Showing posts with label London. Show all posts
Showing posts with label London. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

London 2012 Olympics Logo Looks Like Swastika



There's a petition going around that calls for the organizers of the London 2012 Olympics to scrap the logo they came up with because they just plain don't like it, and that it will cause epileptic seizures.

Well, when I got my first glance at the logo, I could not get out of my mind how much it looked like the German Swastika. I'm not kidding. The logo has that same four-square-corners rotating around a center look as the Swastika.



Moreover, it looks like someone knew this, and decided to turn the logo so that it was more square than diamond. But what if you turned it so it was more diamond that square?

You think maybe the logo designer was a Neo-Nazi? Look at the picts in this blog and make your own conclusions.

Thursday, May 17, 2007

NFL Game in London Sells 40,000 Tickets

NFL Game in London Sells 40,000 Tickets
By Associated Press

LONDON -- The first regular season NFL game outside North America is shaping up as a hot ticket.

The first 40,000 tickets for the Oct. 28 game between the Miami Dolphins and New York Giants at the new Wembley Stadium sold in 90 minutes Wednesday.

"The speed in which such a large number of tickets were snapped up ... demonstrates the great excitement and appetite for the game in this country," said Alistair Kirkwood, managing director of NFL UK. "We know that the last few tickets available in this first batch will be gone very soon."

The first batch of tickets went to fans in Britain and the rest of Europe selected randomly from registered ticket requests.

Sales in the United States to Giants and Dolphins fans are expected to begin within a week. Further tickets will be released to fans in Britain next month.

About 10,000 fans are expected to travel from the United States, a fraction of the anticipated sellout crowd of 90,000.

Prices range from about US$90 (euro66.50) to US$180 (euro133), using a pricing structure similar to this weekend's FA Cup final between Manchester United and Chelsea.

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Demand for NFL Game at Wembley Stadium is High

Demand for NFL Game at Wembley High
By DAVE SKRETTA
AP Sports Writer

NEW YORK -- The grousing by some NFL fans over the first regular-season game to be played overseas might not be limited to this side of the Atlantic.

More than half a million ticket requests poured in soon after commissioner Roger Goodell announced the New York Giants would play the Miami Dolphins at the new Wembley Stadium in London.


That outpouring of interest for the Oct. 28 contest means many die-hard fans -- not to mention the curious observers the game is intended to reach -- will be stuck watching on TV.

"This is a game for Europe and a game for hardcore fans of both teams," said Alistair Kirkwood, managing director of NFL UK.

"The challenge we've got is to keep all the various stakeholders happy."

Ticket preference will go to season ticket holders and members of fan clubs, particularly in the United Kingdom. About 10,000 fans are expected to travel from the United States, only a fraction of the anticipated sellout crowd of 90,000.

Tickets go on sale in Europe on Monday and within the next week in the United States, but fewer than half will be immediately available. The rest will go on sale once team and league officials weigh the amount of interest the game generates among American fans and those abroad.

Giants co-owner Jonathan Tisch said the club has received about 3,500 requests.

"Not only has there been that response for initial tickets, when you look at our fan base that come to every game, then consider we have 120,000 people on our waiting list ... they also want to travel overseas," Tisch said.

Both teams have done research on how best to appropriate tickets, but Kirkwood admits that it comes down to "best guessing." How many tickets are ultimately available will also depend on the number purchased by a business tier of 15,000 people who have rights to purchase seats for any game played in the sparkling new stadium.

"What we're not going to have is the risk of unsold tickets out there," Kirkwood said, adding that about 2,000 will be reserved for general sale in the U.S. and Europe in September.

For those lucky enough to get a ticket, the game won't be cheap. Prices range from about $90 to $180, using a pricing structure similar to this weekend's FA Cup final between Manchester United and Chelsea.

"When I was in Miami, one of the British journalists came up to me in the dour, sour way that most of the journalists have in Britain," London Mayor Ken Livingstone said. "He said, 'Wouldn't it be humiliating if there are a bunch of empty seats?' And I said, 'I suspect that won't be the case.'"

The game, which will kick off at 6 p.m. London time -- 1 p.m. on the East Coast of the United States -- comes after Arizona beat San Francisco in Mexico City in 2005. The league hopes to play regular-season games again in Mexico, as well as Canada and other cities in Europe in an effort to expand the game globally.

