London may have 13 league football clubs, five rugby football clubs, and two county cricket sides but last weekend's Super Bowl showed that there is still plenty of support left over for a little transatlantic game called 'American' football. Many pubs offered tickets and special theme nights in order to cater to US expats and anyone else who wanted to catch the biggest game in the gridiron calendar. The Sports Café in Haymarket, central London, began selling tickets in December and was sold out weeks in advance. Several other venues followed suite to supply the demand of fans wanting to watch the action live on the big screen, sport NFL jerseys and drink American beer. Although it is traditionally seen as just an American spectator sport, the National Football League is steadily gaining an international following. Home-from-home Up to two million people watch the Super Bowl every year in the UK and 90 million globally, according to the National Football League UK. More than 500 fans from several different nationalities packed the Cheers Bar in Regent Street making it a home-from-home for many. American Vivik Acharya encouraged his British friends Daniel West, Pete Hornung and Oscar Newsom, to join him in cheering on the Indianapolis Colts. Confusing Daniel West, who had money riding on the Colts, said he loved the game but wasn't sure it would ever be anything other than a minority sport over here. He added: "I've been watching for the past three years. It will never be as popular in the UK because it's confusing for people and it will be competing with football." Australian Kirby Barr has watched the Super Bowl on television since she arrived in London two years ago but came to Cheers this year to "soak up the atmosphere" with her American friend. She said the excitement of the die-hard fans and the performance of Colt's quarterback Peyton Manning's were the main highlights of the evening. NFL in London Mayor of London Ken Livingstone has also been taking notice of the rise in the NFL internationally.
 | | Colts' quarterback Petyon Manning |
The mayor together with Visitlondon have successfully bid to be the first city to host a regular season game outside the USA. Marked to be held in the new Wembley Arena, the game will see the Miami Dolphins take on the New York Giants on Sunday the October 28, 2007. If successful, the NFL could add additional games in the upcoming years and hope is high after the website announcing the game was inundated with over 100,000 ticket requests within the first three hours. | 
