NFL in London

National Football League in London

Wade McElwain

Hey Fantasy!

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With the NFL officially less than a week away, fans will be assembling their fantasy teams for the 2021 football season.

To celebrate this annual last rite of summer, we offer you our ‘Hey Fantasy’ podcast, a look at some of the biggest fantasy news, picks and avoids for this year.

Wade McElwain and Ryan Cull flip through all the fancy NFL magazines from across the pond to compile their basic knowledge to offer you top tips for your draft, what to look at at each position selecting, as well as some basic draft psychology.

Among some of the things the guys talk about in this episode includes:

Strategy

Where you pick in the draft reflects the kinds of choices that you will need to make to be successful in this years’ draft.

Choosing early will get you those tempting top picks, but you’ll have to wait until it swings around again until you get 2 more picks.
Given that you will be picking in chunks, you need to adjust your picks so that you are still able to get top talent, but also to grab enough RBs and WRs to fill out a solid roster.

Middle picking in the draft seems like it would suck, but you actually get to a choice of players at a fast and furious pace.
Being mid-pick in the draft means that you really need to pay attention.
You can get really good value in the middle, as you can make those bold picks while carving away at the desperation of folks on the end who have to make two quick picks in a row.

Draft Dunces

There is always going to be that person who takes WAY too long to draft their team.
You COULD tell them that the draft is on another day, and that they ‘missed’ your draft do to some scheduling snafu (you need the other draftees in on it), but that’s a poor way to start out the season.

When it comes to Draft deadbeats, you need to be clear as to the outcomes.
2 minutes is more than generous these days for a player window thanks to digital drafting.
If it takes a person more than 2 minutes to make their pick, you are more than free to put up penalties and deductions for delating the draft.

Unless this person absolutely slaughters everyone in your draft, they shouldn’t be taking that long to hump down a roster.
Give them the parameters ahead of time, and make it get all nervy with 30 seconds left to pick.

Bad drafters are like bad dogs, you have to get that behaviour out before the draft even starts.

Flee Agents

Cam Newton couldn’t learn a playbook?
Maybe his big ass hat was in the way?

With Cam now looking to ride the season long bench, there are plenty of opportunities for teams to snag some value players moving forward.

AP, Mitchell Schwartz, Geno Atkins, Le’Veon Bell, Todd Gurley and the gales Frank Gore are all now without an NFL home for this season.

Sure, some of these guys are old, but with the way injuries gut-punched the league last year, it’s safe to say that a lot of these guys will be back in a new uniform at some point this season.

Cam? Might be a hard stretch to get behind him as a starter.

Empire Fantasy Football League

Why is it so hard to find good , season long, fantasy football?

Well the team at Empire Fantasy Football League are here, and they have a fun new product to help you play season long NFL.

With no manager limit, Empire Fantasy football will allow thousands of us from around the world to compete against each other every week.

Just like DFS, you choose your team by balancing out an NFL fantasy roster.
Unlike DFS, there’s no daily, so that you can play and compete against other players from around the globe every week.

Make changes and tweaks to your roster each week, and you could be on your way to winning $1000 USD just for playing!

It’s FREE to play and the game is in beta mode, which means there are some features that haven’t been added yet.

Try Empire Fantasy Football League now, and take us on every week!

https://www.empireff.com/main

Clapham

Do you live in Clapham?
Well we’re showing NFL every Sunday in Clapham at the Sports Bar and Grill!

Get in touch with us and we can make sure that you get to watch EVERY NFL game that you want to see.
South London is now rocking the NFL!

Enjoy the latest podcast, we have more to come this week!

DraftKings League

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The NFL is almost here, which means it’s time to get yourself ready for some NFL Fantasy.

Once again we are working with NFL Fantasy gurus DraftKings to be able to offer you weekly Sunday contests for FREE as well as some great paid contests.
So do yourself a favour, and join our DraftKings League.

Here’s the link to our NFL in London DraftKings League
ps://dkn.gs/r/kwxDR0JIokKPkA6cPjCtNA

We at NFL in London have been down with DraftKings since prior to their arrival on UK shores.
It’s a great way to add some sporting and betting options to the hectic betting activities on the weekend.

