By Mihir Bose
BBC sports editor
London will this autumn host the first regular season NFL game to be played outside North America.
The BBC understands the match will be played at the new Wembley, and that it will be a home game for Miami Dolphins, probably against the New York Giants.
London secured the match ahead of four German cities while Wembley fought off opposition from Twickenham.
"We're thrilled to bring the excitement of the NFL regular season to the UK," said NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
"London is one of the great cities of the world with an established and growing fan base for our game."
The date is yet to be confirmed, and announcements confirming Wembley as the venue and the teams will be made in a few weeks' time.
Wembley has hosted NFL teams before but only in exhibition matches.
The forthcoming game features two of the NFL's most high-profile teams, and could have a significant bearing on the race to reach the Super Bowl.
It will be played in its own time slot, around 1800 in London, rather than as part of the normal weekly group of matches.
The NFL hopes perhaps double the 60m who watch an average match will tune in for this special occasion.
Securing the game is a coup for London - Toronto and Mexico City were keen to stage it, as well as Berlin, Frankfurt, Dusseldorf and Hamburg in Germany.
The game is part of an attempt by the NFL to raise its profile outside America.
The UK is no longer represented in its European offshoot, NFL Europe, following the demise of the Scottish Claymores in October 2004.
By contrast, Germany is home to five of the league's six current teams.
Mexico City's Aztec Stadium hosted the only regular season game to be staged outside of the US to date in October 2005, when 103,457 fans saw Arizona beat San Francisco.
Source :: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/american_football/6248825.stm
BBC sports editor
London will this autumn host the first regular season NFL game to be played outside North America.
The BBC understands the match will be played at the new Wembley, and that it will be a home game for Miami Dolphins, probably against the New York Giants.
London secured the match ahead of four German cities while Wembley fought off opposition from Twickenham.
"We're thrilled to bring the excitement of the NFL regular season to the UK," said NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
"London is one of the great cities of the world with an established and growing fan base for our game."
The date is yet to be confirmed, and announcements confirming Wembley as the venue and the teams will be made in a few weeks' time.
Wembley has hosted NFL teams before but only in exhibition matches.
The forthcoming game features two of the NFL's most high-profile teams, and could have a significant bearing on the race to reach the Super Bowl.
It will be played in its own time slot, around 1800 in London, rather than as part of the normal weekly group of matches.
The NFL hopes perhaps double the 60m who watch an average match will tune in for this special occasion.
Securing the game is a coup for London - Toronto and Mexico City were keen to stage it, as well as Berlin, Frankfurt, Dusseldorf and Hamburg in Germany.
The game is part of an attempt by the NFL to raise its profile outside America.
The UK is no longer represented in its European offshoot, NFL Europe, following the demise of the Scottish Claymores in October 2004.
By contrast, Germany is home to five of the league's six current teams.
Mexico City's Aztec Stadium hosted the only regular season game to be staged outside of the US to date in October 2005, when 103,457 fans saw Arizona beat San Francisco.
Source :: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/american_football/6248825.stm
