London Gets Its First Taste of College Football as Kansas and Arizona State Play in Front of 46,523 at Wembley

Wembley Stadium, long accustomed to hosting NFL showcase games, staged its first American college football contest on Saturday, drawing a crowd of 46,523 for the inaugural Union Jack Classic between the Kansas Jayhawks and the Arizona State Sun Devils.

The event leaned heavily into the traditions that separate the college game from its professional counterpart. Tailgating — often a larger spectacle at college games than at NFL fixtures — began seven hours before kick-off, with rapper Tech N9ne performing at the main Wembley site. Arizona State alumni drew a crowd of nearly 2,000 to their own pre-game party, while the two schools’ marching bands competed for attention on Wembley Way and on the pitch ahead of kick-off.

Notably, media giant Fox Corporation brought its live pre-game show to an outdoor studio at the venue, with fans gathering around the broadcast as part of the festivities. Fox, which operates in Cable Network Programming and Television, has in recent years expanded its college sports coverage, and its on-site presence underlined the growing commercial interest in exporting the college gameday experience abroad. Fox shares closed the prior session at $64.98 and were trading down about 0.82% at $64.45 recently, valuing the entertainment company at roughly $26.8 billion.

Organisers estimate about 15,000 fans travelled from the United States — roughly 9,000 supporting Arizona State and 6,000 backing Kansas. Tickets were purchased by fans from 35 countries, with neutrals sporting jerseys from major programmes such as Oklahoma, Miami and Texas, as well as some British university shirts. The sport’s grassroots footprint in the UK — more than 100 universities field American football teams — formed part of organisers’ outreach, including partnerships with the British American Football Association and British university sports bodies.

Unlike typical US college games, where visiting supporters are often scarce, both schools brought sizeable travelling contingents to the neutral London venue. Several attendees compared the atmosphere to a play-off game, and the familial, multi-generational loyalty that defines college fandom was on display throughout the weekend, beginning with a pre-game fan gathering in Waterloo on Friday.

Kansas opened the scoring on a 72-yard punt return by Tate Nagy, giving the Jayhawks’ travelling support an early moment to celebrate.

What to watch

• Whether the Union Jack Classic becomes a recurring fixture on the college football calendar and whether additional US programmes commit to London games.
• Attendance and broadcast figures for future international college games, which could shape further media investment abroad.
• Fox Corporation’s upcoming quarterly results for commentary on sports rights spending and international content strategy.
• Continued growth of UK university American football programmes as a fan-development pipeline for exported games.

Source: original release