Wembley to host Kansas Jayhawks v Arizona State Sun Devils in inaugural Union Jack Classic
Kansas Jayhawks will meet the Arizona State Sun Devils at Wembley in the inaugural Union Jack Classic this Saturday, with kick-off scheduled for 17:00 BST and around 60,000 expected to attend. The event will include marching bands, spirit squads and tailgate parties outside the stadium.
Both Kansas and Arizona State enter the weekend with 1-1 records this season. The NFL has staged games in London since 2007, but this will be only the second US college football game played in the UK, far larger than the first at Crystal Palace in 1988 when about 2,500 fans attended. American college football has been played abroad previously in countries such as Cuba, Japan and Tanzania, according to the article.
The Union Jack Classic (UJC) was launched by chief executive Brian Dubiski and a business partner who both played college football, with the partner later working with the NFL in London; the pair decided to pursue the idea while talking over a few beers and secured a date at Wembley. Brett Yormark, commissioner of the Big 12 Conference, is described as "bullish" about building the conference's global appeal and helped secure two Big 12 teams for the trip.
The University of Kansas, founded in 1890, is taking the Jayhawks as part of an effort to expand its brand, while Arizona State's trip coincides with ASU opening a London campus this month. Before the trip, most players on both teams did not own passports and organisers said they wanted to give those players a cultural experience. The Kansas marching band normally performs in front of about 32,000 fans at their home stadium, and fans with multi-generational ties include fifth-generation Jayhawk Calvin Clements; actors Paul Rudd and Jason Sudeikis are also identified as Jayhawks, with Sudeikis noted as having grown up in Kansas and frequently weaving KU references into his work.
About 60,000 tickets have been sold for the UJC and organisers say 15,000 fans are travelling from the US, with designated student sections to help replicate a typical college gameday atmosphere. Dubiski said, "We're really pleased with that in year one," and added that 60,000 is higher than the average Big 12 attendance; he has agreed an exclusive multi-year deal with Wembley and is working on games for the next three years and said he might expand to other European cities and bring basketball games too.
The UJC has become the British American Football Association's first national league sponsor since 1992 and has subsidised more than 750 coaching and officiating qualifications in the UK, as well as held clinics for more than 400 coaches. Organisers formed partnerships with the British American Football Association (Bafa), British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS), and the Jacksonville Jaguars. According to the NFL, 14 million people in the UK identify as fans of the league, and UJC organisers say they are aiming to tap into that fanbase while appealing to younger supporters.
Fox Sports' Big Noon Kick-Off will travel overseas for the first time, with coverage starting two hours before kick-off and Robert Griffin III part of Fox's pre-game team at Wembley; Griffin said "we've got to bring excitement" and added, "The way to encourage fandom is to create moments, so I'm happy the two teams coming over know how to score points - and score them in bunches." Griffin also said, "The fandom around college football is better, it just is," and, "And if you want to be a real NFL fan, you have to be a college football fan because that's the feeder system into the league and you get to watch these guys develop." Dubiski described Fox's presence, saying, "They'll be set up right outside Wembley," and, "They get the crowd worked up into a frenzy, so it's loud, it's boisterous and a lot of fun."
Gameday activity will begin well before kick-off: the main tailgate starts at 10:00, seven hours before kick-off, serving Kansas barbecue and featuring cheerleaders and marching bands on Wembley Way, while inside the stadium there will be a pre-game music line-up and a half-time show. Organisers hope Jason Sudeikis will be among the crowd but attendance by invited British actors has not been confirmed. The Union Jack Classic match between Kansas and Arizona State is scheduled to kick off at Wembley at 17:00 BST this Saturday.