{"id":871773,"date":"2026-10-05T16:30:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T16:30:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/871773\/"},"modified":"2026-10-05T16:30:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T16:30:15","slug":"the-novelty-might-be-wearing-off-for-the-nfl-in-london-a-dire-game-between-the-colts-and-commanders-didnt-help","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/871773\/","title":{"rendered":"The novelty might be wearing off for the NFL in London. A dire game between the Colts and Commanders didn\u2019t help"},"content":{"rendered":"

London, UK\u00a0\u2014\u00a0\n <\/p>\n

\n As Indianapolis Colts QB Daniel Jones and Washington Commanders signal-caller Athan Kaliakmanis traded overthrows, interceptions and fumbles, one question was surely going through everyone\u2019s heads: Can you have too much of a good thing?\n <\/p>\n

\n William Shakespeare was certainly not thinking about NFL<\/a> international games when writing his 1623 comedy As You Like It<\/a>, but it\u2019s not difficult to see why the playwright\u2019s famous phrase could apply to this exact situation \u2013 albeit just a few hundred years too early.\n <\/p>\n

\n International NFL tickets were once one of the most coveted to get a hold of when it came to sports across the globe.\n <\/p>\n

\n Stories of tens of thousands of fans queuing up \u2013 virtually \u2013 to get their hands on the goods had become the norm, ending with more people being left bitterly disappointed than attending the games.\n <\/p>\n

\n However, when it was announced that the Commanders and the Colts were making the trip across the pond, the usual eagerness was a lot harder to come across.\n <\/p>\n

\n Tickets were still available the night before the big day, with fans not exactly rushing to fill up the vacant seats at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.\n <\/p>\n

\n And this was after the prices had already been massively reduced.\n <\/p>\n

\"Most<\/p>\n

\n Fans who had shown interest in the international games received emails a few weeks before the game detailing new low-priced tickets with the get-in price now advertised at just \u00a379.13 (about $105), a far cry from what they had originally been listed for \u2013 and it didn\u2019t stop there.\n <\/p>\n

\n For supporters who had left it particularly last-minute, tickets were available at an incredible price of just \u00a39.95 (about $13.17).\n <\/p>\n

\n While some cashed in on the bargain prices, others understandably were left disappointed after already purchasing tickets at their original prices.\n <\/p>\n

\n In the buildup to the game, fans flocked to social media to share stories of their disappointment, some exasperated about paying more than double what someone sitting next to them may have paid.\n <\/p>\n

\n CNN Sports<\/a> has reached out to Ticketmaster and the NFL for comment on fan frustrations.\n <\/p>\n

\n Unsurprisingly, with a cost-of-living crisis sweeping through the United Kingdom, asking fans to spend a lot of money to see two middling teams was always going to be a tough sell.\n <\/p>\n

\n It\u2019s no surprise then that the stadium was largely full exclusively of Commanders and Colts fans, a sight that has rarely been seen before across international games in London.\n <\/p>\n

\n Train platforms and pubs on game days are usually packed with a visual cacophony of NFL jerseys, past and present, from franchises all across the league.\n <\/p>\n

\n But this time it was different. Washington\u2019s burgundy and gold dominated the surrounding streets and the stands at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with a smattering of Indianapolis blue playing second fiddle.\n <\/p>\n

\"Commanders<\/p>\n

\n This was the 43rd NFL game that London has hosted, and one could be forgiven for thinking that the novelty is now perhaps starting to wear off on everyday NFL fans in the UK.\n <\/p>\n

\n In fact, the loudest cheer of the first half came when the big screen asked fans who had traveled from the US to make some noise \u2013 seemingly an insight into how packed the stadium was with diehard fans who had made the long trip across the pond to see their team play.\n <\/p>\n

\n While there had already been problems off the field in the buildup, the on-field events did little to inspire the neutral.\n <\/p>\n

