Spurs stadium to host Bears-Raiders, Panthers-Bucs in first North London NFL games

The agreement between Tottenham Hotspur and the NFL stipulated that the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium would host “up to four” NFL games per season in Spurs’ new home. For the 2019-20 NFL season, that number is officially two. NFL UK released the schedule for the London Games, and Spurs’ ground will host games between the Chicago Bears and the Oakland Raiders, and Carolina Panthers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The full schedule for the London Games are in the tweet below.

This will be the first time that the stadium’s multi-sport capabilities will be fully utilized, including the retractable grass field. The state-of-the-art stadium was designed with a permanent artificial turf playing surface below the grass field for use for NFL games specifically, but also for when the stadium hosts concerts or other events that might cause damage to the grass surface.

The two games will be played on consecutive Sundays in October (as are most NFL gridiron games), which likely means the stadium will either be hosting the NFL games one day before or after Spurs play, or on weekends when Spurs are playing away from home. My guess is it will be the latter, though we obviously haven’t received the new Premier League schedule and won’t for a while. It’s worth noting that there could also be a Champions League match played at the new stadium midweek the week prior.

The idea of utilizing the new stadium for NFL games will not only provide a new source of income for Spurs, but also brings in a whole new sports crowd to North London, with the idea that it will be part of what helps spur development of the area surrounding the stadium. We’ll see if that actually happens, but it’ll be wild to be able to watch Da Bears, ostensibly my “local” NFL franchise, play at the home of my adopted Premier League club.