League to return to Britain for game in 2008

LONDON (Reuters) - The National Football League announced on Thursday it would stage another regular season game in Britain this year following the success of last October's inaugural game in London.

More than 81,000 fans saw the New York Giants beat the Miami Dolphins 13-10 at Wembley Stadium in the first ever regular season game played outside North America.

The NFL received requests for more than half a million tickets within 72 hours of announcing the event.

"The game in London was undoubtedly one of the highlights of the entire 2007 season," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement on Thursday.

"The fan interest was tremendous. The passion they demonstrated for our sport that day continued throughout the season, as television viewership in the UK has grown by 40 percent since the game.

"We had an overwhelmingly positive response to the event from all involved -- the teams, our sponsors and business partners and of course the fans themselves. We look forward to another spectacular event in 2008."

The only drawback to the day was the weather as it rained heavily.

The Wembley pitch had not fully recovered by the time England played their final Euro 2008 qualifying match against Croatia three weeks later.

Details about this year's game, including the venue and the competing teams, are expected to be announced before Super Bowl XLII in Phoenix, Arizona on Feb 3.