Picture this, it’s a rainy Sunday afternoon in London, you’ve endured 3 hours of train connections and rail replacement buses and now you’re in North London ready to indulge in pre-match pints and a host of chats with strangers about how bad your fantasy team is doing. You might think oh I’m on route to the footy? You would be wrong. This was my pre match experience before the first edition of the NFL London series for 2024 as the high-flying Minnesota Vikings took on the Aaron Rodgers-led New York Jets. In an intriguing battle dictated by each teams suffocating defence, the Minnesota Vikings held-off a late fourth quarter comeback from the Jets to take a 23-17 win and continue their unbeaten start to the season at 5-0. But what stood out from the game and what can you take away from London’s efforts at hosting the game? 

“If you closed your eyes, you could have genuinely believed that you were in the heart of Minneapolis…”

The first thing that took my notice during the game was how in awe I was of the Vikings supporters. If you closed your eyes, you could have genuinely believed that you were in the heart of Minneapolis at US Bank Stadium, the home of the Vikings. When NFL offences play away from home during a game in America, home fans deliberately use noise to intimidate the offence, and you would often see the quarterback using a host of non-verbal cadences to communicate to the rest of the team so they could understand what to do on each play. Usually, in a neutral setting such as London this would not be necessary for the offence as the crowd wouldn’t be loud enough to intimidate them, but Sunday was different. On every third down for the Jets the roar from the Vikings fans became very apparent and Rodgers often had to turn to silent count before each play. 

“British football needs to learn a few things from this experience…”

This in comparison to each Vikings drive and the noise from the crowd was distinctly quieter. This showed to me that the UK crowd was clearly very intelligent, and its influence in moving the game in favour of the Vikings helped to make the game feel more like it was in America and not in London. With the Jets struggling on offence all game and Aaron Rodgers ending up with 3 costly interceptions on the day, the Vikings fans would have therefore been pleased by their efforts on Sunday. 

Another aspect I took from the game is that British football needs to learn a few things from this NFL experience. Obviously, the support, atmosphere and to an extent tribalism that comes with British football can be an amazing part of the game and the fan experience. However, the reputation football games can get especially with its associations towards violence between home and away supporters can really impact the experience of a matchday for some. What struck me about the NFL game was the ease for supporters to interact, the lack of fear many people had and best of all, the ability to drink a pint in your seat! No more chugging pints in the concourse, you could sit down and enjoy one during the action. And with NFL games usually lasting upwards of 3 hours compared to the 2 hours of a British football game, there was a lot more time to enjoy the stadium atmosphere and in seat experience. As a result, despite the clear restrictions that come from traditional British football culture, I hope to see British football learn some of the things from the NFL’s experience in London. 

Finally, Sunday made it clear to me that London is ready for its own NFL team. Of course there is a lot of logistical, financial and environmental issues with such a statement, but Sunday showed that the NFL has made its mark on the capital. After a celebration of its 17th year of hosting NFL games, at half-time former Giants Defensive End and British NFL celebrity Osi Umenyiora became the first inductee to the NFL London Hall of Fame. In his efforts with former NFL cornerback Jason Bell, him and Jason have undoubtedly helped to grow support for the NFL from the casual British sports fan. With their efforts on BBC, ITV and other providers throughout the past decade, the NFL alongside its games in London have prospered massively from its rise in British support. 

“The next route for the NFL to take is surely to grant London it’s own team…”

With the Jacksonville Jaguars already playing games every year and the NFL only continuing to grow, the next route for the NFL to take is surely to grant London its own team. Yes, logistically this might not be answered for a few more years but with games in Germany and now Madrid as of next year, could we see a European NFL division in the not-so-distant future? What Sunday proved is that the appetite for it from the British crowd and those at the NFL is there for everyone to see.