How Tottenham Hotspur Stadium became NFL’s perfect UK home as Chicago Bears and Jacksonville Jaguars arrive in London

There is that old ‘you’ll know’ adage when it comes to the house-hunting process, the instant feel of belonging within a property ticking all the natural light, double-glazing and downstairs bathroom boxes – maybe even a kitchen island if you are extra plush. The NFL knew it had found its house, and didn’t waste any time in making it a home. 

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium has become the league’s forever home of sorts, offering a retractable pitch and spacious locker rooms fit for hundreds of pounds of footballing brawn as its double-glazing box tickers, while sweetening the deal with a tourist-privy Skywalk as its conversation-piece kitchen island.

The powers that be have since also renovated with the instillation of a Formula 1-backed go-kart experience underneath the stadium. The house-warming party began in October 2019 and, nine NFL games later, refuses to turn down the music.

“We’re looking to create that mini Super Bowl in London whenever we play here,” says NFL UK general manager Henry Hodgson. “Tottenham Hotspur Stadium helps us do that.”

Tottenham will play stage to its 10th NFL regular season game this weekend when Caleb Williams’ Chicago Bears and Trevor Lawrence’s Jacksonville Jaguars face off in a blockbuster duel of No 1-pick quarterbacks destined for stardom since childhood, live on Sky Sports.

It comes a week after 61,139 fans pitched up to watch the Minnesota Vikings extend their perfect start to 5-0 with victory over Aaron Rodgers’ New York Jets, a consequence of which being the headline firing of head coach Robert Saleh.

“We had the Vikings and the Jets playing on this field yesterday. That was the warm-up game. Now we have girls from five countries in Europe playing flag football here at Tottenham. This is the main event,” said Afia Law, NFL head of international flag football development.

Law was speaking at Monday’s inaugural NFL Flag Continental Series: Europe tournament, where Spain girls emerged victorious after beating Austria 13-0 in the final on the same field graced by Justin Jefferson and Rodgers 24 hours earlier.

The NFL’s annual games at Tottenham remain the chief festivity for UK football fans, while also serving as the fancy skylight to the league’s community initiatives, push for diverse participation and mission to expand the game overseas.

“It does feel like home,” Law continued. “We’re here every year. We’re not just playing NFL games here, we’re doing things like international flag football tournaments. It’s something that is so special.

“It’s not just about the NFL game anymore, we have programmes giving young people the opportunity to play our game and to play at Tottenham. It is a chance to see the young talent around the world and it’s incredible.”

Tottenham has become both an amphitheatre for double-doinking drama and Brian Flores blitz clinics, as well as the Harrods-at-Christmas shop window for the growth of football, all of which posing as a culmination of the league’s commitment to the UK and a defining relationship with Spurs.

“The vision came together for this to be a multi-purpose stadium for Tottenham Hotspur primarily, but also for the NFL,” Hodgson continued. “To have our field here, to have our locker rooms here, to have a base here, and because of that it means we do all these things like flag programmes and our games.

“We have everything we need for it to be super successful and it’s testament to the vision. It was really the understanding that, as we look to expand what we’re doing in the UK from playing London Games maybe once a year, to thinking how we really put roots down into this.

“One of the things we wanted to do is make sure we have a stadium that had everything we wanted and that was a great venue for us to play NFL games in, but this is just now a different level and the partnership we have had with Spurs has been incredible.”

This represents the 17th year that a regular-season game has been played in London since the New York Giants beat the Miami Dolphins at Wembley Stadium in the inaugural matchup back in 2007, the only omission having been 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

By the end of the month London will have hosted 39 games, 26 of which will have been at Wembley in addition to three at Twickenham Stadium.

The league had been unsuccessful in its bid to secure use of the Olympic Stadium following the 2012 Games, before agreeing a 10-year deal with Tottenham in July 2015 to stage at least two London games per year at their new stadium from 2019 onwards.

That partnership was extended through the 2029/30 season last September as Tottenham was awarded the title as the official home of the NFL in the UK.

“Spurs have been on board since day one,” said Hodgson. “It was a shared vision for Tottenham to create this incredible facility that could be shared by the NFL.

“I think through the process there have been some learning experiences on both sides, but it’s a true partnership and there are lots of pieces to it as we look to grow our brand and they equally look to grow the Tottenham brand.”

In its short existence Tottenham has not only played host to regular-season games, but also opened its doors to the International Player Pathway Scouting Combine – which secured opportunities in the league for the likes of Adedayo Odeleye and Ayo Oyelola – as well as matchups between the Loughborough-based NFL Academy and US opposition under the Tuesday night lights over back-to-back years.

The Academy returned to action this week as head coach Steve Hagen’s team were beaten 31-9 by Californian High School De La Salle in front of more than 1,000 spectators, before which defensive back Arthur de Boachie and edge rusher Kevin Bentin announced their commitment to respective D1 colleges Boise State and Long Island from the stadium’s home locker room.

Such had been the value of exposure at Tottenham in 2023 that multiple players received offers from Campbell University immediately after the win over Erasmus Hall. Lives, quite literally, have been changed on the Tottenham turf.

“We are bookended by two NFL games at the stadium, with a flag football tournament for young ladies and the Academy game in between,” said three-time Super Bowl-winning former New England Patriots executive Scott Pioli. “The commitment that the NFL has made, the commitment that the UK has made and that Tottenham has made to the NFL is genuine.

“I watched the game against Erasmus Hall on my phone from New York this time last year.”

Tottenham has provided both a dream window into the Academy and the unprecedented route to college football that it entails, as well as raising awareness of the talent across Europe and beyond, including Osi Umenyiora’s Uprise Academy and its athletes in Africa.

“It’s not only good for the NFL, but good for the players and their families,” Pioli continued. “I’ve watched some of these players come through NFL Africa and Germany and the way things like the International Player Pathway has impacted their lives from a financial perspective is genuinely heart-warming.

“This stadium is fantastic and I’ve been to so many events here like the IPP combine that we’ve had. It’s a fabulous stadium, I love the energy in the games.

“I wish more Americans could see this facility and all the things that happen here.”

In another first, former Vikings defensive end Jared Allen and Giants legend Umenyiora became the first two inductees into the NFL London Games Ring of Honour during a special ceremony on the field at half-time of Sunday’s game between the Jets and Vikings.

It became the latest beacon of Tottenham’s role at the heart of football in the UK and its power to bridge the transatlantic gap, two of the league’s finest edge rushers joined by their families as they made history right here in London.

Before the game Allen had led the SKOL chanting around the stadium as well as sounding the gjallarhorn to a sea of purple jerseys as Minnesota took over the city.

“I was laughing, we could be at U.S. Bank Stadium. This looks like a Vikings home game,” said Allen. “You’re seeing people come across the pond for the first time and their excuse is to watch a football game. I don’t even know if this was anticipated but the value of football over here has escalated for sure.”

As game 10 arrives, it feels a meaningful moment for the NFL and its connection to Tottenham, where an ever-raucous atmosphere, continued innovation and an all-eyes-on-us platform beyond the games themselves combines to form a powerhouse of footballing synergy and progression.

Watch the Chicago Bears face the Jacksonville Jaguars at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday October 13, live on Sky Sports NFL, with kickoff at 2.30pm. Also stream with NOW.