"This is an overwhelming response and endorsement of the NFL's decision to play the first regular season game outside North America in London,” said Alistair Kirkwood, managing director of NFL United Kingdom. “Nearly all these requests have come from UK-based fans. These figures do not take into account the allocation of tickets for Dolphins and Giants fans from the United States. We anticipate a quick sellout when tickets go on sale in early March.”A ticket registration process for the game was set up as a fan service for registered members of the NFL’s UK website. Word spread among fans about the process and the website’s server crashed several times due to the unprecedented traffic.
The ticket request process will close on Feb. 18 and comes at least two months before tickets go on sale to the general public. A lottery will determine who among the registered fans receives tickets.
The game between the Dolphins and Giants is scheduled for Oct. 28 at the new Wembley Stadium, which will have a capacity of between 85-90,000. Kickoff time is 6 p.m. London time, which is 1 p.m. Eastern.
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The Dolphins this week made official the signing of seven players to 2007 contracts. These were players who ended last season without a team.
The new Dolphins are DT Steve Fifita, LB Akbar Gbaja-Biamila, QB Gibran Hamdan, LB Bobby Iwuchukwu, K Matt Prater, TE Jason Rader and WR P.K. Sam. Fifita, Rader and Sam spent part of the 2006 season on the Dolphins practice squad.
Fifita and Sam will be allocated to NFL Europe this spring.