Raiders, Seahawks kick-off NFL's new dawn in Tottenham

A new sporting era will kick-off in October as two of the most famous teams in America’s National Football League (NFL) go head-to-head in the first NFL match at our new stadium.

The NFL today (Thursday 11 January) announced their London Games for 2018 and Oakland Raiders will play host to the Seattle Seahawks in Week 6 of the NFL’s 2018-19 season at our world-class new home on Sunday 14 October.

The Raiders have won the Super Bowl on three occasions (1977, 1981, 1984) while Seahawks won their first Super Bowl in 2014 and were runners-up in 2015.

The teams are home to some of the biggest names in the NFL including quarterback Derek Carr, running-back Marshawn Lynch and wide receiver Michael Crabtree at Raiders and quarterback Russell Wilson, cornerback Richard Sherman and wide receiver Doug Baldwin with the Seahawks.

This marks the start of an exciting partnership and represents the NFL playing for the first time in a London venue with purpose-built facilities.

In 2015, the Club and NFL announced a 10-year partnership for regular season games to be staged at our new stadium from this year. Our state-of-the-art new home, due to open this summer, will feature a retractable grass field with an artificial surface underneath that will be used for NFL games, as well as customised designs for the NFL including a dedicated entrance, purpose-built dressing rooms and medical and media facilities.

Chairman, Daniel Levy, said: “This is a milestone year for the Club as we look ahead to the opening of our new stadium and all that it will bring to the area of Tottenham.

“The announcement of the first game of the NFL’s 2018 London Games to take place at our new home heralds the commencement of our 10-year partnership. This is one of the cornerstones of our vision for creating a world-class sports and leisure destination that will make Tottenham a hive of activity 365 days a year and drive the regeneration of one of the most deprived areas of London.

“The NFL will bring a whole new audience to the local area, showcase Tottenham and bring further economic and social benefits with truly global coverage and attraction.”

Mark Waller, NFL Executive Vice-President of Events and International, said: “This is another important year as we develop our plans for London and the UK.  We are very excited about playing our first game at Tottenham’s magnificent new stadium and will follow our usual pattern of playing one game in our first season at a new venue, as we did at Wembley and Twickenham in previous years. This enables us to achieve important learnings relating to the fans’ preferences, ticketing, team logistics and local transportation and infrastructure in order to create the best possible experience and environment. We will play an additional game at Tottenham in a future season, over and above the planned two per year, to make up for this.”

The NFL’s London Games will also see Jacksonville Jaguars host Philadelphia Eagles and LA Chargers host Tennessee Titans at Wembley on the weekends of October 21 and 28. The order of those matches, along with kick-off times for all three matches, are to be confirmed.

Ticketing details will be announced by NFL UK on January 18. Anyone interested in registering their interest in attending any of the games can do so at www.ticketmaster.co.uk/nfl to ensure they receive all the latest information.