Tottenham Hotspur chairman Daniel Levy is keen on the idea of the English Premier League football club’s new home stadium staging NFL American football games when it opens in 2018.
The 61,000-capacity ground is in the process of being built across the road from White Hart Lane, Tottenham’s current home. The new facility is expected to be open in time for the start of the 2018-19 Premier League season and Levy (pictured) has described the chances of an NFL game being played at the stadium in 2018 as “realistic”.
Last year, the NFL agreed a 10-year deal with Tottenham to play a minimum of two games per season at its new ground, but it has not yet been confirmed when the agreement will commence.
In an interview with sports broadcaster ESPN, Levy and the NFL’s executive vice-president of international, Mark Waller, said the stadium could even stage NFL and Premier League games on the same day.
Waller said: “One of the idle thoughts we have at the moment is would you really be able to play an NFL game and an EPL game on the same day as a double header?
“It wouldn’t be absolutely out of the question. I don’t think you’d want to do it on a regular basis, but on a unique feature, that might be a really interesting idea.”
Levy described the prospect as “fantastic” but admitted it would not be something the club would try out straight away.
London’s Wembley Stadium has hosted NFL regular-season games since 2007 and holds a contract with the league until 2020. The city’s Twickenham rugby ground will next month stage its first ever NFL fixture as it kicks off a three-year agreement with the league.
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