NFL London Games 2014

DBIreland

Report suggesting Megatron 'could' be be out until week 10, missing the London game. One of the reasons I got tickets was to see him, would be a huge pity if he wasn't fit. Then again, there are no quotes in the article to suggest he will be out. Fingers crossed that he is fit for London.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000410413/article/detroit-lions-could-sit-calvin-johnson-until-week-10

BKWDR

Anyone reccomend bars in the city of London that show the NFL games that isn't going to be rammed completely?

DBIreland

Rumour on NFLUK forums that Little Mix are the pre-game act. Very disappointing, first possibly no Calvin Johnson and now this!

Most sports bars will be packed but here are some options I have found so far...

There is a venue in Millenium Dome/O2 thingy showing the late games. It seems a bit out though but the Jubilee line will take you directly from Wembley to this venue. From their website... "matches kicking off at 6pm and 9.05pm. with continuous RedZone coverage and as many as five games being aired simultaneously." http://www.theo2.co.uk/events/detail/nfl-sundays-at-indigo-at-the-o2

There is also Rileys Sports bar in Haymarket very close to Trafalgar Sq. http://www.rileyssportsbars.co.uk/
The Hippodrome in Leicester Sq is showing the games. http://www.hippodromecasino.com/nfl/
The Sports Bar in Marylebourne, may not stay open for the post midnight game. http://www.sportsbarandgrill.co.uk/

Adamocovic

DBIreland wrote: »

Rumour on NFLUK forums that Little Mix are the pre-game act. Very disappointing, first possibly no Calvin Johnson and now this!

Most sports bars will be packed but here are some options I have found so far...

There is a venue in Millenium Dome/O2 thingy showing the late games. It seems a bit out though but the Jubilee line will take you directly from Wembley to this venue. From their website... "matches kicking off at 6pm and 9.05pm. with continuous RedZone coverage and as many as five games being aired simultaneously." http://www.theo2.co.uk/events/detail/nfl-sundays-at-indigo-at-the-o2

There is also Rileys Sports bar in Haymarket very close to Trafalgar Sq. http://www.rileyssportsbars.co.uk/
The Hippodrome in Leicester Sq is showing the games. http://www.hippodromecasino.com/nfl/
The Sports Bar in Marylebourne, may not stay open for the post midnight game. http://www.sportsbarandgrill.co.uk/

I pray that doesn't happen! Great post about the bars!

Anyone know if theres much on the Saturday before? Can't wait for it now!

DBIreland

Adamocovic wrote: »

Anyone know if theres much on the Saturday before? Can't wait for it now!

There is the Fan Rally on in Trafalgar Square. I was at one when Pats played the Rams. There is a stage setup and there will be interviewing players and staff of the teams and cheerleaders and music up there. There will be merchandise stalls and it can be handy to get some stuff there and stash in your hotel also saves dragging it around Wembley on gameday. There are food and drink vans too. We met Kevin Cadel in the crowd that day too, sound lad. There was games to play too, like throwing a ball through holes and running between inflatables etc.

NFLUK are advertising an NFL Fan Pass that once you download to your smartphone will get you some extras like being entered into draws, getting freebies and getting your photo taken with the Lombardi Trophy. Not sure if those things will be open to non-pass holders but it might be worth looking into.

There is a Fans Forum on Saturday morning too, you need to apply for tickets pretty soon for that. It seems to be a questions and answers session with Marshall Faulk, Warrick Dunn, Mick Luckhurst and probably Neil Reynolds too. I've not been to one, so know no more than that.

Non NFL events include
West Ham v Man City on Saturday lunchtime.
Lady Gaga is in the O2/Millenium Dome.
Lee Mack playing the Eventim Apollo.

On Little Mix. There has been no official announcement yet so it might not happen. They might be appearing on Sunday Brunch (the Channel 4 show) as they are broadcasting live from Wembley that morning. So I am hoping that they mean they are performing on that show and not the pre-game show. That said, if they are playing in the carpark earlier they probably will be playing inside a little later.
Maybe it is time to drop the pre-game show altogether. They don't do it in the states and nobody seems to enjoy it in Wembley. Sound is poor and everyone just want to get on with the game. So far I have seen Calvin Harris, Train and Tinie Tempah play and I could have done without all of them.

