INDIANAPOLIS – The 2016 NFL schedule won't be known for another few months, but the Colts know one date, at one very unique location.
In Week Four of the 2016 season, the Colts will travel to London to play a "road" game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley Stadium.
The game will fall on Sunday, October 2, meaning the Colts will likely have an early bye in the week following the trip to London.
This will be the Colts first game in London and the NFL's 15th International Series contest since games began being played over there in 2007.
From a Colts standpoint, the marketability of their brand in Europe is rather obvious with Andrew Luck spending a large chunk of his childhood across the pond.
"My father was working for NFL Europe so my family has a strong affinity for American Football on this continent and in this country," Luck said this past summer in a trip to London.
"I love to come back to (Europe) at least once a year during the offseason to catch up with old families. I still have a bunch of family friends, a bunch of family members that live in Germany, so I try to connect with them."
Luck has always been extremely fond of London and everything Europe offered him during his childhood growing up there.
He has also picked the brains of other NFL players who have had the chance to play a game in London.
"I know guys who as soon as they came back they called me and said, 'Got to go back. Got to go back.' By and large, I think it's been a very pleasant experience for a lot of guys," Luck says of the London experience for NFL players.
This will be the Colts fourth game overseas (first regular season game).
The Colts played in Toronto during the 2010 preseason. In 2005, they played a preseason game in Tokyo. In 2000, the Colts took part in another "American Bowl" series game, down in Mexico City.
Jacksonville has played in London the past three seasons and recently extended their commitment to one game per year in London through 2020.
Tickets for the game in London will go on sale in January. You can find more information on tickets here.
- The 2016 UK International Series schedule:
*
Week
Date
Visiting Team
Home Team
Site
4
Sunday, October 2
Indianapolis Colts
Jacksonville Jaguars
Wembley Stadium
7
Sunday, October 23
NFC East Opponent
St. Louis Rams
Twickenham Stadium
8
Sunday, October 30
Washington Redskins
Cincinnati Bengals
Wembley Stadium
At the conclusion of the 2016 season, either 23 or 24 teams will have played in London since the inception of the International Series in 2007. Since that time, the NFL has achieved accelerated growth in the UK. Sunday viewership of NFL games has more than doubled and the Super Bowl audience has increased more than 75 percent. The league also has developed new and stronger business partnerships and, according to internal research, has a UK fan base of more than 13 million.
Participation in amateur football in the UK has risen by approximately 15 percent per year since 2007, with the latest figures showing that 40,000 people age 16 or older play regularly.
A look at the 14 previous International Series games played at London's Wembley Stadium:
Date
Visiting Team
Score
Home Team
Score
Attendance
October 28, 2007
New York Giants
13
Miami Dolphins
10
81,176
October 26, 2008
San Diego Chargers
32
New Orleans Saints
37
83,226
October 25, 2009
New England Patriots
35
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
7
84,254
October 31, 2010
Denver Broncos
16
San Francisco 49ers
24
83,941
October 23, 2011
Chicago Bears
24
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
18
76,981
October 28, 2012
New England Patriots
45
St. Louis Rams
7
84,004
September 29, 2013
Pittsburgh Steelers
27
Minnesota Vikings
34
83,518
October 27, 2013
San Francisco 49ers
42
Jacksonville Jaguars
10
83,559
September 28, 2014
Miami Dolphins
38
Oakland Raiders
14
83,436
October 26, 2014
Detroit Lions
22
Atlanta Falcons
21
83,532
November 9, 2014
Dallas Cowboys
31
Jacksonville Jaguars
17
83,603
October 4, 2015
New York Jets
27
Miami Dolphins
14
83,986
October 25, 2015
Buffalo Bills
31
Jacksonville Jaguars
34
84,021
November 1, 2015
Detroit Lions
10
Kansas City Chiefs
45
83,624
