The news is that American football is popular in England, and very much so. Filling half of Wembley, a stadium that holds 90,000 people, for a college football game is no small thing. As the BBC reported, after hosting 42 NFL games since 2007, London has now discovered another side of American football and, above all, a completely different way of experiencing it.
On Saturday, Wembley hosted the first edition of the Union Jack Classic (UJC), between the Kansas Jayhawks and the Arizona State Sun Devils, with the game surrounded by a tailgate party, a long-established American ritual in which fans arrive at the stadium hours before kickoff, eat, drink, listen to music and turn the car park into a party. A tradition that is even more important in college football than in the NFL. The festivities outside Wembley began at 10am, seven hours before kickoff, and Kansas City rapper Tech N9ne was among those performing for the crowd. Arizona State alumni organised a party of their own, bringing together almost 2,000 fans, while the ASU marching band and cheerleaders performed on stage.
The biggest party, though, was on Wembley Way, where Fox Sports had set up an outdoor studio for its pre-game coverage. The studio was surrounded by fans and the Fox team kept the rivalry alive, while the Kansas and Arizona State bands went head-to-head, first along Wembley Way and then on the pitch shortly before kickoff. It is this combination of spectacle and passion that makes college football different from the NFL: in professional football, fans generally choose a team, while in college football, allegiance tends to be passed down from one generation to the next.
Around 15,000 fans travelled from the United States for Saturday’s game, 9,000 for Arizona State and 6,000 for Kansas. In the United States, it is unusual to see a significant travelling support at college games, but at Wembley both teams had a sizeable following and, with the game being played at a neutral venue, some spectators said the atmosphere felt more like a playoff game. Tickets were bought by fans from 35 different countries and, as is already the case with NFL games in London, not everyone in the stands was there to support the two teams on the field. There were NFL jerseys and college colours from prestigious universities such as Oklahoma, Miami and Texas, and one fan was even wearing the jersey of a British university team.
More than 100 universities in the United Kingdom have an American football team, and those players were among the audience the Union Jack Classic was particularly keen to reach, partly because, as students, they may feel closer to the world of college football than to the NFL. Over the course of the year, the UJC has helped train more than 1,050 British coaches and officials, some of whom were at Saturday’s game. Alex, a player at the University of Cambridge, said it was “great” to learn about the stories of Kansas and Arizona State, and that in future he would be happy to attend more college football games “if they are teams we can support”.
Wembley had expected a crowd of 60,000, but the final attendance was 46,523. Some ticket holders were moved into the lower tiers so that the upper ring of the stadium could remain closed, but it was still a significant turnout. Despite some spectacular plays, the game itself was not as entertaining as expected. Arizona State won 24-17, a result that, given the way the game unfolded, probably flattered Kansas more than the match itself did.
There were musical performances throughout the game, and a light show was staged during the third quarter. For the British crowd, it was a taste of the college football experience, even if some of the pageantry and ritual that characterise games in the United States were missing. There were fewer members of the marching bands and fewer cheerleaders than usual, while the crowd never reached the noise levels normally heard at Arizona State home games, which averaged 54,000 spectators last season.
Both universities are members of the Big 12 Conference. Its commissioner, Brett Yormark, said: “It exceeded my expectations, from the crowd to the logistics, to the way the local community welcomed us. It was fantastic, so we want more.” The organisers of the Union Jack Classic have signed a multi-year exclusive agreement with Wembley, and Yormark confirmed that other Big 12 universities would be interested in playing in London. Over the past 13 months, Big 12 teams have also played two games in Dublin, and the conference is considering expanding into another international market. “Not two weeks go by without someone calling me to say: ‘Take some of your product to this country or that country,’” Yormark said. “We’re exploring that possibility.” The commissioner added that the announcement of next year’s London game would come “within one or two months”. British fans will therefore have plenty of time to get ready for the next two universities to bring their rivalry across the Atlantic.