Vikings to play home game in London in September

SantryRed

Tweeted by Adam Schefter on Twitter a few minutes ago:

Vikings will play a home game at Wembley Stadium in London sometime next September. Announcement coming at Tuesday's owners meeting.

SantryRed

Really don't see the point in having both games in Wembley to be honest.

I think it'll take a hit on both attendances too.

madalig12

Are tickets on sale yet for the 49ers game? #Desperate:o

davetherave

Really don't think the demand is there for two games.

DaveyCakes

I'm not sure why the NFL seems to think that there is only one city in Europe.

davyjose

Hang on, you've just convinced the state to pay 100's of millions on a new stadium, now you're fcuking off to play 1 of a measly 8 home games on another continent. Nice move Vikes

GoldFour4

davyjose wrote: »

Hang on, you've just convinced the state to pay 100's of millions on a new stadium, now you're fcuking off to play 1 of a measly 8 home games on another continent. Nice move Vikes

Their lease expires after this season and the new stadium won't open until the 2016 season at the earliest. They're not contractually obliged to do anything.

helimachoptor

SantryRed wrote: »

Tweeted by Adam Schefter on Twitter a few minutes ago:

Vikings will play a home game at Wembley Stadium in London sometime next September. Announcement coming at Tuesday's owners meeting.

Ben... Is that read real deal or Adam O'schefter??!

davetherave

https://twitter.com/NFL_ATL/status/257505201085374465

Official word from NFL: "No decision has been made on a possible second game in London next season."

davyjose

malistheman wrote: »

Their lease expires after this season and the new stadium won't open until the 2016 season at the earliest. They're not contractually obliged to do anything.

True enough. Not sure the Minnesota fan base will appreciate it either way.

Syferus

HAve to imagine the NFL would be smarter than doubling up London, it'd burst the special bubble they've developed around the Wembley game.

Anywhere else, Edinburgh, Cardiff or the blindingly obvious choice, Dublin, would be far better for the sport in Europe.

davyjose

It doesn't necessarily have to even be an english speaking country. Isn't the game big in Germany?

SantryRed

It should definitely be in Germany. It's huge over there.

Syferus

davyjose wrote: »

It doesn't necessarily have to even be an english speaking country. Isn't the game big in Germany?

NFL have repeated many times that they will only concentrate on one 'territory' with the second game. They want to develop the template to make it work here before moving out to Germany or elsewhere. Germany isn't a goer in any sense in that light.

GoldFour4

SantryRed wrote: »

It should definitely be in Germany. It's huge over there.

Time zone is a big factor as well. It's only an extra hour but it means a lot in terms of travel time and jet lag

Chardee MacDennis

i have a feeling Schefter is wrong and it's a Dublin game, here's an excerpt from an article i wrote last night

normally the international series is a non-divisional game and it will be a home game for the Vikings. The non-divisional opponents the Vikings are due to face at home in 2013 looks like this: Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Redskins, Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers and one NFC South team.

Considering Dan Rooney has been trying to bring the Steelers to Ireland for the past couple of years and it is well known Pittsburgh can’t give up a home game, this is the perfect opportunity for this to happen for Rooney.

pure hopeful speculation probably.

Chardee MacDennis

Vikings have confirmed the game is in London after all

http://blog.vikings.com/2012/10/14/vikings-confirm-report-on-2013-london-game/

Son Of A Vidic

malistheman wrote: »

Time zone is a big factor as well. It's only an extra hour but it means a lot in terms of travel time and jet lag

I'd throw in the language issue also, the NFL exists in an English speaking world.

eagle eye

The reason they want to have more games in London is to test the market for football. Its quite clear that down the road they are looking at having at least one franchise outside the US and London is an English speaking country where the only issue is travel time for other teams.

PokeHerKing

BastardPrince wrote: »

Vikings have confirmed the game is in London after all

http://blog.vikings.com/2012/10/14/vikings-confirm-report-on-2013-london-game/

Really thought after the success of the ND game that Dublin would get a look in, although I imagine this has been in the pipeline for a while now.

