When the National Football League takes its latest crack at the U.K. market this year, it will do so with the Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles heading for an overseas showdown Sunday, Oct. 28, against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
This will be the Eagles’ first-ever regular-season game overseas. The team has previously played in four international preseason games: 1978 vs. New Orleans in Mexico City, 1989 vs. Cleveland and 1991 vs. Buffalo at London’s (old) Wembley Stadium, and 1993 vs. New Orleans in Tokyo.
There won’t be any noticeable changes to the game being played on the field, but perhaps a bit of different vernacular used by UK broadcasters.
Philadelphia’s ferocious pass rush will undoubtedly look to its “Badman” (English slang, apparently, for ‘most intimidating” fella), but will it be Chris Long, Brandon Graham, or someone else leading the “Defence”? And the “Topman” label (the most significant person of a group) might go to a hopefully healthy Carson Wentz or his trusty Super Bowl MVP backup, Nick Foles.
A translation guide for American football once published by BBC America doled out other helpful hints for American football fans in London, such as this gem: “In the U.K., cleats are known as studs. In the U.S., studs are known as Ryan Goslings.” Plus, it noted that Londoners will never pluralize the term “offside” and any game beyond regulation shall be ‘extra time’ and not “overtime.”
If you’re working on getting your ducks in a row to cross the pond, here’s what you need to know about getting tickets:
- Regular tickets for the two Wembley Stadium games (the Eagles vs. Jaguars and the Titans vs. Chargers) will go on sale tomorrow, May 1, at 10 a.m. LOCAL time on Ticketmaster. That’s 5 a.m. here in the Lehigh Valley.
- According to Ticketmaster, prices will range from £21.00 to £156.00 (converting British pounds to American dollars, that’s roughly $29 to $217 based on the current exchange rate)
- All prices will include a ‘per transaction delivery fee, which will be added to the total amount due. Delivery fees will vary based on your billing address. Ticketmaster’s fee for an International Secure Courier to the U.S. will be £13.50 (about $19).
- Child tickets (16 & under) are available for $22.50 in Level 1 (blocks 127-131) or for $20 in Level 5 (blocks 513/514 and 518-520) of the stadium. Children must be accompanied by an adult.
- There will be a limit of 3 child tickets per adult. Anyone selecting an incompatible number of Family Adult and Family Child tickets through Ticketmaster will have their transaction voided and will see an error number displayed. If you see this warning, you must return to the event page and select the maximum of 3 Child tickets per adult.
- There is a strict ticket limit of 8 tickets per person, per credit card for the game. Persons who exceed the ticket limit may have any or all of their order(s) canceled without prior notice by Ticketmaster. This includes orders associated with the same name, same e-mail address, billing address, credit card number or other information.
- Wheelchair spaces and personal assistant seats are distributed across all levels of the stadium. For accessible seating options call Ticketmaster at 0333 003 5941. (From the U.S., dial 011 first for an international line, then 44 for the country code, then 20, which is the area code for London, and then the main number)
For those wanting to register their interest in attending the London game, they can do so by visiting Ticketmaster.com/NFL to stay up-to-date on the latest information, as all tickets are on a first-come, first-served basis.
For those who are looking for full travel package options, Thomas Cook and On Location are the designated, official travel partners of the NFLUK.
To find out more about available packages, visit https://www.thomascooksport.com/NFL/NFL-London-Games or https://nflonlocation.com/internationalgames/.
Twitter @ssigafoos
610-820-6612