{"id":516134,"date":"2025-10-21T04:46:19","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T04:46:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/516134\/"},"modified":"2025-10-21T04:46:19","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T04:46:19","slug":"when-the-premier-league-met-the-nfl-over-24-hours-in-london","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/516134\/","title":{"rendered":"When the Premier League met the NFL over 24 hours in London"},"content":{"rendered":"

The sight of Kismet, one of the world\u2019s largest yachts, making its way down the River Thames at the beginning of last week was the giveaway.<\/p>\n

Shahid Khan, the owner of Fulham and the Jacksonville Jaguars, was in town ahead of Fulham hosting Arsenal in the Premier League on Saturday night, followed by the Jaguars playing the LA Rams at Wembley on Sunday as part of their annual NFL International Series trip to London.<\/p>\n

Khan\u2019s yacht, which stands at 122 metres and is equipped with a spa area, cinema room and swimming pool, was moored a stone\u2019s throw away from Tower Bridge.<\/p>\n

\"Shahid<\/p>\n

\n Shahid Khan\u2019s yacht on the River Thames on Saturday morning (Dan Sheldon\/The Athletic)<\/p>\n

On Tuesday night, Richard Masters, the Premier League\u2019s chief executive, attended an event on board Kismet, at which Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, was also present.<\/p>\n

With clubs able to request certain dates they want to play at home before the Premier League draws its fixtures for an upcoming season,\u00a0Fulham asked to play at Craven Cottage on the same weekend the Jacksonville Jaguars were due to be at Wembley.<\/p>\n

Their request was granted, creating a unique occasion in London: four teams owned by two American billionaires played in two different sports \u2014 that just happen to be the two most popular leagues in the world \u2014 around 10 miles apart in the same city on back-to-back days.<\/p>\n

Arsenal and the LA Rams are owned by Kroenke Sports & Entertainment (KSE) \u2014 a holding company headed up by Stan Kroenke, although it was Josh, his son and co-chair at Arsenal, who was in London to represent the family at both fixtures. Stan, 78, remained in America ahead of attending an important NBA meeting, as KSE also own the Denver Nuggets as well as NHL\u2019s Colorado Avalanche and MLS\u2019s Colorado Rapids.<\/p>\n

At Craven Cottage on Saturday, Josh Kroenke walked into the directors\u2019 box with Richard Garlick, Arsenal\u2019s newly-promoted chief executive, around 10 minutes before the 5.30pm (BST) kick-off.<\/p>\n

Khan, 75, did not appear until shortly after and took a seat on the other side of the aisle as Josh, with the pair exchanging a handshake before the match got under way.<\/p>\n

But if you thought there was going to be an NFL-style crossover clash in west London on Saturday night, you would have left disappointed.<\/p>\n

\"Arsenal<\/p>\n

\n Josh Kroenke at Craven Cottage (Justin Setterfield\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The only moment that would be familiar to NFL fans is when Anthony Taylor, the match referee, overturned a penalty decision having reviewed the footage, before switching on his microphone and announcing to the entire stadium why he was no longer awarding Arsenal a spot kick.<\/p>\n

Fast forward to Sunday, however, and as you stepped foot on Wembley Way, you could be forgiven for not knowing which two NFL teams were playing. A sea of NFL jerseys greeted you, from the Kansas City Chiefs to the Cleveland Browns, and all the other 30 franchises in between.<\/p>\n

At Craven Cottage, there were no cheerleaders, no pre-match shows or national anthems and nobody firing T-shirts into the crowd during a commercial break. Nor were casual supporters wearing another club\u2019s football shirt.<\/p>\n

A half-time show dubbed \u2018duelling pianos\u2019 took centre stage at Wembley, whereas at Fulham on Saturday, what happened on the pitch was the main event.<\/p>\n

