NFL International Games: Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings to play in London in 2024
- Published
- comments
NFL play-offs |
---|
Dates: 13-28 January 2024 |
BBC coverage: Live text coverage of every match on the BBC Sport website and app, and live radio commentary on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra and BBC Sounds every Sunday, beginning with Green Bay Packers v Dallas Cowboys (21:00-01:30 GMT). |
The Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings will play in London as part of the NFL International Games in 2024.
They will join the Jacksonville Jaguars as the 'home' teams for next season's three games in the English capital.
The Jags had already committed to play at Wembley, so the Bears and Vikings will host the two games at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The Carolina Panthers will be the home team when the NFL returns to Munich, Germany, in 2024.
The NFL has confirmed it will also play a regular season game in South America for the first time in 2024, as Brazil was chosen as a host country ahead of Spain.
The home team for that game at Sao Paulo's Corinthians Arena will be named in the coming months, before the announcement of the 2024 NFL schedule.
The opposing teams for the five international games, along with the dates and kick-off times, will be announced when the schedule is revealed.
"It's really exciting, they're great teams," NFL UK's general manager Henry Hodgson told BBC Sport. "What's different for this year is that the Bears and Vikings are part of the NFL's global markets programme,, external which allows teams to invest and grow their fanbase in specific markets they've chosen.
"Over the last couple of years, those teams have already done a lot in the UK without the promise of a game here at the end of it - such as a girls' flag [football] programme and watch parties. It shows that these teams really mean it when they say they're committed to the UK.
"Now having a big moment like a game here is a really good opportunity for them to do more and to focus that engagement around, like the Jags have done before them."
Could there be more NFL games in the UK?
The Jacksonville Jaguars were the first NFL team to commit to playing regular international games. They have played in every London series since 2013 and in 2023 they became the first team to play two regular season games outside the US in the same season, winning both.
Their current agreement to play each year at Wembley expires in 2024. Discussions over extending that deal are ongoing.
Five international games were played in 2023, with Frankfurt staging two as Mexico's Azteca Stadium is being renovated. Once that work is complete, the NFL has said games will return to Mexico.
Last month NFL teams voted, external for the league to schedule up to eight international games per season from 2025, when the UK, Mexico, Germany and Brazil could all host games.
Tottenham's deal with the NFL, which they extended last year to 2029, is to host "a minimum of two" games per season, so could there be more staged in London?
"In the near term, the more likely outcome is to do more of going to new markets and giving them a chance to experience what us fans in the UK have been able to for some time now," Hodgson added.
"It's really exciting to think about fans in Brazil and potentially across other markets in Europe having those opportunities in the near future.
"But there are discussions happening at the moment about how the UK can potentially host other games as part of that programme."
Saving lives in a place like no other: In the stunning, wild landscape of Snowdonia, dedicated teams stand by to help
The bickering undead housemates return: Watch the hit mockumentary following vampires living in suburban Staten Island