If you haven’t played before, DraftKings offers daily fantasy NFL contests.
Of course when we say ‘daily’, we mean mostly on Sundays, as the best contests involve a Funday of NFL action.
All you have to do is create a winning NFL lineup of players from the required players from each contest.

We like to run traditional contests every Sunday, with a variety of FREE and paid contests for players of every ability.
If you’re new to DFS (Daily Fantasy Sports), feel free to join one of our free contests which give you a gradual introduction to gameplay.

NFL in London League

A DraftKings League is a way for us to get all of our players and members into one place.
By joining our League, you will have access to ask if the free and paid contests that we offer, as well as a chance to win DraftKings extras, like tickets to the London games, VIP party invites and much, much more.

We also have DraftKings parties, a chance for you to play in love contests and to watch your score on  a big TV in our bar area.
We will have several of these cooking for the 2021-2022 NFL season, with our first one scheduled for Week 3.
To join our DraftKings League, make sure you join here.

https://dkn.gs/r/kwxDR0JIokKPkA6cPjCtNA

Win Big

What kinds of things can you win in our DraftKings League, aside from respect?
How about cash? Money just for being smart.
If that’s not enough, what about tickets?

That’s right, we will be running a Week 3 contest at the Sports Bar & Grill Old Street.
Everyone playing that night will have a chance to win 2 tickets to the battle of Florida, as DraftKings has kindly offered the winner tickets to the big game between the Miami Dolphins and Jacksonville Jaguars.

To be able to win, you will need to be in our League.

Join now to avoid disappointment.
Yes, you will be disappointed if you miss our on this FREE chance to play.

 

London Hotels

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The NFL games in London are almost here, and many of you will be looking to book your London-staycation to watch the games.
If you have never been to London, then we have a little advice to help you on your search for hotel rooms.

Tottenham

The Tottenham Hotspurs stadium is located in North East London, a little further afield than Wembley-if that’s where you are use to going.
The area around the stadium is ‘up and coming’, which translates as a bit nasty after dark.
We would NOT recommend staying in the area, as not only does it not have much of an atmosphere (yet), it will be dead as a door knob after the game.
That being said, it is easily accessible via numerous tube, train and bus routes.
We should note that Sundays are notoriously bad for transit in London, as this is when service is often reduced.
Travel around London is usually impacted.

North London

There are loads of great neighbourhoods close to Tottenham stadium to consider for the October Sunday games.

Archway

Archway is on the Northern Line, and has numerous links to the stadium via bus, train, and is under £15 for an Uber.
As of this article, there were numerous rooms at the Premier Inn (Archway) for £35 per night.
Archway is close to most London hubs, and has a vibrant and safe atmosphere at night.
Book via the website https://www.premierinn.com/gb/en/home.html

Wood Green

You can literally walk to the Tottenham Stadium from Wood Green.
This area is up and coming, and has added some funky new bars and pubs as of late.
There are plenty of sports bars on the main drag, and ‘The Mall’ is always worth a look.
Rooms were currently at £122 per night, but some sleuthing should be able to get you a good deal on rooms.

Kings Cross

Centrally located and boasting more transit connections than any other area of London, Kings Cross is the ‘hub’ for accessibility.
There are plenty of hotels around the KC junction, and you should be able to score a great deal on a hotel if you want to book.
The area has plenty of hotels and a thriving nightlife.
A word of caution that in some areas of KC get quite sketchy at night, so stick to the main drags and avoid any ‘heroin looking’ folks.

Crouch End

More of a local neighbourhood than a tourist destination, this leafy ‘village’ is a quick bus ride (or 30 min walk) to the stadium.
Known as the place where celebrities live, Crouch End has some NFL plans for the London games.
We work with the Princess Alexandra pub, which will be open until 4AM on both Sunday nights.
It’s a great place to eat, drink, watch the games…and you never know which cast member of Harry Potter will be sitting at the table next to you.

