NFL offers fans a sporting day out with a big difference

‘DUUUUVALLL’ – a booming call went over the crowd of people, many streaming towards the stadium ahead, but plenty of others just milling around and taking in the atmosphere.

It was a Sunday and I was in London for one of a number of National Football League (NFL) games at Wembley stadium – that’s American Football if you didn’t know.

And that call? Duval is the area from which the Jacksonville Jaguars – considered the ‘home’ team in the fixture I attended – come from.

But in terms of sporting rivalry, that one droning, low-pitched call is about as vehement as it gets.

I am actually a fan of the Atlanta Falcons, for reasons I won’t bore you with, but have been a follower of NFL games for a while now.

It is my Sunday evening ritual. Although games are held on Monday nights and even Thursday or Friday nights, they are always in the early hours here – as it is evening across the Atlantic – so I stick to the earlier kick-offs.

Thankfully, the schedule, unlike our own football calendar, is fairly rigid, with games at 6pm and 9pm UK time between late September and February, when the season ends with the Super Bowl. That’s the one game I stay up for, whatever the time.

But the volume of overseas fans has meant that NFL organisers have been lured into holding games in London for several years now, and last year also expanded to Germany. Having been gifted a ticket for my birthday, this was my first chance to watch NFL live and in person.

For anyone who hasn’t seen the build-up, the atmosphere is totally different to our own football, and only slightly less different to rugby.

For starters, there is not the tribal element which makes football both exhilarating and occasionally terrifying.

Fans are not segregated into home and away ends, or sides, and mix in together – like rugby – if they are even supporting one of the teams wholesale.

In fact, in London at least, it seemed like there were just as many people supporting other teams, with an array of colourful jerseys being worn from the moment we boarded our tube train towards Wembley. The view up Wembley Way, which links the station to the stadium, was a riot of colour, instead of just being a riot, which I sometimes fear our own football becomes.

The black of the Falcons and the teal and gold of the Jaguars were on display, but you could spot almost every other colour as well, from the red of Kansas City Chiefs to the white and azure of the Miami Dolphins and the orange of the Bengals.

If you think our own football clubs are ripping fans off with the cost of a replica jersey, you should see the price of an NFL shirt.

A Falcons jersey was a cool £105 and had already sold out in several sized as US fans – of which there were plenty – snapped them up.

The atmosphere outside the ground was more like a carnival, with food stands and various games to try your hand at.

Once inside, there were constant distractions beside the game, from the cheerleaders to shots of fans on giant screens and people shooting T-shirts up into the stands with what looked like plastic bazookas.

There was even a three-song cameo from pop star Tom Grennan as the halftime entertainment.

The game itself went the way of the Jaguars, but the sheer entertainment of seeing those players I had only previously seen on the small screen doing their thing in front of me was captivating.

For any of our own sporting teams looking at how they could improve the match-day experience, they could do a lot worse than take a look.

sea survival training myself, I have the utmost respect for the RNLI and its dedicated volunteers who generously devote their time to safeguarding and rescuing lives at sea, ensuring a safer environment for us all.”

Mark Dowie, chief executive of the RNLI, adds: “Salcombe Gin is made in my hometown, so I am hoping for great things! For 200 years, the RNLI has been saving lives at sea. All of the essential training and equipment for our lifeboat crews and lifeguards is only possible because of the donations we receive from our partners and supporters. Our partnership with Salcombe Gin will raise vital funds to help us continue our lifesaving work.”