It’s time for the NFL to make its annual trip to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and the venue has impressed the traveling stars.
The latest NFL stars to enter Tottenham Hotspur Stadium have heaped praise on the home of the Premier League club.
The annual NFL London Games saw 60,907 fans flock to the home of the Spurs on Sunday to watch the Indianapolis Colts defeat the Washington Chiefs 30-13 in the capital. American football has been played at the N17 since the days of White Hart Lane, but regular season games have been played at the new stadium which opened in 2019, currently under a contract that runs until the 2029/30 season and will be renewed due to the success of the arena.
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium features a retractable pitch that allows the sport to be played on a low surface with proper sight lines, and was designed as the first purpose-built NFL stadium outside of America. Huge revenues from NFL games and other events at the ground have helped Spurs stay within financial fair play restrictions when it comes to spending heavily in the transfer market.
For Colts forward Spencer Shrader, whose background was in “football” across the Atlantic, playing at the home of the Spurs as a Premier League fan was a dream come true. The 27-year-old is married to Lyon and US national football player Corbin Albert.
“During the game you try not to get upset, but there are moments when you look at the stadium and I can’t believe we’re in Tottenham’s stadium,” he said.
“It’s great. Then they showed Wayne Rooney [on the big screen]. And the craziest thing is, we grew up watching him. We appreciated the experience and did our best to take it all in and not be affected by the environment. “We still had a job to do, and we remained committed to the task before us.”
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He added: “I think the coolest thing is that this stadium is fully convertible for us to go in and it looks like an NFL field.
“There’s always a new place, a new environment, a little bit of different grass elements that you take into account. But it was perfect, everything was great.”
Chiefs linebacker Sonny Styles called it a “cool environment, cool stadium,” while Colts star Jonathan Taylor added: “This stadium, the energy was amazing, the fans were electric. I’m looking forward to going back. Hopefully, we’re planning to go back to London again.”
Colts coach Shane Steichen couldn’t hide his admiration for the Spurs in his post-game press conference after his team narrowly missed out on a win.
“I thought the stadium was phenomenal,” he said. “The fans were phenomenal. Great set-up. State-of-the-art. Even this conference room is phenomenal. We’re very lucky to be able to come here and play.”
This Sunday, the Philadelphia Eagles take on the Jacksonville Jaguars in the second of the London Games at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.