Fish and chips and … football.
American college football, to be more specific.
The Post and Courier has learned that Arizona State and Kansas will play in London next year. It’s part of a multi-year deal for an event called the Union Jack Classic.
That first game is scheduled for Sept. 19, 2026, at iconic Wembley Stadium. Presale for tickets to each school’s alumni and season-ticket holders is expected to begin over the next few weeks.
The game is notable on several fronts, including it being the sport’s first major foray into England. It also continues a concerted effort by Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark to expand his league’s brand globally.
Yormark said during the Big 12’s football media days in July that efforts are underway for conference baseball games to be played next spring in Mexico City. The Baylor women’s basketball team will play Duke of the ACC in Paris this November.
“We’re having conversations with other countries throughout the world that are very interested in bringing the Big 12 to their marketplace,” Yormark said.
A source close to the Union Jack Classic said discussions were held with multiple conferences and teams, but described the Big 12 as “enthusiastic” while organizers continued proposing the concept. That person also said talks are underway to potentially feature Big 12 matchups in the next two Union Jack Classics.
Beyond borders
College football has a history outside of the United States.
Harvard played McGill in Montreal Canada in 1874 and a bowl game was held in Cuba from 1907 to 1946. Bowl games have also been held in the Caribbean.
Oklahoma State’s Barry Sanders capped off arguably the greatest season in history by learning he’d won the Heisman Trophy while in Japan. The Cowboys were preparing to play Texas Tech, and it was almost 8 a.m. local time when he found out. That was part of a 17-year run of the Mirage Bowl/Coca-Cola Classic that actually wasn’t a bowl game but a late-season contest moved to Japan.
Now we have the Union Jack Classic set to become only the second American college football game played in London.
Richmond beat Boston University 20-17 on Oct. 16, 1988, in an FCS matchup at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre. The crowd this time around will dwarf the 6,000 people who saw that game 37 years ago thanks to the venue, the teams and the overall growth of the sport.
Ireland has been the most recent site away from the U.S. with the first game being played in 1988. Eight other games were played on the Emerald Isle before the Aer Lingus College Football Classic began its current run of the past three seasons.
That includes then-No. 22 Iowa State’s 24-21 Week 0 win over then-No. 14 Kansas State in Dublin. Attendance in 2024 was 47,226 and increased to 47,988 during this year’s game, just short of Aviva Stadium’s 50,000-person capacity. Organizers said around 22,000 of those fans traveled from the U.S. Officials estimate that game having a direct economic impact of more than $154 million on the local Irish economy.
The Big 12’s Texas Christian and North Carolina of the ACC are to square off in the next Aer Lingus College Football Classic on Aug. 29, 2026. That will be a Week 0 matchup initially offered to the Union Jack Classic, but Wembley Stadium was unavailable.
That led to Kansas-Arizona State becoming a consequential league game being played on foreign soil well into the season.
International appeal
The NFL is no stranger to crossing the Atlantic Ocean during the heart of it season.
Wembley Stadium has been the host site of 34 regular-season NFL games since 2007. Its highest attendance was last year, when 86,651 people maxed out the stadium’s capacity for the Jacksonville Jaguars’ 32-16 win over the New England Patriots. The Jaguars play the Los Angeles Rams there this season on Oct. 19.
Bulging attendance totals also manifest for the smaller Tottenham Hotspur Stadium when it hosts NFL games. More than 61,000 fans have attended each of the last five games played at the North London venue, just short of its 62,000-fan capacity.
Two games are scheduled there this season — the Minnesota Vikings vs. the Cleveland Browns on Oct. 5 and the Denver Broncos vs. the New York Jets on Oct. 12.
But this will be new territory for college football. International games are traditionally launching points or capstones, not midseason contests with conference stakes.
And while the Week 3 kickoff won’t have a captive audience of college football-starved fans with no other options, it will provide opportunities for significant exposure. Especially with an earlier kickoff time (a five-hour difference between London and New York City) that might appeal to the likes of Fox Sports.
The Big 12’s primary television partner could feature the game as part of its signature “Big Noon Kickoff” pregame show. Other premier games that day — including Florida State at Alabama and Georgia at Louisville — have later start times.
“Week 3 was always the challenge,” a person with knowledge of the negotiation process said. “But once this game happens, teams will plan for it to be available.”