Nonentity
Third String But Playing on Special Teams
- Joined
- Feb 28, 2009
- Messages
- 737
- Reaction score
- 279
I thought I'd chime in, I paid £95 ($155) for sideline seats that were on the 15 yard line, luckily on the Patriots side. Had a great view of Ingram and Hanson practicing together constantly throughout the game. The other thing I noticed was Tampa's cheerleaders....smokin hot!
To echo some of the other fans, I wouldn't switch and support a London franchise over the Patriots. Welcome to sport: you choose your team and that's your team for life. I'm an Arsenal fan for football, Wasps fan for rugby, Essex fan for cricket and Patriots fan for 'American' football. None of those will ever change.
Honestly I can't ever imagine seeing a London franchise in the next 20 years. It's a niche sport and those that watch it love it, but there's just not enough of us to maintain a franchise. People come from all over the UK to see the yearly games, which is never going to happen with a London-based franchise. Realistically you need a fan base of 500k active fans, minimum, if you want to sell out a large stadium every week - and I don't see that ever happening. I'm happy with the International Series of games, I'd love to see two a year but probably couldn't afford to see more. And don't ever put a Super Bowl here either. It's an American sport played by Americans, the flagship event belongs in America.
There's been two real waves of NFL fans in the UK: the first wave was in the 1980s as Mike and Paul described. Coverage then dropped through the 90s. The second wave came with SkySports showing games on Sunday evening (6pm/9pm/midnight kickoffs, perfect for an evening in front of the TV) and Madden games. Don't underestimate the power of Madden - it's a great game and you pick up the rules and plays very quickly.
The internet's a wonderful thing because it lets you follow your team every single week. NFL.com is a great website and there's always a way to watch your team over the internet. I live in London yet read the Boston Globe's Patriots section every single day. We don't need to be patronised by *******s like Dan Shaughnessy making jokes about British fans not understanding the sport. Why the **** would we stump up for tickets to a sport we didn't understand? When it went on sale, the game sold out in SIX MINUTES.
Sorry about that...rant over. All of the American fans I met were fantastic, really really friendly and happy to chat away about absolutely everything. Come to London and see the game next year. You'll love it, and so did we.
Some photos:
To echo some of the other fans, I wouldn't switch and support a London franchise over the Patriots. Welcome to sport: you choose your team and that's your team for life. I'm an Arsenal fan for football, Wasps fan for rugby, Essex fan for cricket and Patriots fan for 'American' football. None of those will ever change.
Honestly I can't ever imagine seeing a London franchise in the next 20 years. It's a niche sport and those that watch it love it, but there's just not enough of us to maintain a franchise. People come from all over the UK to see the yearly games, which is never going to happen with a London-based franchise. Realistically you need a fan base of 500k active fans, minimum, if you want to sell out a large stadium every week - and I don't see that ever happening. I'm happy with the International Series of games, I'd love to see two a year but probably couldn't afford to see more. And don't ever put a Super Bowl here either. It's an American sport played by Americans, the flagship event belongs in America.
There's been two real waves of NFL fans in the UK: the first wave was in the 1980s as Mike and Paul described. Coverage then dropped through the 90s. The second wave came with SkySports showing games on Sunday evening (6pm/9pm/midnight kickoffs, perfect for an evening in front of the TV) and Madden games. Don't underestimate the power of Madden - it's a great game and you pick up the rules and plays very quickly.
The internet's a wonderful thing because it lets you follow your team every single week. NFL.com is a great website and there's always a way to watch your team over the internet. I live in London yet read the Boston Globe's Patriots section every single day. We don't need to be patronised by *******s like Dan Shaughnessy making jokes about British fans not understanding the sport. Why the **** would we stump up for tickets to a sport we didn't understand? When it went on sale, the game sold out in SIX MINUTES.
Sorry about that...rant over. All of the American fans I met were fantastic, really really friendly and happy to chat away about absolutely everything. Come to London and see the game next year. You'll love it, and so did we.
Some photos:
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