Packers headed overseas for London game next NFL season
One of the NFL's most popular teams is finally making its international debut.
The Green Bay Packers are officially heading to the United Kingdom for a regular-season game in 2022, with dates, matchups and times to be announced in the coming months.
The Packers, who are slated to play at the recently constructed Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, are one of the five announced "home" teams to take part in this season's NFL International Series. Two other teams, the New Orleans Saints and the Jacksonville Jaguars, will host games in London, with the Saints also playing in Tottenham's 62,000-seater and the Jags heading across the city to Wembley Stadium.
Additionally, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will play the first NFL game in Germany at Allianz Arena in Munich, and the Arizona Cardinals will travel south to the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.
Green Bay becomes the final NFL team to take part in the series, which has completed 30 games in the United Kingdom and Mexico since 2007.
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium opened in April 2019, replacing Tottenham Hotspur’s previous stadium, White Hart Lane, where Tottenham Hotspur played from 1899-to 2017. The new stadium has played host to four NFL games thus far.
"This is something the league office has been talking to us for a long time about. We were the last team to play a game internationally," Packers CEO Mark Murphy said. "It's a great opportunity for NFL fans in Europe to become more familiar with the Packers and be more likely to come to Lambeau for a game in the future."
And while Spurs' glitzy arena can't compare to the Frozen Tundra's home-field advantage, the Packers should be well-received across the pond. A recent YouGov poll revealed that Green Bay is the seventh-most popular team among UK residents and the eighth-most known, all while the team has never played in the country.
Contests in the UK have been quite popular as well, with average attendances exceeding 70,000, and Americans and American expatriates comprising fewer than three percent of attendees.
The Packers tweeted an image confirming the team's arrangement Monday morning, with cutouts of Packers replacing the Beatles on their iconic Abbey Road album cover, and Allen Lazard, AJ Dillion, Rashan Gary and other players expressed their enthusiasm for their upcoming game in London over Twitter. However, the graphic did not feature Aaron Rodgers or Davante Adams, causing further speculation about the two stars' future in Wisconsin.
Green Bay's participation in the NFL International Series leaves the Packers with one fewer home game, now playing just eight contests at Lambeau Field in 2022. Historically, the team has refused to surrender a home game, which generate $15 million in revenue for the city, to play overseas, but NFL teams are now required to play at least one game abroad between 2022 and 2028.