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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Malik Ouzia

NFL London 2024: 'Home' teams confirmed as NFC North rivals return to the capital

The Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears will return to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium later this year, while the Jacksonville Jaguars are set to continue their long run at Wembley.

The NFL on Thursday revealed the three ‘home’ teams for the latest edition of its London series this autumn, with the Carolina Panthers headed to Munich for the latest regular season game to be played in Germany.

The Bears played in the first-ever NFL game at Tottenham in 2019, losing 24-21 against the then Oakland Raiders, but did beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Wembley on their first trip to London in 2011.

The Vikings, meanwhile, have a perfect record of three wins from their three transatlantic trips, the most recent of which saw them beat the New Orleans Saints at Spurs two years ago.

The Jaguars, who last year became the first team to play back-to-back matches in the UK, will play their 12th game in London. The franchise has a three-year deal to host matches at Wembley that is due to expire this year, but owner Shahid Khan has previously said that he is keen to extend the agreement.

“Obviously, there is another party to this agreement, the NFL, but I'm optimistic,” he said last year. "Hopefully we'll get this thing renewed. It's been great for the city of Jacksonville. It's great for the players. It's been great for us.”

The visiting teams for all four matches will be announced in due course, when UK fans will hope for some high-profile additions to the schedule.

None of the trio revealed on Thursday have qualified for this year’s playoffs, which get underway this weekend, though the Jaguars came close, missing out after losing to Tennessee Titans in their final regular season game last Sunday.

In 2022, the NFL handed international marketing rights for a specific country to each of its franchises, with the Bears, Vikings and Jaguars all assigned to the UK.

Last month, the league also announced it will play its first regular season game in Brazil this year, but the teams for that match in Sao Paolo are yet to be announced.

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