To accommodate the expansion, there has been increased discussion of replacing a preseason game with a regular-season game so that each team would play in a "foreign" market once a year without sacrificing a home game.

Tisch said that's an issue likely to come up at future owners meetings.

"We're all anxiously awaiting the start of the international games," Tisch said. "There is so much interest for this game that is emerging in lands far afield from the United States of America. We could easily add more international games to add to the fan base and the excitement of the NFL."

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

NFL INTERNATIONAL TO FOCUS ON LONDON 2007: CHINA PRESEASON GAME RESCHEDULED FOR 2009 CHINA PRESEASON GAME RESCHEDULED FOR 2009

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
280 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017
(212) 450-2000 * FAX (212) 681-7573

WWW.NFLMedia.com
Joe Browne, Executive Vice President-Communications
Greg Aiello, Vice President-Public Relations

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
4/2/07

NFL INTERNATIONAL TO FOCUS ON LONDON 2007:
CHINA PRESEASON GAME RESCHEDULED FOR 2009

The NFL has determined that it will focus its global resources this year on its first overseas regular-season game --
to be held on October 28 in London, England, with the Miami Dolphins hosting the New York Giants.

The American Bowl preseason game in China, originally set for August 9 in Beijing between the New England
Patriots and Seattle Seahawks, will be rescheduled. Working in partnership with the Beijing municipal authorities,
the NFL will plan to play a game at the National Stadium of Beijing in August of 2009.

“The regular-season game initiative was approved by NFL ownership after we announced the China Bowl.
Therefore, we will focus this year’s efforts on the regular-season game,” commented MARK WALLER, senior vice
president of NFL International.

“Our assessment is that Chinese fans would be better served if our game in China is played at a later date after we
have launched our international series of regular-season games and more effectively paved the way for the
introduction of our game into China,” added Waller. “As a new sport in China, it is critical that we create the best
platform for the introduction of the game. We are delighted Beijing authorities have agreed with our assessment
and have invited us to play in Beijing in 2009.”

NFL International is presently establishing an office in Beijing and will partner with the city to build fan interest in
American football prior to the 2009 flagship event.

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Wednesday, January 17, 2007

LONDON TO HOST NFL REGULAR-SEASON GAME - NFLMedia.com

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
280 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017
(212) 450-2000 * FAX (212) 681-7573
WWW.NFLMedia.com

Joe Browne, Executive Vice President-Communications
Greg Aiello, Vice President-Public Relations

LONDON TO HOST NFL REGULAR-SEASON GAME

London will be the venue for the first regular-season NFL game to be played outside North America, the National Football League announced today.

The NFL will stage the first in its new series of international regular-season games in the United Kingdom’s capital city in the fall of 2007. NFL owners voted in October to play up to two games outside the United States every year for the next five years, with the series kicking off with a single game in 2007.

“There is great interest in the NFL around the world,” said NFL Commissioner ROGER GOODELL. “Playing a limited number of regular-season games outside the United States is the next step for us in serving that interest. This is what our international fans, media partners, and sponsors want. There is no better place to begin this initiative than London. It is one of the
great cities of the world with an established and growing fan base for our game. We are thrilled to bring the excitement of the NFL regular season to the United Kingdom.”

London’s effort to secure the game was supported by Mayor of London KEN LIVINGSTONE, who visited Commissioner Goodell in New York to state the city’s case for staging an NFL game.

“London is proud to host the first competitive NFL game held outside the North American continent,” Mayor Livingstone said. “There are many NFL fans in London – both American and non-American – and this will be a spectacular sporting occasion. The Super Bowl is followed by almost five-million people in the UK. Hosting an NFL game in London will bring more than
10,000 international visitors to the city. London will be working with the NFL to build on this success to ensure that Londoners, NFL fans, international visitors, and the tens of millions who will watch the game on television have a great day of sport and experience London at its best."

London was selected based upon several factors, including general fan interest, current NFL visibility through existing media agreements, the range and quality of large, world-class stadia, including Wembley and Twickenham, the size and value of the overall sports and entertainment market and the potential to build year-round marketing, sponsorship and fan engagement.
More details about the London game – including the venue and participating teams – are expected to be confirmed during Super Bowl week (January 29-February 4) in South Florida.

The NFL staged its first regular-season game outside of the United States in 2005 when 103,467 people saw the Arizona Cardinals play the San Francisco 49ers in Mexico City on October 2 – the largest crowd for a regular-season game in NFL history.
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