Why the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium Is Perfect for Rugby League and NFL Games

Football is the most popular sport in the world but no one celebrates the beautiful game like the Brits. It is estimated that around forty percent of the British public watched at least one premier league game in 2020, and there are three English leagues below this level with fans of their own. However, that does not mean that the UK public isn’t open to other kinds of sport.

Both Rugby League and the NFL have seen a rapid spike in popularity in the last number of years, which means that they have needed to expand into new venues. These sports have each been played at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in recent memory, which seemed like an odd choice. Fortunately, this article seeks to clear up this confusion and explain why this stadium is perfect to host these sports.

Location

When hosting a large sporting event, you would hope that the fans can make it to the venue. Fortunately, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is located in North London, which just so happens to be England’s capital city as well as its most populous. This means that there are plenty of travel links to the stadium, and the area is well built to deal with large crowds.

What’s more, a capital city like London is going to be far more tourist-friendly. This is a great feature for a city hosting the number one sport in the USA, the NFL. As you can see, this location makes Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium perfect to host two very large sports.

Size

The Tottenham Hotspur football team originally played at a stadium called White Hart Lane. This huge stadium could hold up to 36,284 people, which is standard for a football team of this success. However, this stadium was demolished at the end of 2017 to make room for a new, larger arena.

In 2019, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was opened. This stadium stands in the same location as White Hart Lane, only now it can hold a maximum of 62,850 fans. While the club receives around 40,000 football fans for home games, this additional capacity is ample to host additional crowds for big NFL and Rugby League games.

Built For Purpose

You may be confused as to why these two games are played in a prominently football-centric arena. Well, the main reason why the sports are played here is down to a deal made between the owners of the club and the NFL back in 2019. This agreement stated that the new stadium would be host to several NFL games throughout the year to boost the popularity of the sport in this part of the world. In exchange for these games, the football club receives an extraordinary amount of money while also gaining a reputation as the home of American Football in the UK.

As for Rugby League, it is a sport that focuses on gaining yardage much like the NFL games. Therefore, the introduction of NFL AstroTurf into the stadium makes it the perfect place to host Rugby League. In fact, it only takes about twenty-five minutes to change the pitches at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. This means that it is possible to hold a Rugby League game in the morning and then have the Tottenham football team play in the afternoon.

Advertising

Advertising is a tricky business; however, the simplest objective is demonstrating your product to the largest audience possible. Tottenham Hotspur is a very large stadium with a varied audience as a result of the multiple sports it hosts. This makes it an advertiser’s dream. Ad companies can place billboards around the pitch and know that people are going to pay attention. Furthermore, the Tottenham Hotspur football team is popular enough to warrant T.V exposure during games. Therefore, it is possible for onlinecasinos and other UKGC regulated betting companies to reliably advertise themselves and receive business during these events. This surplus of advertising can spill over into the other sports events, bringing money to Rugby League and the NFL, respectively.

No Clashes

Tottenham Hotspur is an extremely successful football team in its own right. Each year they finish in the top half of the Premier League and vie for many of the top trophies, including the FA Cup and Champions League Trophy. Unfortunately, Tottenham Hotspur isn’t the most successful football club in their league or even the most successful club in London.

Other football teams, such as Arsenal and Chelsea, are far more likely to achieve the top prizes in their division; however, this works in Tottenham’s favour. While Tottenham Hotspur is a big enough club to draw attention from other parts of the world, it isn’t so big that its stadium is always booked up for other events. For example, Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium had to play host to a lot of the Olympic sports back in 2012. This leaves Tottenham Hotspur Stadium free to hold NFL and Rugby League games while maintaining all of the benefits discussed above.

Resources

There is more to a stadium than just its playing surface. Sports teams have to think about the game, but they also need a place to get changed and create strategies. Fortunately, the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was built with these needs in mind, boasting dedicated locker rooms for both the home and away teams of any sport. This means that NFL teams and football players can relax and get ready for their respective games without feeling out of place.

What’s more, this stadium takes it one step further by providing media facilities. Therefore, the games can receive the coverage they deserve without having to compromise on quality. It can be hard for rugby fans to enjoy a game when the cameras are clearly set up to follow football. Luckily, they do not this issue at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Conclusion

The decision to combine NFL with an English football stadium may have seemed ludicrous at first, but at least now you should have a good idea as to why the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was chosen. It has so much going for it that it is now one of the biggest stadiums in the country, and is now receiving an international audience thanks to this merger.