Syferus

This could become a little ugly. No way there's enough demand for two 70k plus games in London within a month of each other. An exercise in cheapening the value of everything if ever there was.

Chardee MacDennis

eagle eye wrote: »

The reason they want to have more games in London is to test the market for football. Its quite clear that down the road they are looking at having at least one franchise outside the US and London is an English speaking country where the only issue is travel time for other teams.

makes sense but a London franchise would play in a 50,000 stadium at most, it will be interesting to see if both games sell out.

helimachoptor

Big time, will only go to one game... will depend on who the Vikes are playing

SantryRed

Definitely going to the Vikings game regardless of who they're playing. More potential to be a better game.

Justin10

Vikings Steelers, that don't look good for a game in Ireland.

taidghbaby

Rochey18 wrote: »

Vikings Steelers, that don't look good for a game in Ireland.

Seemingly someone in the Rooney family (dan presumably) wanted it in Ireland but the commissioner wanted it in London! Build on the base there!

Syferus

Hopefully it's just a ceiling check and they'll see sense and migrate the second game to a proper home the next year.

Chardee MacDennis

Syferus wrote: »

Hopefully it's just a ceiling check and they'll see sense and migrate the second game to a proper home the next year.

It wouldnt surprise me to see London get as many as 4 games at some stage based on what the Commish is saying. they want to be sure they have the numbers for a franchise, if they could fill 4 games I'd say that would be a good enough indication of whether the NFL will work in the UK

PokeHerKing

BastardPrince wrote: »

It wouldnt surprise me to see London get as many as 4 games at some stage based on what the Commish is saying. they want to be sure they have the numbers for a franchise, if they could fill 4 games I'd say that would be a good enough indication of whether the NFL will work in the UK

Id say Rooney is pretty PO that the steelers are playing in London and not Dublin, after all his talk of getting them over here!

Am I the only person who thinks the idea of a UK franchise is completely nuts!?

I think the international series should be kept as a novelty and the games dispersed amongst countries that have NFL followings..

Leslie91

PokeHerKing wrote: »

Id say Rooney is pretty PO that the steelers are playing in London and not Dublin, after all his talk of getting them over here!

Am I the only person who thinks the idea of a UK franchise is completely nuts!?

I think the international series should be kept as a novelty and the games dispersed amongst countries that have NFL followings..

Nope I agree. I too agree that the regular season game(s) (max 2 per season) should move around ie. London, Dublin, Frankfurt, Edinburgh etc.

The travelling involved in having a franchise 5 hours east is not gona work simple as. Can you imagine the players basing themselves in the UK for training camp etc?, u gotta be kiddin me, no chance.

DaveyCakes

PokeHerKing wrote: »

Id say Rooney is pretty PO that the steelers are playing in London and not Dublin, after all his talk of getting them over here!

Am I the only person who thinks the idea of a UK franchise is completely nuts!?

I think the international series should be kept as a novelty and the games dispersed amongst countries that have NFL followings..

It a Vikings "home" game so why should the Steelers dictate where its played?

PokeHerKing

DaveyCakes wrote: »

It a Vikings "home" game so why should the Steelers dictate where its played?

I never said they should...

I just meant I'm sure he would have ratherd the Vikings had chose a different game to bring over to London, as getting the steelers over this side of the water again will probably be more difficult now.

Hulk Hands

davyjose wrote: »

Hang on, you've just convinced the state to pay 100's of millions on a new stadium, now you're fcuking off to play 1 of a measly 8 home games on another continent. Nice move Vikes

They have to rent the TCF Bank stadium next year as the metrodome is being flattened. It makes perfect sense to move one of the games abroad, as it means one less rental. Also boosts the teams profile abroad. Can't wait for it already

Dodge

PokeHerKing wrote: »

I never said they should...

I just meant I'm sure he would have ratherd the Vikings had chose a different game to bring over to London, as getting the steelers over this side of the water again will probably be more difficult now.

Not neccesarily. I don't think they will ever play a game in Dublin but playing a road game in London may not effect the chances of them returning.

Patriots are playing their 2nd game in Wembley this year for example. 49ers next year will become the first team to play 'home' and 'away' fixtures in London