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Chancellor George Osborne has held top-level talks about bringing an American Football team to London.

He met National Football League officials and pledged full Government backing for moves that could see a team based at Wembley.

Crucially, he offered the NFL any help it needs to make the capital an outpost of America’s greatest sport.

“One of London’s massive strengths is its sporting prowess, its great football teams,” said the Chancellor, speaking exclusively to the Evening Standard.

“This is primarily a decision for the owners of the clubs and the NFL organisation but I’ve said to the NFL that anything the Government can do to make this happen we will do, because I think it would be a huge boost to London.” He added: “We could have not just the Star Spangled Banner at the beginning of NFL games but also God Save The Queen.”

Since 2007 the NFL has staged a series of matches at Wembley to test how much excitement they would create. The public response exceeded expectations, with crowds of 84,000 paying up to £100 to see top US teams including the New York Giants and the Miami Dolphins. The next fixture in the series takes place this Sunday when the Detroit Lions play the Atlanta Falcons.

Next month the Jacksonville Jaguars —linked to speculation about a team locating in London — go up against the Dallas Cowboys.

The NFL says only three per cent of those who watched the games at Wembley were Americans. About 22 per cent were Londoners and 60 per cent came in from other parts of the UK.

Mr Osborne told how he was impressed with the level of UK public interest in the game when he took his son to an NFL event in Regent Street recently. He said: “Regent Street was absolutely packed and not just with tourists but with Londoners.

“They had all sorts of things to do with American Football.

“I’m going to go with my son to one of the NFL games that are coming up at Wembley in the next few weeks. I think that there’s a chance in the next few years to get an NFL team for London.

“There are 32 teams in America — and one of them could be a London team. That’s a serious prospect.”

Huge commercial issues are at stake for the sport, the Chancellor said, and he added that the NFL was “pretty enthusiastic”.

He added: “It’s not going to happen overnight but over the next few years. I just think it will cement London as a global sporting capital as well as a global financial and business and cultural capital.”

NFL games at Wembley have been glitzy events with live bands pumping out music, including rockers Def Leppard. The league says it has three million fans in the UK. The league expanded to 32 teams in 2002 with the creation of the Houston Texans. That is seen as an ideal number, with eight divisions of four teams each. NFL officials are thought to feel they would prefer to relocate a team to London rather than expand again.

However, there are worries about whether Wembley’s turf could stand up to the extra wear and tear — and whether America’s star players will be willing to fly here regularly.



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