The much-hyped first-ever college football game at London's iconic Wembley Stadium kicked off today, but the stands told a different story than the pre-game buzz suggested. Arizona State 'hosted' Big 12 rival Kansas in the inaugural Union Jack Classic, a multi-year partnership meant to bring American college football to the UK. Yet, as the game got underway, the 86,000-seat venue looked far from full, with the entire upper deck sitting empty and the lower bowl only partially filled.
Photos and videos circulating on social media painted a stark picture: the upper tier was completely deserted, while the lower sections appeared reasonably populated. One X user noted, "Scene at Wembley just after kick. No tickets sold in upper deck, lower bowl pretty full. Would guess there between 40-50k people here. About on par with a Kansas or ASU home game." Doug Haller of The Athletic echoed that sentiment, tweeting, "Looks like the upper section of Wembley is closed off for today's game."
The sparse turnout has sparked a heated debate among fans about why the event failed to draw a capacity crowd. Some pointed to poor ticket sales and a lack of grassroots interest in American football across the pond. "Poor ticket sales will do that. Never seen so many avenues for free tickets or heavily discounted. Heck, they even brought out free coach travel to entice folk," one fan remarked on X.
Others suggested that the organizers may have artificially capped attendance, moving fans from the upper deck to the lower bowl to create a more intimate atmosphere. "They sold tickets up there but moved people down into the lower bowl," another user speculated. "London is too vast & oversaturated with NFL for there to be buzz. Somewhere further north or Scotland would've been better. Or just leave it to Dublin, we're the best."
The criticism wasn't just about logistics—it was about the fundamental appeal of college sports in a foreign market. "The people who signed off on this don't understand why 'college' sports is a tough sell outside the US," a third commenter wrote. "This is like trying to fill an NFL stadium with two EFL Championship/League One ⚽️ teams."
The attendance figures, if accurate, represent a significant shortfall for a stadium that regularly hosts sell-out concerts and NFL games. For context, the NFL's London games routinely draw over 60,000 fans, and even lower-tier international fixtures often outperform this turnout. The Big 12 Conference, which is banking on the Union Jack Classic as a revenue-generating venture, may have to reassess its strategy if these numbers hold.
This isn't the first time college football has struggled to translate its appeal internationally, and it echoes broader concerns about the sport's growth outside the U.S. Fans have also been vocal about scheduling issues and broadcast decisions, as seen in the recent complaints over sparse noon slates. The lack of buzz at Wembley could also be a sign that the sport needs a different approach, perhaps focusing on regions with existing American football communities, as some fans suggested.
While the lower bowl did generate a decent atmosphere, the visual of thousands of empty seats is hard to ignore. The Big 12 may have set modest expectations for this debut, but if the goal was to prove that college football can thrive on the international stage, today's turnout suggests otherwise. As one fan put it, "The people who signed off on this don't understand why 'college' sports is a tough sell outside the US."
Whether the Union Jack Classic becomes a long-term fixture or a one-and-done experiment remains to be seen. But for now, the empty upper deck at Wembley serves as a sobering reminder that exporting American college football is a tougher sell than many hoped. The conference will need to rethink its marketing and outreach if it wants to fill those seats in future editions.
