The Vikings needed a special Delta flight, two waves of trucks and ferries, and an advance scout team to move their operations to London. And then they needed to fly in a healthy offensive lineman (or two).
By Andrew Krammer
The Minnesota Star Tribune
September 30, 2025 at 9:00PM
On Sunday the Vikings will play Cleveland at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, where they beat the New York Jets last season. (Elizabeth Flores/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
WARE, ENGLAND – The Vikings’ laborious travel party — consisting of nearly 200 coaches, players and staffers — made the trip from Dublin to London without much of a hiccup, completing the NFL’s first international commute to play back-to-back games in other countries.
That doesn’t mean the trip was easy or without surprise.
A bird flew inside coach Kevin O’Connell’s hotel room at Hanbury Manor — an 18th-century home and country club north of London — on Tuesday a little before 7 a.m.
“Had to try to figure out a way to help it out,” O’Connell said. “It was very small, and it did not understand it had to fly out the same window it came in. So, it just kept hitting the window over and over.”
Months of planning preceded tens of thousands of pounds of equipment being transplanted from Eagan to Dublin and now Wade, England, where the Vikings will practice Wednesday, Thursday and Friday before playing the Cleveland Browns on Sunday at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in North London.
O’Connell’s Vikings are accustomed to the quick, 60-hour trip overseas. That’s how they tackled London trips in 2022 and 2024.
This time, it’s a 10-day international road trip.
“We’re really kind of into the new, uncharted territory now,” O’Connell said, “just coming off of what was a normal process for us.”
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There will be a Vikings-branded boat docked outside the venue, providing a stage for live entertainment. The team transported historical exhibits from the Vikings Museum at the team’s Eagan headquarters and will set them up for fans in London.
“The hope is to reach a local audience,” Wyatt said, “that we haven’t necessarily tapped into just yet.”
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about the writer
Andrew Krammer
Reporter
Andrew Krammer covers the Vikings for the Minnesota Star Tribune, entering his sixth NFL season. From the Metrodome to U.S. Bank Stadium, he’s reported on everything from Case Keenum’s Minneapolis Miracle, the offensive line’s kangaroo court to Adrian Peterson’s suspension.
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