\n On the first drive and just the second snap of the contest, Colts QB Jones immediately treated fans in London to an incredible fumble.\n <\/p>\n

\n Jones tripped over his own left tackle Bernhard Raimann before dropping the ball on his way to the ground in a move that seemed to play out in slow motion.\n <\/p>\n

\n Washington, however, failed to capitalize on the advantageous field position it was gifted and had to settle for an early field goal instead.\n <\/p>\n

\"Colts<\/p>\n

\n It was a sign of things to come.\n <\/p>\n

\n Commanders fans had already accepted they wouldn\u2019t be seeing their starting quarterback and star player Jayden Daniels<\/a>, but things quickly went from bad to worse as they lost backup Marcus Mariota to an early knee injury.\n <\/p>\n

\n Third-string quarterback Kaliakmanis was then thrown into the game in the most unusual of surroundings and, alongside his Colts counterpart, struggled to get any real offense going.\n <\/p>\n

\n As the clock ticked down towards the end of the opening quarter, a graphic popped up on the big screens to let everyone know that Indianapolis and Jones had thrown for -2 passing yards.\n <\/p>\n

\n Somehow, it felt like it was even less.\n <\/p>\n

\n Things didn\u2019t get much better as the half went on, but the ever-reliable Jonathan Taylor rushed the Colts down the field before going on to score the opening touchdown of the game.\n <\/p>\n

\n There were, however, a few bright sparks in the second half of action that perked fans up.\n <\/p>\n

\n Taylor rushed for another touchdown as he continued with his impressive season to extend the Colts\u2019 lead.\n <\/p>\n

\n Kaliakmanis started launching deep throws down the field and picked out Treylon Burks for the first touchdown pass of his career before Jones stormed home for the Colts\u2019 third rushing touchdown of the encounter to reinforce the team\u2019s advantage.\n <\/p>\n

\"Commanders<\/p>\n

\n With a couple of field goals somewhere in between from Indy\u2019s Spencer Shrader, the Colts were victorious in the end, picking up a 30-13 win.\n <\/p>\n

\n It was far from a classic outing and one that ended up ultimately being worthy of the cheap, last-minute get-in prices.\n <\/p>\n

\n But despite the loss and lack of star power on the field, it would be fair to say that Washington fans did their best to make the game feel special.\n <\/p>\n

\n The noise at times was deafening from the Commanders faithful and deserving of better quality on the field.\n <\/p>\n

\n When teams head overseas, it should feel special.\n <\/p>\n

\n Some fans wait a lifetime to see their favorite team in the flesh, with stars from across the league just a stone\u2019s throw away and not on a TV in random times of the day, sometimes very late at night.\n <\/p>\n

\n But a game like this didn\u2019t make it feel like the greatest show in town, which it should do, particularly with a more veteran NFL-going crowd like the British fans.\n <\/p>\n

\n The NFL seems intent on bringing more and more games to its overseas audience, but in doing so, is there a danger of oversaturating the market?\n <\/p>\n

\"Is<\/p>\n

\n CNN Sports has reached out to the NFL for comment on its overseas strategy.\n <\/p>\n

\n Teams have already played in Brazil, Australia and England this season with more to come later down the line in France and Spain.\n <\/p>\n

\n That\u2019s not to say there isn\u2019t still a desire to see teams from across the league overseas, but it appears as fans in the UK are beginning to demand more marquee matchups given the novelty has worn off. When the Philadelphia Eagles and the Jacksonville Jaguars face off next Sunday, it should feel like a completely different ball game.\n <\/p>\n

\n So to answer Shakespeare, perhaps you can have too much of a good thing, but at least, the weather was nice.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"London, UK\u00a0\u2014\u00a0 As Indianapolis Colts QB Daniel Jones and Washington Commanders signal-caller Athan Kaliakmanis traded overthrows, interceptions and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":871774,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[349,99],"class_list":["post-871773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=871773"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871773\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/871774"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=871773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=871773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=871773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}