NFL and Tottenham Hotspur partner to host games at new stadium starting in 2018

The NFL and Tottenham Hotspur announced on Wednesday that they have reached a 10-year agreement for a minimum of two games per year to be played at the club's new stadium in London.

Tottenham's stadium, due to open in the summer of 2018, will feature a retractable grass field and an artificial surface underneath that would be used for NFL games. This will help with the scheduling of games, as it provides the ability for Tottenham and the NFL to host games in the same weekend.

The Jacksonville Jaguars will likely play some games at Tottenham's new stadium. Their current agreement will be up in 2016, but owner Shad Khan has not been shy in expressing his desire to play more games in London.

While some financial benefits like a sold out stadium are easy to point to, others like an influx in hundreds of jobs for Jacksonville, charity opportunities in London, keeping the price of season tickets low, and gameday marketing initiatives in London, are a little harder to spot. But they're there.

The 10-year agreement doesn't preclude the league from also hosting games at Wembley Stadium. In addition to the minimum of two games per year at the new Tottenham site, other NFL games may take place at different venues in the UK during the span of the 10-year agreement.

The NFL has two seasons remaining on its current agreement with Wembley Stadium, where it has so far hosted 11 games since 2007, two of which have included the Jaguars.

With two venues available in 2018 and beyond, the league's growth in the UK is only going to continue.

You can read the entire press release from the NFL here.