 

Old Street

Old Street is one of the hippest locations for your London stay.
20 minutes by transit to the stadium and on the edge of Shoreditch, staying in this area is hip, safe, and bound to offer plenty of adventures.
We are working with the Sports Bar and Grill Old Street, so you can pop in before and after the game for a wicked party until 4am.
Home of the famous Silicon Roundabout, the area is full of bars and cool restaurants.
There are LOADS of hotels there, and we have already found a few for cheap.
The hipster CitizenM has rooms for under £120 per night.

Areas to Avoid

Like any major city, there are places that might not be the best for your London or NFL experience.
Some of these areas include:

West London

Chiswick, Richmond and Chelsea are all wonderful places to visit…just not stay if you’re hitting Tottenham. Notoriously far away and difficult to access on gameday.

Leicester Square

A steady decline in recent years have made this place a shady place to be at night.
Post COVID the Leicester Square area has become very dark at night, and loads of news stories of robberies, assaults, and even worse are increasing.
It’s ok to be there in the daytime, but we would NOT recommend walking around the Leicester Square/ Oxford Circus streets at night time unless you have a stab vest.

Wembley

Wembley stadium is a far toss from Tottenham, and a huge pain in the butt to get to from Tottenham.
Sundays are not fundays for transit to this hub, so you will deffo need Ubers (which will be busy) on a Sunday night.

South of the River

Unless you’re ‘living in a van by the river’, anything south of the Thames will be a ball ache to get from on a Sunday.
Be prepared for a long journey.

We will keep you updated on all the travel and hotel issues we see as they arise!

 

Why do UK sportsbooks suck at NFL?

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With sports betting exploding around the world, we often get asked ‘what are the best websites for NFL betting’?
Surprisingly, there aren’t very many available to UK fans that actual focus on NFL games, odds and options.
In fact we always find ourselves asking ‘Why do UK sportsbooks suck at NFL’?
There are a few reasons for this, which we will explain, as well as point you in the direction of our Top 3 NFL betting websites. 

Betting Britain

Britain has been betting on sports for decades, so one would assume that the betting product would be sleek, slick and easy to navigate.
Nope.
Betting in Europe is more ‘football focused’ (aka soccer) meaning that many of the betting options and parlays simply aren’t available to the public.
While the NFL betting options accelerated during the 80s’ NFL boom in the UK, it didn’t really translate into dedicated product.
Even as UK sports books increase their offerings in the face of American growth, they still lack the gumption to tailor their products to North American sports. 

Moneyline

One of the biggest issues for NFL betting fans comes down to formatting.
Europe and the UK prefer the use of ‘Decimal Odds’ or 

‘Fractional Odds’ when it comes to setting their weekly lines, whereas North Americans prefer the standard ‘Moneyline.’

For anyone not used to seeing odds formatted in ‘Decimal Odds’ style, it can be a confusing and intimidating style of play.
Many European sports books lazily refuse to add Moneyline odds, which essentially deprives them of a new, hungry audience.
North Americans are new to NFL betting, and intimidating them right off the bat is no way to sign up new customers. 

Options

Any NFL fan who has ever walked into the sports bar of a Las Vegas casino, knows that a magical experience is about to happen.
Not only do Vegas sports bars display countless betting options, the employees who work at sports books are all too happy to help with the numerous different ways you can wager.
UK casinos rarely even sports books, as was the case when we ran events at the Hippodrome in Leicester Square.
Fans who were desperate to wager on games were pointed to the Ladbrokes down the street, which benefited HUGE from the thousands of fans who wanted to throw down money each week.
Betting became so big there, that Ladbrokes employees from down the road would attend viewing parties because they had ‘so many people coming to bet on games’, they wanted to see what it was all about. 

Authenticity

Real NFL bettors usually have a weekend plan for success.
If you know which of the games on Sunday are ripe for betting, you will work out how many parlays, over-unders, and long shots you are willing to make.
Attempting to then make those wagers on a UK betting app then begins the problems.
Not only are the odds radically different from the US, but the ability to make ‘out there’ bets is only possible if you go into a shop, and find a competent worker.
While it is rewarding to burn a lazy bookmaker for not paying attention to NFL news across the pond, it’s frustrating to have to Scooby Doo down all the information from an app. 

Over the years we have tried to discuss the poor NFL betting options with bookmakers, but it has always fallen on deaf ears.
Either they don’t care about making money from a massively untapped market, to they’re just lazy.

