The NFL has signed a 10-year agreement with Tottenham Hotspur FC to play two regular-season games annually at the EPL club’s new London stadium starting in '18, when the venue opens. The agreement does not mean the NFL is moving away from Wembley Stadium, where it has staged regular-season games annually since '07, including three last year. The league fully expects to renew its deal with Wembley, whose contract with the NFL ends after the '16 season. A deal there would mean the NFL would play games beginning in '18 at both venues. NFL Int'l Exec VP Mark Waller said, “Wembley has been a great relationship for us." However, the league has had concerns about field wear and tear at Wembley, as has the FA, which owns the facility. Wembley hosts English national soccer games, and national team members have expressed criticism about the quality of the field in the wake of NFL games at the venue. Scheduling NFL games also is an issue at Wembley because of other special events that are scheduled at the venue, such as this fall’s Rugby World Cup. At Tottenham, there will be two fields at the stadium: a permanent field for the NFL and, on top of that, a soccer field that can slide out of the venue. Waller said that the Tottenham deal also gives the NFL more flexibility in deciding whether to move a team to London or play a fuller slate of games with more teams.
