NFL AT WEMBLEY STADIUM

POST WORLD WAR II

The first official recording of American Football at Wembley was in 1952.
The venue played host to the final of the U.S. Airforce in Europe football championships, with teams from Germany and England taking part.

The Fuerstenfeldbruck Eagles beat the Burtonwood Bullets 27-6 in the final.

However, during World War II, with many Americans stationed in England, Wembley was host to several amateur US games (including baseball). Reports suggest American Football was played at the stadium in or around 1944, although the identity of those taking part has never been recorded.

NFL AT WEMBLEY STADIUM

The first ever NFL fixture at Wembley took place in 1983 when the St Louis Cardinals met the Minnesota Vikings in the Global Cup.
The exhibition game was the brainchild of John Marshall, a former Hollywood screenwriter who believed there was huge demand for American Football in the UK.
His belief was misplaced with a crowd of less than 33,000 turning up for the game, which was won by the Vikings 28-10.
However, despite many fans complaining of complex tactics and long delays between plays, NFL had made its debut at Wembley.

American Bowl

In another attempt to grow the game outside of USA, the American Bowl was a series of international pre-season games the NFL played overseas between 1986-2005.
Wembley Stadium hosted the first eight American Bowl fixtures from 1986, with the last game taking place on August 8,1993 between the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions.

International Series

In 2007 the NFL (National Football League) announced it was taking a series of league fixtures to Europe.

London was chosen as the original host city, and Wembley Stadium was the exclusive home stadium for all International Series games.

On October 28, 2007, the New York Giants beat the Miami Dolphins 13-10, in the first ever NFL International Series at Wembley Stadium. More than 81,000 people attended and the International Series became a permanent fixture in the Wembley calendar.

In 2013 the stadium was home to two fixtures and in 2015 the venue welcomed three fixtures.

Crowds were on the increase every year. On October 30, 2022, a crowd of 86,215 saw the Denver Broncos beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 21-17 – a record crowd for an NFL game in the UK.

Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley Stadium

The Jacksonville Jaguars have become a mainstay in the NFL London games.

With a link to London via their owner Shahid Khan (who also owns Fulham FC) the Jags are a natural fit to play overseas game in England’s capital.

Their first game took place on October 27, 2013, when they played the San Francisco 49ers at Wembley Stadium. Since then, the Jags have travelled to Wembley Stadium every year (There was no game at Wembley for two years during the Covid pandemic) for NFL fixtures.

The Jags record at Wembley Stadium is 5 defeats and 4 victories. They will hope to add another ‘W’ to that record when they take on six-time Super Bowl Champs New England Patriots on October 20 this year.