Wembley secures NFL extension

NFL action will return to Wembley Stadium in 2025 after the London venue agreed a one-year extension to its hosting rights deal.

The news was disclosed today (Friday) as the League announced the designated teams set to play in London as part of the 2025 NFL International Games. The New York Jets, Cleveland Browns and Jacksonville Jaguars will each play international games in London as the ‘home team’ during the 2025 regular season.

A commitment to playing two regular season games in London at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and one game in Madrid at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu – home to Real Madrid – had already been announced for 2025, along with a fixture at the Olympiastadion in Berlin.

Wembley’s last deal signed with the Jaguars was in 2020 for four years, meaning it was effectively out of contract following this season’s game, which saw the Jaguars defeat the New England Patriots 32-16 on October 20.

While the new deal is just for one year, TheStadiumBusiness.com understands Wembley retains a strong relationship with the Jaguars, who have appeared at the stadium every year since their debut in the UK in 2013.

“We are once again delighted that we will be back in London later this year for our 14^th game in the capital and particularly happy to play another home game at Wembley Stadium,” said Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan.

“We are grateful for our extended partnership with the Football Association that makes it possible to return to Wembley, one of the world’s most iconic stadiums and the Jaguars home away from home.

“We achieved some significant highlights during our trip last season with record-breaking attendance while delivering great community, fan and partner events and another Jaguars win at Wembley.

“However, I am most proud that through our grassroots program JagTag, we have now reached more than 100,000 young people across the UK and Ireland during the year, helping to grow the sport of American football and encouraging young people to get active through the work we do in local communities. 

“Our annual home game at Wembley is the pinnacle of the amazing work we do every day to advance the game and the Jaguars in London and throughout the UK, and there will be much more to come in 2025.”

The Jaguars’ one year commitment to Wembley and London comes as the franchise prepares to step up its ‘Stadium of the Future’ scheme back home in Jacksonville. In October, the Jaguars received unanimous backing from NFL team owners for their $1.4bn (£1.14bn/€1.36bn) project, which is set to lock down their long-term future in the Florida city.

Following the 32-0 vote at the NFL Fall League Meeting in Atlanta, the project to transform EverBank Stadium will move forward as planned. The stadium transformation will commence in early 2025, with a planned grand opening in August 2028.

With Wembley again hosting the Jaguars, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium will next year welcome the Jets and Browns. The Jets and the Jaguars hold marketing rights in the UK, as part of the League’s Global Markets Program — an initiative that awards clubs international marketing rights to build brand awareness and fandom beyond the US, through fan engagement, events and commercial opportunities.

Each team’s opponent, along with the game dates and kickoff times will be announced when the full 2025 schedule is revealed this spring.

The NFL last month announced that it will play its first-ever regular season game in Berlin, with the Olympiastadion set to stage the inaugural event under a multi-year contract. The deal came after NFL commissioner Roger Goodell in November revealed that the League is looking to play up to eight regular season games outside of the United States in 2025, with Berlin and Dublin potential new destinations.

Berlin will be a new German location for the NFL, with games having been split between Munich’s Allianz Arena and Frankfurt’s Deutsche Bank Park since 2022. However, the NFL played five American Bowl games at the Olympiastadion between 1990 and 1994, and it was also home to NFL Europe’s Berlin Thunder from 2003-07.

The NFL has staged regular season games abroad since 2007, when the Miami Dolphins and New York Giants met at Wembley Stadium. The path to potentially enhancing the International Games calendar was set in December 2023, when NFL team owners voted to permit an increase in League-operated inventory from a minimum of four up to a maximum of eight games a season, beginning in 2025.

The 2024 International Games was made up of three fixtures in London, two at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and one at Wembley Stadium, along with the return to Munich’s Allianz Arena. The series was brought up to five in September as São Paulo’s Neo Química Arena hosted the League’s first-ever game in South America.