Adamocovic

DBIreland wrote: »

There is the Fan Rally on in Trafalgar Square. I was at one when Pats played the Rams. There is a stage setup and there will be interviewing players and staff of the teams and cheerleaders and music up there. There will be merchandise stalls and it can be handy to get some stuff there and stash in your hotel also saves dragging it around Wembley on gameday. There are food and drink vans too. We met Kevin Cadel in the crowd that day too, sound lad. There was games to play too, like throwing a ball through holes and running between inflatables etc.

NFLUK are advertising an NFL Fan Pass that once you download to your smartphone will get you some extras like being entered into draws, getting freebies and getting your photo taken with the Lombardi Trophy. Not sure if those things will be open to non-pass holders but it might be worth looking into.

There is a Fans Forum on Saturday morning too, you need to apply for tickets pretty soon for that. It seems to be a questions and answers session with Marshall Faulk, Warrick Dunn, Mick Luckhurst and probably Neil Reynolds too. I've not been to one, so know no more than that.

Non NFL events include
West Ham v Man City on Saturday lunchtime.
Lady Gaga is in the O2/Millenium Dome.
Lee Mack playing the Eventim Apollo.

Thanks a million!

Byrnish

Due to my car deciding this week would be a good time to have a meltdown and now requiring major surgery, I am now facing the fact that I cannot make it to London next week.

So, would anyone be interested in two Lions @ Falcons tickets, face value £70 each? They're Block 529, Row 19, Seats 80 & 81.

PM me for details. Thanks.

DBIreland

Calvin Johnson is travelling to London with the team so there is still a chance he plays Sunday. Keep those fingers crossed.

corblimey

So how was it for everybody? I was a little disappointed with the atmosphere in the stadium, but maybe that's because I was in CW, maybe it was more fun in the cheap seats. I thought I was getting there far too early, but there were already looooong lines snaking around the area outside the merchandise stalls when I arrived around 1030. Surprisingly, the queue for programmes was short and moving quickly. Also surprisingly, no queues at the stalls upstairs on the concourse, or in the stadium itself (maybe the prices were higher?). Drink and food options were a little limited for my tastes.

The game itself wasn't the best, but I was secretly supporting the Lions anyway, so I was happy enough.

I hung around the stadium for a few drinks after, but was still caught up in the crowds heading towards the tube station - the stop-go system works well enough to give you some breathing room in the underground. I even got a seat all the way home! I doubt I'll go back in a hurry, but it was a good experience.

I've also had enough Samuel L Jackson now to last me quite a while.

BaronVon

corblimey wrote: »

So how was it for everybody? I was a little disappointed with the atmosphere in the stadium, but maybe that's because I was in CW, maybe it was more fun in the cheap seats.

Yeah, the worst atmosphere of any game I've been at over there, but i'll chalk that down to the early kick off, everybody, including myself, was very sober!!!

BKWDR

Yeah the early start was a bit of a dead dodo. We arrived at 940 and the "tailgate" was completely different and smaller than last year. We were sat at the steps beside the Sunday Brunch bus which was a bit crap as it was so stop and go and they didn't show all of it on the big screen. Sure there was nothing else to do at that stage other than grab a beer at the bar with crazy ques. There was a very funny game of impromtu football started beside the sunday brunch truck, loada lads, used the lines on the concourse for down markers and there was a dude dressed as a ref as well. BUt again a bit dead everywhere due to the early start


We were club section in the stadium and there was little to no atmosphere in the crowd although there was an american guy there going nuts for the falcons to everyones amusment.

Game itself was ok, it had an exciting finish which was all you could ask for really. Stayed behind for a drink after and then wanted to catch the Patriots game so headed to the Green Man pub up the road, when we got there they just ended up showing the Ravens and Bengals game not redzone which was a bit crap but better than nothing. At this stage you'd think it was 10pm but it was only 6 or so. Long aul day!

Enjoyable over all. You couldn't mention the game without someone talking about the London Franchise. Personally i hope they don't have a London team and just stick with getting a few games over. doomed to fail otherwise

Thegalwayman

Couldn't understand Stafford saying the atmosphere was great. ?? Seemed very muted as on pitch was average. Exciting comeback and end to the match. Wouldn't be rushing back. Prefer to go when in America. Pints/cans of Bud 4.50 outside and 5.20 for Carlsberg inside. No queues when inside which was good but felt the prematch was average. Sunday Brunch looked rubbish - not sure how it looked on TV.

