Sign up to FREE email alerts from Football London - Spurs Subscribe Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Tottenham Hotspur chairman Daniel Levy is someone who likes to push the boundaries when it comes to getting as much as he can for the club.

The Spurs fans might feel that he could push more to make sure he gets the team the players it deserves, but it's hard to argue against the fact that when it comes to the club's stadium, Levy has delivered one of, if not the world's best.

The delays and grumbles over its construction have died away since its opening in April and opposition players, managers, fans and the media have all come, seen and gone away raving about the state-of-the-art stadium.

On Sunday night, the USA joined the growing list of admirers as the NFL came to town and set a new record attendance of 60,463 as the Oakland Raiders took on the Chicago Bears at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The stadium, with its retractable pitch revealing an artificial one underneath, is purpose-built for both football and NFL and Sunday night was a massive success.

Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8 Cancel Play now

“Beautiful, absolutely gorgeous. I mean, it’s the first thing you do, you walk in here and you just see it, it's state-of-the-art. It’s top notch. You talk about doing things the right way, I mean, it blows you away. It’s phenomenal, absolutely phenomenal," said Matt Nagy, the Bears' head coach.

Raiders quarter-back Derek Carr added: "It is first class, I will say that. Just everything is just so first class, every little detail. Every single room you go in is unbelievable. And this is definitely, if not the, one of the best stadiums I've ever been in my life.

"Playing at Wembley was really cool with the memories and all the different games that have been played here but being able to play here and being able to see what could be done. It's amazing that they could do all this."

This Sunday afternoon the Carolina Panthers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers will do battle at the stadium in the second of this year's London Games to be played at Tottenham and once again America will be watching.

Spurs signed a 10-year two game a year deal with the NFL in 2017 and if last Sunday was anything to go by, the two parties will soon be talking about even bigger opportunities ahead, if they haven't already.

If, and more likely when, the NFL decide to create a European franchise to compete in their leagues, Tottenham are in pole position. What Sunday proved more than anything is the difference between a purpose-built NFL stadium and the more makeshift surroundings of Wembley or Twickenham.

There are also ambitions for double header days, with a Spurs match and a NFL game played on the same day with the crowds spending all day at the stadium, spending money galore.

Levy's decision not to rush into any stadium naming rights deal is looking like paying dividends.

When Spurs budgeted for the construction of their £1.2bn stadium complex, they did not include naming rights as a necessity, instead ensuring they had financing for the whole thing.

That ensured there was no need to panic over naming rights and jump into a relationship with the first admirer that looked their way.

Now the USA knows what lies in N17 and the fact that the words The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium were seen and heard across the Atlantic and around the globe was another clever part of the plan.

It was the perfect example of advertising, create a big noise and a great show with the name front, right and centre. Spurs might as well have put an enormous neon sign on the front of the stadium proclaiming 'Your company's name could be right here'.

NFL stadiums in the USA bring with them mega money stadium naming rights deals.

In 2017 communications giant CenturyLink signed a £133m deal to have their name on the Seattle Seahawks' stadium for 15 years and the moniker CenturyLink Field was born.

In 2015, U.S. Bank inked a £180m deal to put their name on the new Minnesota Vikings stadium, a building which Spurs took inspiration from for their new home, for 25 years.

The record for the highest amount overall sum paid for naming rights was for the Scotiabank Arena in 2017.

An enormous £654m 20-year deal was agreed between Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment and Canada's Bank of Nova Scotia to rename Toronto's Air Canada Centre, the home of the Toronto Maple Leafs ice hockey side and basketball outfit the Toronto Raptors.

(Image: Michael Regan/Getty Images)

Just last month Social Finance agreed a mammoth deal to place their name on the Los Angeles Rams and Chargers' new home, which is set to open next year.

The deal for the SoFi Stadium, which will hold future Olympics and Superbowls, is reportedly worth more than £327m over 20 years, a similar sum to what insurance company MetLife signed for the New York Giants and Jets stadium in 2011.

Levy and Tottenham will have been well aware of the talks over the stadium in Los Angeles and with their own state-of-the-art stadium that has pushed the boundaries throughout its construction, they will look to beat that naming rights deal.

With Chelsea's stadium plans shelved for now and Liverpool deciding to expand rather than redevelop, Spurs are the biggest name on the block in the Premier League with a new stadium ready for a name.

Many have questioned why Spurs have waited so long to tie up any deal, but on Sunday night it all became clear.