The New York Jets are heading to London in pursuit of a first win of the season, and the AFC East franchise will need the support in the United Kingdom as they face the Denver Broncos
The Jets are bringing New York to London when the AFC East franchise faces the Denver Broncos on Sunday. Then, the Jets will take a tradition forged in London back to the Big Apple.
Last year, the Jets played the Minnesota Vikings at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. But the Vikings were the home team, welcoming the Jets to a partisan crowd decked out in purple and white.
This time around, it’s Justin Fields and the Jets’ turn – and the organisation is pulling out all the stops. There is one goal in mind: to make the Jets’ international home game replicate the New York atmosphere experienced at MetLife Stadium as best as possible.
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Brian Mulligan knows how to bottle up and provide the Jets experience better than most. Now in his 25th year with the franchise, Mulligan is in his eighth season as vice president of events and game operations. The Jets’ first-ever home-branded game in London serves as a unique new challenge for him to navigate.
“The No. 1 thing for us is, how do we recreate a homefield advantage? How do we take the MetLife Stadium traditions and the things we do there and recreate or bring over to Tottenham with us?” Mulligan told Mirror Sport.
“Certainly one of the number one things is our J-E-T-S chant. Depending on which publication you look at, it’s a top 10 fan tradition in the world. It’s our No. 1 priority. In London, one of our former players, Bart Scott, is going to be one of the in-stadium hosts, and he will warm fans up and teach them the chant prior to the game starting.
“You have to hit the chant in the stadium at traditional times; right before the opening kick, after we score a touchdown, and the ensuing kickoff.”
The Jets are leaving no stone unturned. One of the team’s mascots, Jet Man, is flying across the pond to contribute to the atmosphere, with cameras fixed on his location, ready to film a man who is the Jets personified leading a stadium in the J-E-T-S chants.
There will also be numerous giveaways, a London-first, while everything in the stadium will be Jets-branded. The Jets will recreate their game intros, where pyros are linked to AC/DC’s hit ‘Thunder,’ with fireworks and other effects firing off throughout, just as they do during home games in New Jersey, courtesy of Jack Holmgren and the game presentation team.
Eagle-eyed fans may even spot that the Jets’ player intros feature London sights, adding an international flavour to the traditional videos seen at MetLife Stadium. However, one key aspect is the air raid siren, which, although not physically brought over, has been recreated at Tottenham. “We will have somebody who will be cranking the siren, which is part of our kind of hype moment prior to kickoff.”
Then, the Jets are going for an ambitious new tradition inspired by European soccer. Mulligan added: “Another cool thing that we are introducing over at the UK, for the first time, is the unfurling of a TIFO flag in the stands before kickoff to accompany the air raid siren moment and then the J-E-T-S chant moment.
“There’ll be a giant TIFO unfurled in the south end zone, where we’ll have like a big wall of fans. It’s certainly inspired by European soccer. We did a lot of research in that world, but we’ve tried to do it at MetLife before, and it hasn’t worked great. Sometimes it’s down to logistics; we were going to do that for the Steelers game, our opening game, but the weather meant we couldn’t preset the flags because of the weather.
“But after the game, we’re bringing the TIFO back to New York, New Jersey, to create a new tradition at MetLife Stadium. It’s going to fit; we measured it out so it was produced for MetLife as much as Tottenham. So we’re taking a little piece of the UK with us.”
London may only be a seven-hour flight and 3,500 miles away from New York, but it takes a lot to bring the atmosphere and an authentic Jets experience. Mulligan and the entire organisation have worked tirelessly with the league and other agencies to reproduce what fans experience on any given Sunday at MetLife Stadium.
“This will be the first time that we’re the home team,” Mulligan concluded. “We’re excited to see the outcome.”
The Jets take on the Broncos at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday, 12 October.