The Buffalo Bills and Tennessee Titans are set to join regulars Jacksonville Jaguars in the UK for the three-game NFL London series in 2023.
The league - with the help of England captain and noted NFL fan Harry Kane - announced on Thursday that the Bills and Titans had been earmarked as designated teams to play at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the first time later this year, with their respective opponents to be named in due course.
As expected, the Jaguars will also be returning to their second home at Wembley Stadium for the 10th time for another regular-season contest in the autumn.
The NFL also confirmed that Patrick Mahomes’ Kansas City Chiefs and the New England Patriots would be heading to Germany for separate outings as part of the expanding international schedule that this year stands at a total of five games - three in London and two in Germany.
There are no contests planned in Mexico for 2023 due to scheduled renovations at the Estadio Azteca, which is a host venue for the 2026 football World Cup.
“Growing the league and our sport internationally is a major strategic priority for the NFL, and we are excited to again be playing five games outside of the United States in 2023,” said Peter O’Reilly, the NFL’s executive vice-president of club business, major events and international.
“We know how important live regular season games are to our passionate global fans and we thank our clubs for their strong, long-term commitment to this important initiative. Interest in our game globally is at an all-time high, and we look forward to returning to the UK and Germany in 2023 with some of the most iconic clubs and stars in the NFL.”
UK fans will be delighted to see the return of the Bills and star quarterback Josh Allen, who remain among the favourites for the Super Bowl this season after edging the depleted Miami Dolphins 34-31 in an initial playoff test that proved much trickier than expected on Super Wild Card Weekend. They face Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals at Orchard Park on Saturday night in a blockbuster Divisional Round showdown.
The Bills have played in London just once before, with an EJ Manuel-led team losing to the Jaguars in a close affair at Wembley back in 2015 after a late touchdown throw from then-Jacksonville signal-caller Blake Bortles to wide receiver Allen Hurns.
The Titans’ only previous trip to the capital came much more recently in 2020, when they failed with a last-gasp two-point conversion attempt following a Luke Stocker touchdown to go down 20-19 at Wembley to a Los Angeles Chargers team marshalled by Philip Rivers.
Injury-plagued Tennessee, led by star running back Derrick Henry, missed the playoffs altogether this year, 12 months after taking the no1 seed in the AFC after being overhauled by the Jaguars in the race for the AFC South division title, losing a winner-takes-all clash 20-16 in the final week of the regular season.
The Jags, much improved under head coach Doug Pederson and with generational quarterback talent Trevor Lawrence making a big second-year leap, play the Chiefs next in the playoffs after coming back from 27 points down to stun the Chargers 31-30 in an epic comeback on Saturday night.
Jacksonville have won four and lost five of their previous nine games at Wembley, defeated 21-17 by Russell Wilson and the Denver Broncos in a thrilling finish in October.
