Tampa Bay and New England to clash at Wembley in October 2009

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will host the New England Patriots when the National Football League continues its International Series at London’s Wembley Stadium
on Sunday, October 25, 2009, the NFL announced today.

The Buccaneers and Patriots have been two of the NFL’s most successful teams in recent years, combining to win four of the past seven Super Bowls. Both clubs are strong contenders for a return trip to the playoffs this season.

The contest will mark the third consecutive year of a competitive (regular-season) game at Wembley. On October 26, the New Orleans Saints beat the
San Diego Chargers 37-32 in front of an 83,226 crowd, while the New York Giants overcame the Miami Dolphins 13-10 in October 2007 on their way to winning Super
Bowl XLII. The NFL has committed to playing at least one game in the United Kingdom for each of the next two seasons.

“Over the past two years, we have seen first-hand the excitement that exists for our sport in the UK,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. “The games have helped us to deepen our connection with our UK fans as well as create new ones. We are looking forward to another outstanding game in 2009.”

Joel Glazer, Buccaneers Executive Vice-President, said: “The Tampa Bay Buccaneers organization is extremely excited and honored to be chosen to participate in the NFL International Series. We look forward to being part of the NFL’s global outreach and playing our great game in front of Buccaneers fans overseas.”

The game between the Buccaneers and Patriots, both of whom are currently challenging for places in this season’s playoffs, will take place in Week Seven of the 2009 season and will be shown live in the United States on CBS, kicking off at 5:00 p.m. UK time (1:00 p.m. ET).

Tickets for the game will be available for sale in mid-January 2009 – unlike other years in which the first wave of seats have been sold in April. Prior to that a Registry of Interest will be made available to people interested in purchasing tickets. All those that apply for tickets via the Registry of Interest will be given priority in purchasing tickets before seats go on sale to the general public. Click here for more information on ticketing for the 2009 International Series game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New England Patriots. http://www.nfluk.com/ticket-information.html

NFL UK Managing Director Alistair Kirkwood said: “We are very excited at the prospect of welcoming two of the NFL’s leading teams to Wembley. The continued commitment of the NFL to the UK is a tribute to everyone who has made the previous games such a success, from the fans and our partners to the teams themselves. Both the Buccaneers and Patriots have strong fan bases here and are names that will be familiar even to those who don’t follow the sport closely. We expect this to be another fantastic game and an outstanding event.”

The Buccaneers captured Super Bowl XXXVII following the 2002 season and are challenging for their third NFC South division title in the past four years. Tampa Bay will be in the global spotlight prior to next season, as Super Bowl XLIII will be played at Raymond James Stadium on February 1.

The Patriots won the Super Bowls XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX following the 2001, 2003 and 2004 seasons and won their first 18 games last season in advancing to Super Bowl XLII. The team is bidding for its sixth consecutive AFC East division championship.