Yeah, we were going to go to the game, but too many boxes to be shifted! Will need to catch up next time, don't think I'll have a minute to myself!!! :grin:
What they're gonna do is....give these teams a bye after they play this game, it's the only fair way.
Giants and Dolphins to play in London on October 28 February 2, 2007 By Chris Palochko PA SportsTicker Staff Writer MIAMI (Ticker) - The NFL is heading across the pond. The league announced Friday that the Miami Dolphins and New York Giants will meet in a regular-season game in London next season. ADVERTISEMENT The historic contest will be played at the new 90,000-seat Wembley Stadium on October 28 at noon EST. The game will be televised by Fox. Miami has been designated the home team, meaning it will play seven games at Dolphin Stadium next season rather than the normal eight. "The international popularity of the NFL grows each year," commissioner Roger Goodell said. "That interest will be seen as the far corners of the world watch the Super Bowl this Sunday. That is a fascination we will build upon. London and its international stature adds to the game." London mayor Ken Livingstone was on hand for the announcement of the game at the Super Bowl media center. "We are expecting around 10,000 American fans to travel to London to watch this game as well as people from Europe," Livingstone said. "There will be 60 million TV viewers in the U.S. alone, so it will be a great opportunity to showcase London to new visitors and for people to see the way we uniquely enjoy our sport." Among those in attendance at Friday's news conference were new Dolphins coach Cam Cameron and Dolphins defensive end Jason Taylor to go along with Giants quarterback Eli Manning, the younger brother of Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning and Giants defensive end Michael Strahan. NFL owners voted last October to play up to two games outside the United States every year for the next five years, with just one game to be played in 2007. "Needless to say, we are enthused and excited to be part of this historic event," Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga said. "This event is not great for just the UK, but all of Europe." "We are extremely excited and proud to take our team and product across the pond," Giants executive Jonathan Tisch said. At the conclusion of the news conference, Huizenga and Tisch presented Livingstone with jerseys of their respective teams. Huizenga also was not concerned about the travel to London for his team. A flight from Miami to London should take around six hours, a little more than a trip from South Florida to the West Coast. "We'll treat it as an away game like Seattle or San Francisco," Huizenga said. "I don't think it will be a big deal at all." When to travel to the UK for the game is up to the individual teams. Both teams will have their annual bye the following week. The NFL staged its first regular-season game outside the United States in 2005 when 103,467 people saw the Arizona Cardinals play the San Francisco 49ers in Mexico City - the largest crowd for a regular-season game in NFL history. NFL Europa failed to take root in Britain, which now has no teams in that league. However, Goodell said there is still a huge NFL fan base in Britain, with many of the league's supporters having watched the game when American football was broadcast on terrestrial television in the 1980s. Another reason for the game being popular in Britain was that fans were able to watch the-then defending Super Bowl champion Chicago Bears and players like Walter Payton and William "The Refrigerator" Perry perform at Wembley in a preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys in 1986.
I wonder how much the NFL pressured the Dolphins to give up one of their home games. You know that they didn't just roll over with this. I would never agree to give up a home game but I guess the Dolphins figure they need to get as many fans as they can in London
