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The decision has been made over the first two of the NFL teams will play at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium later this year
Two of the NFL teams who will play at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium later this year have now been named.
On Wednesday, the NFL announced that the Jacksonville Jaguars and Washington Commanders would be the two participating home teams for the 2026 NFL London games. The two games are scheduled to be played at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium which has become the home of the sport in the UK as the only purpose-built stadium for the NFL outside of north America.
The Commanders' and Jaguars' opponents, along with the game dates and kick-off times, will be announced when the full 2026 NFL schedule is released this spring.
Tottenham's NFL deal was extended in 2023 until the end of the 2029/30 season and one of former chairman Daniel Levy's dreams was to have a double-header day with Spurs playing a Premier League game at lunchtime and then the grass pitch withdrawing for the artificial surface underneath to host an NFL encounter later that evening.
Levy's other hope was to have a London NFL franchise based full-time at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium one day alongside Spurs. There are hurdles galore to be jumped over before any NFL franchise could exist outside the USA, but the Premier League club have placed themselves in pole position to have one if that ever happens, with some experts tipping it to be a possibility within a decade.
In the mean time the next logical aim would be for a Super Bowl to be played at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and having the game in London is an idea that gained approval last year from the owner of the Dallas Cowboys Jerry Jones.
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Former Super Bowl winner and now Sky Sports pundit Ndamukong Suh was asked about the showpiece NFL game being played at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and he said: "Without question. There's no doubt in my mind that's on the table, and I would be willing to be bet in the next five years it happens. The world is their oyster where games go."
The NFL invested £10million into the building of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as part of its initial 10-year deal in 2015. They pay the Premier League club a hire fee for every game, which has been reported as being as high as £2million each time.
Spurs make around £6million for every Premier League match but the finances are different for NFL games as they hire out the ground.
They do get a cut of the millions recouped in food and drink revenue, which is around three times higher than it would be for a Premier League clash because the encounters can last up to four hours and the fans can drink beer in their seats. Tottenham also get a cut of the merchandise sold out of their club shop, which is transformed into an NFL store and the takings are said to be far higher than for the Premier League matches.
Now Spurs will receive their latest cash boost as the next two NFL London Games are played at their home later this year with the Jaguars also playing another game at Wembley Stadium.
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