Projo Pats Blog

The Patriots and the National Football League announced moments ago that the Pats will play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in London on Oct. 25, 2009 as part of the NFL's International Series of regular-season games.

The NFL has staged one regular-season games in England each year since 2007. The Giants and Dolphins played in the inaugural game, and the Chargers and Saints played this year.

It will be Tampa Bay's home game, so the Patriots will still have eight games at Gillette Stadium in '09.

Bucs owner Malcolm Glazer also owns legendary English soccer club Manchester United, so this gives him prime opportunity to expose Man U fans to his other football team and gain fans on the other side of the Pond.

Tampa Bay will lose a home date, but Raymond James Stadium is the site of the Super Bowl this year, so financially it more than works out for the team.

"We are proud to be selected by the NFL to be featured in next year's international game," Patriots owner Robert Kraft said in a statement. "We have had a lot of memorable moments in recent years. I am sure our trip to the United Kingdom next year will prove to be an unforgettable experience for our players and coaches, as well as the many fans that will travel to the game. I think it is fitting that New England's first game to be played outside of North America will be in England. I know that the UK is home to some of our most passionate Patriots fans and we look forward to the experience."

Most of you will remember that New England was slated to play a preseason game in China in 2007, and that game was canceled not too long after the fancy press conference announcing it. But the London game is a permanent part of the NFL schedule, and New England will get its "duty" to be part of it out of the way fairly early.

 Tags  New England Patriots

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