The NFL’s London Series kicked off its 2025 slate this weekend.
The Minnesota Vikings edged the Cleveland Browns 21-17 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Here are a few quick thoughts and observations from the stands.
The atmosphere
There was a cracking Vikings turnout – loud, colourful and proud.
Before kick-off, the “Skol” chant echoed outside the No.8 pub, immediately followed of course by a spirited “Green Bay sucks” for good measure.
A few Packers fans, never shy, reminded them how many Super Bowls their team has in comparison.
Inside Tottenham Stadium, the purple crowd easily outnumbered the Browns faithful. To their credit, the Cleveland fans were passionate, but they were very much the away side in atmosphere. When the Vikings defense needed a stop, the noise level was immense.
Jerseys everywhere
You can always count on the London crowd to bring out every jersey under the sun. Throughout the day, I spotted fans representing every NFL team – some more committed than others.
The most obscure sightings of they day included a black Tennessee Volunteers alternate and a UCLA Troy Aikman jersey that somehow looked brand new, despite Aikman leaving college before most of the crowd were born.
There were plenty of Packers colours around too. Micah Parsons #1 jerseys were everywhere – no surprise, given the marquee trade the Packers made to acquire him.
The old Rodgers jerseys are slowly being replaced by Love 10, with the British Packers embracing the new era more enthusiastically.
The new “Rivals” editions are still splitting opinion, though I will admit that the Cardinals “sand-blast” version looks fantastic.
The Dolphins “dark aquatic”, which one Dolphins fan assured me is its name, seemed to really divide opinion, although I must say I am a fan.
The oddest sight? A surprising number of Shedeur Sanders Browns jerseys. Prime Time Junior has clearly captured the hearts of the Browns fanbase, even if he is the third-choice quarterback.
Fans and moments
The highlight, as ever, was the people. London NFL crowds are unlike anything else: a friendly chaos of accents, teams and banter.
I met a young dad who proudly said: “I have no idea what is going on but he loves it,” as his son cheered in a Vikings jersey. Top-tier parenting.
I even saw a baby, maybe three months old at the most, in a Packers onesie. Start them young, as they say.
The not-so-good bits
Those stairs… good grief
If you have tickets for the South Stand upper section, bring oxygen. The climb is brutal.
Granted, I am not as fit as I once was but by the time I reached the top, people were applauding each other just for surviving the ascent.
You do get a great view but your quads will hate you for it.
Ticketing torture
The new system was a complete faff. Fans had to download the NFL OnePass app just to log into Ticketmaster, and then anyone you bought tickets for had to do the same. Naturally, OnePass failed pre-match.
In previous years, an email ticket worked perfectly. Why change something that was not broken?
And why not give fans the option of a physical keepsake ticket? It would cost little but mean a lot.
Pricey pints and sad burgers
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium remains one of the best venues for fan experience but the pricing is outrageous. There were £8 pints and £10-£12 burgers that looked like they had been sat under heat lamps since early morning.
Service was quick, to be fair, but at those prices, I was half-expecting to get equity in the stadium with my order.
Final thoughts
All in all, it was a brilliant return for the London Series. The crowd was lively, the game entertaining and even with the ticket chaos, wallet-punishing food, and that climb to the upper South Stand, it felt special.
NFL London is no longer a novelty. It is an event.
Loud, overpriced, slightly chaotic… and absolutely brilliant.
