NFL UK chief discusses chances of staging Super Bowl in London
The NFL announced that three games will return to the United Kingdom once again in the 2023 season, with two further games being held in Germany.
It comes after the success of the inaugural Germany game, held in October 2022 when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the Seattle Seahawks. It was an exciting game for all those in attendance, with Tom Brady leading his team to the victory over Geno Smith's Hawks.
The London games, which have been held annually since 2008, and have been a roaring success with tickets selling out almost instantly.
Speaking to Mirror Sport, NFL UK general manager Henry Hodgson has stated that the growth of the sport has been exponential over the last few years, to the fact that the idea of a Super Bowl being held in London one day is something to aspire to.
Hodgson said: "I certainly would not rule out the likelihood of a Super Bowl happening here and it's good for us to aspire to one day. But from my perspective, the Super Bowl is so intertwined with the United States and is such an American moment that I think it could be quite a difficult one, for another market to pull it away from them.
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"There are certainly logistical challenges around timings as well, but primarily the Super Bowl, you know it's that moment where all of America has their TV switched to the same thing, with the national anthem being sung etc. It's hard for me to believe that we can take it to the UK. But we can dream and we should have goals that are hard to achieve and it should be one."
It was announced that the Buffalo Bills and Tennessee Titans will each contest a game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with the final 2023 NFL London match featuring the Jacksonville Jaguars, who have agreed to play annually at Wembley.
Speaking on the announcement, Hodgson said: "We're very excited for what's to come in 2023. Obviously, these are three fantastic teams coming to London as designated teams.
"It is going to be something excited to look forward too. Two of these teams are still alive in the NFL playoffs, so it's going to be great seeing them in London next year."
This past year saw three exciting games held in London, with the teams seemingly enjoying playing on foreign soil.
Russell Wilson and the Denver Broncos won in London in 2022 (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)London has become a base for the NFL UK, with some fans in the north of England, along with Scottish, Welsh and Irish fans asking for games to potentiallymove elsewhere in the future.
Hodgson has committed to holding further events around the UK, and did not rule out the idea of playing a game away from London in the future, but insists the focus is to continue to hold games in the capital.
"We are always exploring and seeing what stadiums can offer us," Hodgson said. "But at the same time we have a fantastic partnership with Tottenham to play at their stadium and the Jags have their own partnership with Wembley Stadium, so I think the foreseeable London will be the base but that is not to say that we are being very conscious about doing more in other cities.
"We recognise that NFL fans are all over the country and we need to be able to do more and deliver events to fans in those cities."
To register your interest for tickets for the 2023 NFL International Games, click here.
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