Zoton

Enjoyed the experience myself. It's definitely only a once a year max thing because of the cost. The atmosphere was definitely more muted than last year's vikings v steelers game due to the earlier kickoff.
I was pretty depressed at half time and slumped in my seat with the lions down 21 nil and suffering through little mix before the start, but by the end we were jumping up and down and shouting our heads off :-)

The £5.20 a pint was pretty gouging ( and awkward with all the change)

DBIreland

I enjoyed the atmosphere and thought it was a better atmosphere than the first few International series games I attended, Vikings/Steelers last year was a better atmosphere though. That could be because I bought my tickets from the team returns so there were a lot of americans around me. I liked the early start as I felt i wasn't missing out on other games. If there is an early game next year I will try flying in and out the same day, that is not possible with the later kickoff.

The tailgate/sunday brunch was poor, I too spent most of it watching the group of lads playing a pickup game. Queues for merchandise were crazy as usual, even the click and collect had a huge queue.

Rick_

Just back from London this afternoon. Atmosphere for the game I went to in 2012 was better than the match on Sunday. Crowd seemed very quiet and relaxed, and a row of guys sitting behind us were incredibly annoying. Makes you wonder why they paid to go see the game if they were going to spend the whole time making fun of it? Our group also ended up going to the Green Man bar afterwards and sat outside chatting to others from all over and drinking/eating (the burgers from the van were quite nice but never tried the jerk chicken stuff they were also making). Pub seemed like a nice place so may possibly head there after next years game if we end up going again. We got talking to some members of the Belfast Trojans who were at the table beside us too.

Overall the experience this time around was grand, even if the match and the crowd weren't that great. We also had a weird experience on the tube going back to our hotel where a drunken English guy was pole dancing around the handle bar in the middle of the floor and then eventually took his trousers and boxers off and was wagging his willy around. He was not amused when we told him where to go and moved to a different part of the train to avoid him. Can only imagine what happened to him afterwards as there would no doubt have been families and kids about who could have seen that and he would surely have been arrested. The tube has CCTV anyway so perhaps he was already identified and arrested, who knows? Either way, his hangover on Monday must have been mighty!

BKWDR

oh and least we forget.... LITTLE FCUKING MIX

The booing was audible when the stadium announcer introduced them to the crowd...

BaronVon

BKWDR wrote: »

oh and least we forget.... LITTLE FCUKING MIX

The booing was audible when the stadium announcer introduced them to the crowd...

Yeah, the booing was quite funny

yop

Many heading over this weekend? 8 of us heading for our 4th trip. Cowboys party is sold out it seems in the Sports bar.
Any other gathering going on that people know?

kennyb3

Yep heading over - first trip to Wembley, first NFL game. Going by boat Sat morning however (fear of flying) so will be a long trip. Can't wait.

Anyone know what the merchandise is usually like? In terms of picking up a jersey that actually fits - been holding off from ordering online for this reason.

mikemac1

Lots of jerseys of the two teams, they'll be on sale everywhere

You can buy jerseys for the other 30 teams but they might only have one star player, won't be much of a selection

BKWDR

kennyb3 wrote: »

Yep heading over - first trip to Wembley, first NFL game. Going by boat Sat morning however (fear of flying) so will be a long trip. Can't wait.

Anyone know what the merchandise is usually like? In terms of picking up a jersey that actually fits - been holding off from ordering online for this reason.

Also if you get the tube to Oxford Circus, when you leave that underground station there will be a Nike store on the corner, which is massive and has a lot of NFL jerseys of all the teams.

yop

BKWDR wrote: »

Also if you get the tube to Oxford Circus, when you leave that underground station there will be a Nike store on the corner, which is massive and has a lot of NFL jerseys of all the teams.

Proper store that. Tailgate part on Sunday morning. Hope it stops raining!!

kennyb3

Cheers guys most interested in sizing, if they don't have good array of bears jerseys I ll get one on line. Have loads of other bears gear from over the years - hats, hoodies, t shirts etc just never trusted jerseys size wise to order online.


I know there are limited, elite and game day jerseys - any thoughts on what to go for? I'm sure I ll know more when I hit the store but input p/experience always welcome.

DBIreland

I found the New Era t-shirts were a much smaller fit than the Nike ones. Some of the merchandise stands at the tailgate have samples available to try on so you will know what size will fit you when you get to the counter. The samples are in the queue not long before you get to the front. Be prepared to queue especially at the merch stands in front of Wembley. Someone said there were more merch stands around the back of Wembley that were almost empty, so maybe take a look round there if you have time.