"The fanbase determines whether a market is ready and the fanbase here is extraordinary."
Friday 12 January 2018 06:05, UK
The UK is ready for an NFL franchise, according to one of the league's vice-presidents Mark Waller.
It was announced on Thursday that London will host three NFL games next season and Waller believes it will further strengthen the idea that the UK can host a permanent team.
Three games will take place in three successive weeks for the first time. Two will be staged at Wembley following the first game which will be played at Tottenham Hotspur's new 61,000-seat stadium.
Waller, NFL executive vice-president of events and international, said: "I think we are ready, we have definitely learned a lot in the 11 years we have been doing this. The fanbase determines whether a market is ready or not and the fanbase here is extraordinary.
"That's very important [playing three weekends in a row] it was one of the factors to play three games rather than four.
"We really wanted to test the back-to-back logistics, the back-to-back fan demand and also our ability as a league and a set of clubs to execute consistently at a great level over three weekends."
London will play host to three games instead of the usual four but the NFL have said that it will be made up in the future when five games will be played in a season.
In the first of next season's match-ups on October 14, the Oakland Raiders will play host to the Seattle Seahawks at Tottenham's new stadium.
That game is followed by a double-header at Wembley with the Philadelphia Eagles making their debut in London against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Another first-time team Tennessee Titans will play Los Angeles Chargers.
