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NFL Extends Football In London Agreement For 5 Additional Years

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — The NFL has announced on Thursday that it has extended its agreement to play regular-season games at Wembley Field in London for an additional five years.

The agreement means that at least two games per year will be played at Wembley Stadium through 2020.

The Jacksonville Jaguars, who had committed to play one game a year in London through 2016, have extended that through 2020 as well.

The NFL has scheduled games at Wembley Field starting in 2007 and will play three total games there this year for the third consecutive season.

"This new agreement extends a very successful, long-term relationship," the NFL's Mark Waller said.

"It is very exciting to be making this announcement in the same week that we will reach 1 million fans for the International Series in London," he added.

Earlier this year, the NFL and the English Premier League's Tottenham Hotspur franchise announced an agreement to play a minimum of two games per year during a 10-year partnership at Tottenham's new state-of-the-art stadium, due to open in the summer of 2018.

NFL clubs recently approved a resolution to continue playing international regular-season games through the 2025 season and expanded the league's ability to play those games in countries and territories beyond the UK.

Since introducing International Series games in 2007, 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.

(©2015 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)

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