The only Premier League feel to the match came when the LA Rams\u2019 Konata Mumpfield scored the opening touchdown and mimicked Cristiano Ronaldo\u2019s \u2018Siu\u2019 celebration,<\/a> much to Wembley\u2019s delight. Davante Adams, Mumpfield\u2019s team-mate, followed suit with a \u2018Siu\u2019 of his own after scoring.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Davante Adams performs a celebration made famous by Ronaldo (Dan Istitene\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The LA Rams did not land in London until Saturday, but Josh Kroenke and Kevin Demoff, the Rams\u2019 president and KSE\u2019s president of team and media operations,<\/a> were at Arsenal\u2019s training base, London Colney, on Friday to watch Mikel Arteta\u2019s side prepare for the Fulham match.<\/p>\n

\u201c(The year) 2012 was the first time the Rams played in London,\u201d Demoff recalls in an interview with The Athletic on Friday. \u201cWe stayed at The Grove (hotel, which the England men\u2019s national team used to use frequently) and trained here at Colney and nobody really knew anybody. I was thinking how familiar it now is coming out here and knowing everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Left to right: Rob Turner, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Bacary Sagna and Tim Barnes together in October 2012, when the St Louis Rams trained at Arsenal (Stuart MacFarlane\/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

From that first trip, Demoff explained how members of the Rams\u2019 training staff noticed Arsenal\u2019s players were wearing tracking devices during training.<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody had ever done that in the NFL,\u201d Demoff adds. \u201cWe didn\u2019t set out to be, \u2018Oh, how do you train?\u2019 We observed, watched, brought it to the U.S. (in 2013) and it made our players better.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is just one example of how two of KSE\u2019s teams, even though they compete different in sports, are able to benefit from being under the same ownership umbrella \u2014 and this weekend provided another chance for those conversations to take place in an organic setting.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been training at the Rams\u2019 training ground twice now in the last three years,\u201d explained Garlick on Friday. \u201cMikel\u2019s picked things up, ideas that maybe Sean (McVay) has, and just little things like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Arsenal\u2019s chief executive recalled one of Arsenal\u2019s trips to Los Angeles for pre-season, when McVay, the LA Rams\u2019 head coach, showed Arteta \u201csome cameras\u201d at the training facility and joked how the Spaniard was there \u201cfor about three hours\u201d looking at them.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen that came back, it was kind of like: \u2018This is the sort of thing that we need to do\u2019,\u201d Garlick said, noting that the different teams under the KSE umbrella are also now looking at where they can \u201chelp each other\u201d when it comes to commercial deals.<\/p>\n

\"Arsenal<\/p>\n

\n Mikel Arteta and Sean McVay met at Loyola Marymount University in July 2024 (Stuart MacFarlane\/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

KSE, for example, attended the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in June as \u201cone entity\u201d, in Demoff\u2019s words, as opposed to the LA Rams and Arsenal being there as separate organisations. KSE also established Kroenke Signature Properties (KSP) in January, a dedicated department geared towards selling partnerships across the entire portfolio of clubs.<\/p>\n

Demoff said: \u201cThere\u2019s power when your brand shows up at Emirates Stadium, there\u2019s power when your brand shows up at SoFi Stadium, especially given the global events that are coming to Los Angeles via the (2026 men\u2019s) World Cup, the Super Bowl (2027) and the (2028 summer) Olympics.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the ability to spread that reach,\u201d Garlick added. \u201cWe had a partnership in London that wanted to look to get into the U.S., and we put them in touch straight away. We can leverage those different areas we\u2019ve got across the globe and that\u2019s a win-win for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it comes to ownership involvement at both Arsenal and the LA Rams, Garlick and Demoff had similar answers. In short, the executive teams are entrusted by Stan and Josh Kroenke to get on with the job.<\/p>\n

\u201cI could be speaking to Josh or Kevin lots of times during the week, or it might only be every two or three days,\u201d Garlick explained. \u201cThere\u2019s no kind of: \u2018Oh we must speak for an hour every day\u2019. It\u2019s very, very fluid.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are there if you need them,\u201d Demoff said. \u201cBut they are also very trusting of the people they put in place, and as long as the teams perform at a high level, they are willing to stay that way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although it was unique for Arsenal and the LA Rams to be playing in London on the same weekend, it was anything but that for Fulham and the Jacksonville Jaguars.<\/p>\n

