probably do the same this year.
Hopefully by the end of October they will have chalked up some wins.
We know that they have to play the Steelers and the Bears at home, which leaves 6 home games potentially for London.
Those 6 include: Texans, Colts, Titans, Browns, Dolphins & Lions.
The Texans & Titans were recently here, so that rules them out.
Miami has been announced as an international team in either London or Mexico, but it would seem logical Miami would go to Mexico given the massive Latino fanbase.
Cleveland was also here a few years ago, and it might be a tough sell to the players given the ego and salary stipulations.
That leaves us with the Colts and the Lions, both of whom are also struggling.
The Lions have been rumoured in local press, which smells like a Michigan scoop.
Indy is still reeling from losing Andrew Luck, so they might need a year or two to get the star power buzzing again.
Detroit has November issues with Thanksgiving, so we see them as the last of the games to give them a break before the schedule gets nutty at home.
The Colts will most likely pile in the week before, as they lack the star power to challenge playing a London game, & their young squad might be keen to get their Europe on.
We predict Colts vs Jags week 7, and the Lions vs Jags week 8 at Wembley. 

2019 SuperBowl

The 2019-2020 is officially over, and what a wonderful way to end the season.
SuperBowl 54 will go down as one of the best ever, with a heroic comeback by QB Patrick Mahomes, whose poise and calm outshone his years in an epic battle.

A fantastic job by the Kansas City Chiefs, and their whole organisation for owning the AFC and using the ‘comeback’ to their advantage.
Every time you saw them down, it was like watching Hulk Hogan of the 80s’ simmering as he takes the blows, only to explode with a phenomenal leg-drop of the opposition.

The San Francisco 49ers displayed an awesome presence throughout the whole season. From being a losing team the year before, they gouged their way through offences and used their legs to power through hapless D’s.
They almost had it. It was close. You could smell it. Amazing.

Congrats to both teams, the fans, and of course the NFL for giving us this great game of entertainment every Sunday.

We will be looking to do big things in London in 2020, please get in touch.