So what betting websites would we recommend?
They’re pretty limited, but here you go.

1. Bet365

When it comes to NFL betting in Europe, Bet365 seems to be the only one with their head in the game.
Not only do they offer the best betting options for the NFL, but they also have a wide selection of parlays and novelty bets on offer.
Sure, the layout is a bit laborious, but once you get the hang of it, it’s pretty easy to get betting.
You can also switch between betting pricing, allowing players to compare moneyline vs decimal options.
The best past about Bet365 however is the ability to watch the games.
Provided that you have bet on some NFL matches, bettors have the option of being able to stream the game to their phone or device.
With limited viewing options in Europe, this is a ‘MUST HAVE’ feature for NFL fans, as it allows you to watch the game in real time, for no extra cost.
Expats in Europe have been raving about this option for years, as it also extends to MLB, NBA and NHL games, which are hard to find across the pond.
Bet365 has pretty good customer service as well, which is really helpful if you are looking to bet on specific options. 

2. Betway

Second on the list is Betway, which has seen a drop in its NFL product in recent years.
With a very simple and straightforward layout, Betway’s NFL betting is a far simpler option than that of Bet365.
Parlays are quite easy to manipulate, and the overplay is quite crisp and simple.
Betway’s NFL product dropped in quality in 2020, so we are curious to see if they are going to improve on it.
Customer service is slow, but effective once they’re on it. 

3. Paddypower

Remember when Paddypower use to be edgy and funny?
Good times.
The Irish lads have gone corporate, and it shows in their North American sports betting options.
Like Betway, the NFL offerings on Paddy are pretty straightforward.
Nothing too fancy, and there are some muddled parlays and novelty bets in the mix, although they usually look like they were assembled by a soccer fan.
Customer service at Paddy is hit and miss, and on a busy game day, you’re more likely to encounter snark than satisfaction. 

We are still holding out that one day a UK sports book will actually take North American sports in Europe seriously.
With bookmakers on the continent on a frenzied mission to gobble up as many American betting properties as possible, you would think that they would actually look at what is successfully stateside and try to replicate it in Blighty.
 
The NFL is only going to get bigger in Europe, which bookmaker is finally ready to take it seriously?

FanDraft 2021

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Less than 2 weeks until the NFL season starts up again!
Use promo code ‘London 15’ to get 15% off of FanDraft before the season starts!

The NFL is almost here, which means it’s time to get your Fantasy pools ready for the upcoming season.
To help you out, we’ve partnered once again with FanDraft for 2021.
Using our unique promo code ‘London15‘ will get you 15% off your Fandraft subscription, and open you up to a whole new world of drafting possibilities.

To get the basics of FanDraft, they have a handy walk through guide to getting you set up, and ready to host your Draft Party

Interactive Drafts

The old way of drafting is dead. No longer do you have to worry about ordering a sticker pack of names off of Amazon, only to be disappointed with the quality once it arrives.
FanDraft is totally unique, and you can use it live or remotely.
Once you set it up, it’s just a click and your draft is live.
Best of all, it exports all of your draft into excel files, so that you can easily add them to whatever NFL Fantasy platform that you use.

Remote Drafting

Thanks to COVID, NFL draft parties took on a whole new look last year.
Many fans had to eschew the traditional draft party to Zoom it with their mates.
Zoom drafting sucks, which is why FanDraft is so needed.
You can easily send your mates a remote login, and they can just click and they’re ready to draft.
Just make sure that everyone has a good internet connection to get you going.

TV Hook Up

We usually hook our laptop into a TV to broadcast our NFL Draft, so that everyone can see and shout along.
This works really well if you’re hosting a few drafts on the same day.
Here is a little walk through on how to hook up FanDraft to your TV.

Features

For all the features of the new FanDraft 2021, all you have to do is watch this video.
FanDraft will walk you through all the fun settings you can play around with, as well as ways to piss off your buddies with walk in music, and various sound effects to burn them in even their greatest moments of drafting glory.

To get your subscription going, head to FanDraft today!
Use our promo code LONDON15 to save today!

https://fandraft.com/