London calling: Ticket requests pouring in for overseas NFL game

[El Orans]

Dear NFL fan,

The moment you have been waiting for is almost here! Tickets will go on sale to those who submitted ticket requests via the nfllondon2007 website on 16th May 2007.

Back in February you requested to buy tickets for the historic first NFL game to be played outside of North America at Wembley Stadium on October 28 between the Miami Dolphins and New York Giants.

As you may have read on nfluk.com, the response was overwhelming, with more than 500,000 ticket requests in just 72 hours. Since then we have been working hard on ensuring that we can get as many of you into the stadium as possible.

Obviously we cannot satisfy this incredible demand, but since you registered your interest in purchasing tickets you are in the queue. Look out for an email and a letter that will be sent in a few days time revealing if you are one of those lucky enough to be able to purchase tickets, and how to go about doing so.

These tickets will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis, and therefore we cannot guarantee that you will be able to buy your tickets in the price category that you had previously indicated.

You will shortly receive an email to the email address you registered your ticket interest with (or the one that you requested to be updated to) explaining how you will make your purchase. This email will come from our official ticket partner for the game – Ticketmaster.

Should you for any reason miss the email from Ticketmaster, you will also receive a letter explaining the procedure for buying tickets.

Good luck buying your tickets – be sure to go online and make your purchase as early as possible to avoid disappointment.

We look forward to seeing you at Wembley.

Thanks,

nfluk

Still hopeful...

 

[El Orans]

Football fever

Ticket crunch beginning for game at Wembley

NEW YORK (AP) -- The grousing by some NFL fans over the first regular-season game to be played overseas might not be limited to this side of the Atlantic.

More than half a million ticket requests poured in soon after commissioner Roger Goodell announced the New York Giants would play the Miami Dolphins at the new Wembley Stadium in London.

That outpouring of interest for the Oct. 28 contest means many die-hard fans -- not to mention the curious observers the game is intended to reach -- will be stuck watching on TV.

"This is a game for Europe and a game for hardcore fans of both teams," said Alistair Kirkwood, managing director of NFL UK.

"The challenge we've got is to keep all the various stakeholders happy."

Ticket preference will go to season ticket holders and members of fan clubs, particularly in the United Kingdom. About 10,000 fans are expected to travel from the United States, only a fraction of the anticipated sellout crowd of 90,000.

Tickets go on sale in Europe on Monday and within the next week in the United States, but fewer than half will be immediately available. The rest will go on sale once team and league officials weigh the amount of interest the game generates among American fans and those abroad.

Giants co-owner Jonathan Tisch said the club has received about 3,500 requests.

"Not only has there been that response for initial tickets, when you look at our fan base that come to every game, then consider we have 120,000 people on our waiting list ... they also want to travel overseas," Tisch said.

Both teams have done research on how best to appropriate tickets, but Kirkwood admits that it comes down to "best guessing." How many tickets are ultimately available will also depend on the number purchased by a business tier of 15,000 people who have rights to purchase seats for any game played in the sparkling new stadium.

"What we're not going to have is the risk of unsold tickets out there," Kirkwood said, adding that about 2,000 will be reserved for general sale in the U.S. and Europe in September.

For those lucky enough to get a ticket, the game won't be cheap. Prices range from about $90 to $180, using a pricing structure similar to this weekend's FA Cup final between Manchester United and Chelsea.

"When I was in Miami, one of the British journalists came up to me in the dour, sour way that most of the journalists have in Britain," London Mayor Ken Livingstone said. "He said, 'Wouldn't it be humiliating if there are a bunch of empty seats?' And I said, 'I suspect that won't be the case."'

The game, which will kick off at 6 p.m. London time -- 1 p.m. on the East Coast of the United States -- comes after Arizona beat San Francisco in Mexico City in 2005. The league hopes to play regular-season games again in Mexico, as well as Canada and other cities in Europe in an effort to expand the game globally.

To accommodate the expansion, there has been increased discussion of replacing a preseason game with a regular-season game so that each team would play in a "foreign" market once a year without sacrificing a home game.

Tisch said that's an issue likely to come up at future owners meetings.

"We're all anxiously awaiting the start of the international games," Tisch said. "There is so much interest for this game that is emerging in lands far afield from the United States of America. We could easily add more international games to add to the fan base and the excitement of the NFL."

 

[Kim]

I'm beginning to think that you aren't really Dutch at all!!

(Tickets in the UK are always hard.......that's why they have Sky....
It's the same in Holland though.......ever been to an Ajax game?)

 

[El Orans]

I'm beginning to think that you aren't really Dutch at all!!

An American colleague once claimed that I was a "closet American". This happened after a discussion back in 2001 when I stated all the reasons why the Rams would repeat as NFC Champions... (which they did)

(Tickets in the UK are always hard.......that's why they have Sky....

We've got NASN.

It's the same in Holland though.......ever been to an Ajax game?)

No thanks. I prefer to watch my ritual violence on the field, not in the stands... :shakehead

 

[El Orans]

NFL a hot ticket in London

First regular-season game overseas selling well

LONDON (AP) -- The first regular season NFL game outside North America is shaping up as a hot ticket.

The first 40,000 tickets for the Oct. 28 game between the Miami Dolphins and New York Giants at the new Wembley Stadium sold in 90 minutes Wednesday.

"The speed in which such a large number of tickets were snapped up ... demonstrates the great excitement and appetite for the game in this country," said Alistair Kirkwood, managing director of NFL UK. "We know that the last few tickets available in this first batch will be gone very soon."

The first batch of tickets went to fans in Britain and the rest of Europe selected randomly from registered ticket requests.

Sales in the United States to Giants and Dolphins fans are expected to begin within a week. Further tickets will be released to fans in Britain next month.

About 10,000 fans are expected to travel from the United States, a fraction of the anticipated sellout crowd of 90,000.

Prices range from about US$90 (euro66.50) to US$180 (euro133), using a pricing structure similar to this weekend's FA Cup final between Manchester United and Chelsea.

Well... looks like it's not going to happen...

 

[Missdirected]

Well... looks like it's not going to happen...

ftroest: my poor El :sad:

 

[Tom Winters]

When the NFL moved the Giants-Dolphins game from Florida, people in southern Florida went even more ballistic than they normally are in the course of their days. Just as there are more Jews in New York than Israel, there are more New Yawkers down here than in New York.
The Giants only play down here every 10 or 15 years, so I guess it will be a while. It gets kinda nasty in the stands when the Jets play here - lots of the lowest common denominators loose and well-lubed with lotsa beer.

 

[wstein]

should be interesting. hopefully the 'fin's will be better this season.

 

[El Orans]

should be interesting. hopefully the 'fin's will be better this season.

Giants (5-2) @ Dolphins: (0-7)

I'm so happy I have tickets for Jaguars (4-2) @ Buccaneers (4-3)...

 

[El Orans]

Like I said, I'm very happy to have missed the London game... ​