Khan\u2019s Jaguars have been playing an annual match at Wembley \u2014 English football\u2019s national stadium, which the businessman once tried to buy<\/a> \u2014 since October 2013. Such is its commonality, it has become somewhat of a trade mission for Jacksonville as a city.<\/p>\n

Mark Lamping, the Jaguars\u2019 president and a non-executive director at Fulham, detailed how \u201cclose to 100 people\u201d travelled to London as part of the city of Jacksonville\u2019s Chamber of Commerce.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Wembley has become a home from home for the Jaguars (Alex Pantling\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is the most important weekend (in the calendar) as it relates to the integration of both teams,\u201d Lamping tells The Athletic. \u201cOne of the objectives of Shad\u2019s commitment to London with the Jaguars was that it would benefit the city of Jacksonville, as well as benefit the Jaguars.\u201d<\/p>\n

Khan hosted another event on board Kismet on Friday night for Fulham and the Jaguars, with commercial partners also invited. Around 200 Jaguars staffers were at the Arsenal match, according to Fulham chief executive Alistair Mackintosh, with a similar number from Fulham at Wembley the following day.<\/p>\n

Just as with Arsenal and the LA Rams, any shared learnings between Fulham and the Jaguars tend to be organic as opposed to forced.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have two opportunities to learn and share,\u201d said Lamping. \u201c(But) I don\u2019t think there\u2019s a lot of direct sharing that says, \u2018OK, well Fulham does it this way, so now the Jaguars are going to do it that way\u2019, or vice versa, but there are some fundamental areas where the application is pretty obvious.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of those areas concerns the business operations of both clubs.<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t have to look far to see the impact being associated with a Florida-based NFL franchise is having on Fulham from a commercial standpoint. They have previously been sponsored by Visit Florida and last year announced a deal with FIS, a Jacksonville-based technology company.<\/p>\n

There are benefits to be had from a sporting perspective, too. Mackintosh gave an example of a Fulham player travelling to Jacksonville for their rehabilitation from an injury, noting the quality of the facilities and warmer climate.<\/p>\n

An area where the Jaguars can learn from Fulham, Lamping said, is the building and early success of the Riverside Stand at Craven Cottage, which opened in May after a six-year construction, with Khan now in the process of renovating the Jaguars\u2019 EverBank Stadium.<\/p>\n

Although there is plenty of scope to further integrate Khan\u2019s sporting clubs, Mackintosh emphasised the importance of Fulham having an owner who \u201creally understands the different between UK and U.S. sport\u201d. What may work at an NFL game in Jacksonville or at Wembley, for example, may not necessarily translate to a Premier League fixture.<\/p>\n

Khan, Mackintosh said, has a high level of engagement in terms of Fulham, \u201cparticularly on the business side\u201d, and believes the ownership are \u201cmore engaged than any relationship\u201d he is aware of between a club and its American owners.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are very, very engaged,\u201d said Mackintosh, describing Khan as the \u201cbest-dressed genius you\u2019ve ever met\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n (Alex Pantling\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Although the week began with Kismet turning into a tourist attraction on the River Thames, it ended with Josh Kroenke and Garlick celebrating the LA Rams\u2019 convincing 35-7 win over the Jaguars in Sean McVay\u2019s office inside their NFL franchise\u2019s Wembley dressing room.<\/p>\n

After Arsenal\u2019s 1-0 win over Fulham, it meant a clean sweep for KSE over Khan\u2019s Fulham and Jacksonville Jaguars over one unique weekend in London.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The sight of Kismet, one of the world\u2019s largest yachts, making its way down the River Thames at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":516135,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7757],"tags":[161,748,393,1625,4884,27737,257,27746,101,25711,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-516134","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-arsenal","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-fulham","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-jacksonville-jaguars","14":"tag-london","15":"tag-los-angeles-rams","16":"tag-premier-league","17":"tag-sports-business","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115410344200620119","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=516134"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516134\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/516135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=516134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=516134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=516134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}