London dream for NFL

Wembley: NFL venue

We're a long, long way away from having a fanbase that would support a London team. But we're getting a track record here. Once it moves to two games and we make a success of that then it becomes closer. If you can then get four games a year then that's half an NFL season.

Alistair Kirkwood
Quotes of the week

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NFL UK managing director Alistair Kirkwood told skysports.com a franchise could be based in London within the next six years, if the games at Wembley continue to flourish.

A third game at Wembley takes place on Sunday, with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers hosting the New England Patriots, and with another 85,000 sell-out on the cards the games continue to grow.

The first game in 2007 did come in for criticism because the newly-laid Wembley pitch was dug up as rain lashed the capital, but as the Giants won and then went on to claim the Super Bowl, any negativity has largely been forgotten.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has spoken of the possibility of playing another regular season game at Wembley, and Kirkwood believes that will be the first step on the road to an NFL team being based in London.

"Whether its 2010 or 2011 I'm not sure but playing two games is definitely a possibility," Kirkwood told skysports.com. "The key thing is we need to get two teams to give up a home game. And that's what we'll be working on after this game.

Process

"It's quite an involved process. The league office talks to the owners of the potential home teams and we get testimonials from teams who have played here - we were lucky the Giants made the Super Bowl after 2007."

And on the possibility of a franchise in London, Kirkwood added:

"If the stars are aligned and everything was working really well, then I think maybe something like 2015, but for that to happen we'd have to continue to do a really good job every year.

"We're a long, long way away from having a fanbase that would support a London team. But we're getting a track record here. Once it moves to two games and we make a success of that then it becomes closer. If you can then get four games a year then that's half an NFL season.

"The last couple of years have been about proving that the games could work and would be popular. This year we are concentrating on growing the fan base and the popularity of the sport. Once you've played enough games then those theoretical discussion about franchises become more realistic."

Praise

Wembley has received glowing praise and players such as the great Tom Brady are thrilled to be playing in London this year, and having the most successful team of the past decade playing in the Patriots just emphasises how the game is growing.

"We'll have 85,000 in which is our capacity for this year, I was at the stadium earlier today and things are looking really good," Kirkwood added.

"We have some input in discussions about what away teams would be best for the game, and we're delighted this year to be welcoming the most successful team of the last decade and players of the calibre of Tom Brady."

Kirkwood is confident the sport will grow in the UK, and with commissioner Goodell right behind them that dream of a London franchise may not be too far from a reality.

"He's very supportive of everything we've done," Kirkwood said of Goodell.

"For the last ten years he's been very focused on building up the UK side of things. We're relying on him to keep providing us with opportunities to keep staging games and keep extending the fan base."