‘Fuelling the Fire’: Success of First Union Jack Classic Provides Strong Foundations to Build Upon

By Simon Carroll

After a landmark day at Wembley, Union Jack Classic co-founder Thomas Hensey sits down with Simon Carroll to reflect on the reaction, the lessons learned and why he believes the best is still to come.

There was a moment, somewhere inside the noise of Wembley Stadium, when the Union Jack Classic stopped being an ambitious idea and became something much more tangible.

It was not necessarily the 46,000 people in the stands, although that number mattered. It was not the 15,000 Kansas and Arizona State jerseys spread through the stadium, although the presence of two distinct fan bases changed the atmosphere. It was not even the reaction from the visiting teams or the Big 12. It was the realization that a significant number of the people in the building had never been to a college football game before, and yet by the end of the day they understood why people care so deeply about it.

That was always the gamble with the first Union Jack Classic. Bringing two established college football programs to Wembley was one thing. Convincing a British audience that the experience was worth embracing was something else entirely. By Thomas Hensey’s assessment, the response has given the organizers plenty of reason to believe they got that part right.

“We are overwhelmed, really pleased,” Hensey said when asked about the reaction to the event. “We did not anticipate the amount of coverage from television, from radio, from social media; the response has been incredible.”

The numbers are still being collected, but some of the early figures underline just how far the game travelled beyond the stadium. Hensey says the Big Noon Kickoff pregame show drew the largest crowd in the history of the program, bigger than previous stops at Indiana or Michigan, while the game itself attracted a reported 4.4 million radio listeners across the United States.

Those figures matter because the Union Jack Classic was never intended to be simply another game played overseas. The ambition was to create something that could introduce college football to people who might have little previous connection to it, while giving existing fans in Britain an event that felt authentic rather than imported and repackaged.

The reaction from fans and media suggested that distinction was noticed. People arrived without knowing quite what to expect. They found marching bands, cheerleaders, mascots, university colors, travelling supporters, music and a crowd that had a genuine reason to care about the teams on the field. The UJC Spirit Girls were interacting with fans before they even entered the stadium, while Paige Blake played the American national anthem on electric guitar and the British anthem followed.

Hensey believes that combination was one of the biggest differences between the college football experience and the pro games many British fans have become familiar with.

“They’ve been to NFL games. They know it’s the same four downs and the same 11 men on the field, but they didn’t know what would be different. Exposing them to what College Football actually is was the most exciting part of this.” he said. “The marching bands were another big point of separation from the other NFL games they’ve been to.”

Are you not entertained?

What undeniably helped was a fun football game. First impressions are critical when launching an ambitious project like the Union Jack Classic, and it’s easy to assume Thomas and his colleagues were praying for a spectacle the night before.

Kansas and Arizona State were hardly flawless, and both coaching staffs would later point to mistakes and areas that needed improvement, but the contest remained competitive deep into the afternoon. There was a 99-yard kickoff return, turnovers, big plays and enough offensive talent to give the crowd a taste of what the Big 12 can offer.

Kansas’ turnovers ultimately proved costly, but neither team entered the fourth quarter without a realistic chance of winning. For an event built around entertainment as much as competition, that mattered. And with that in place, the supporters who travelled from the United States brought the atmosphere; Hensey estimates that around 15,000 Kansas and Arizona State jerseys were present at Wembley, creating something that is difficult to reproduce at a neutral-site NFL game. British fans were not simply watching a sporting event. They were watching two communities arrive with their own identities, traditions and loyalties.

For people encountering college football for the first time, there was something to latch onto. A mascot. A uniform. A marching band. A cheer squad. A particular color scheme. A fan base that had travelled thousands of miles to support its team.

The organizers had deliberately tried to avoid manufacturing that atmosphere. Hensey talked about the difference between staging an event and allowing supporters to create one themselves, pointing to the way American tailgates originally developed as fans simply turned up, brought food and televisions, threw a football around and made their own entertainment.

That spirit appeared in London before the game, too. The Adidas activations, fan events and gatherings around the city were designed to create momentum in the days leading up to Wembley, while the travelling supporters brought their own energy with them. Hensey described the resulting mix of British and American fans as one of the things that made the day particularly special.

Building the foundations for future games

Of course, no event this ambitious was without its challenges.

The upper tier at Wembley was closed, meaning the Union Jack Classic could not claim to have filled the stadium. That was an important reality, particularly for an event that ultimately wants to become commercially sustainable at a much larger scale. But rather than allow the crowd to disappear into the vastness of the iconic London venue, the decision concentrated supporters into the lower levels.

Hensey says it was a difficult decision because the ambition remains to fill the stadium, but believes it was the correct one for the television product, the teams and the atmosphere inside the ground. The lower two tiers were, in essence, sold out – and the result was a more compact crowd, one that the players could feel as alluded to in the post-game press conferences. 46,000 people at Wembley may sound like a relatively modest number against the stadium’s potential capacity, but for Kansas and Arizona State it was still a substantial audience. Hensey believes the players felt comfortable in that environment rather than looking out at large areas of empty seating.

There was another significant endorsement, too; Hensey says Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark told him that he believed the gameday atmosphere was better than the conference’s championship games.

That is an extraordinary compliment for an event in its first year, particularly from someone who has spent years building one of the most prominent conference championship environments in college football. It is also an indication of how seriously the Big 12 appears to have taken the project – Yormark met the media at halftime with the athletic directors from both schools to say how the success of the debut game at Wembley bodes well for the concept and its future viability.

But praise is not the same thing as proof of a sustainable business, and revenue clearly matters. The first event established that there is an appetite for elite college football in Britain. The second has to demonstrate that the appetite can be converted into a bigger audience, stronger commercial returns and a model that works year after year.

Hensey is not pretending that there is nothing to improve, but every challenge is an opportunity for growth. Merchandise sold out more quickly than anticipated. The organizers now know there is demand for more product and are considering pop-up shops during game week as well as additional limited-edition Wembley merchandise.

Ticket pricing will also require attention, even considering the competitiveness of the tickets in relation to other American Football games in Europe this season. The economic climate is different from the one in which the event was originally conceived, and British sports fans have more competing demands on their money than ever. The organizers do not want the Union Jack Classic positioned as a rival to the NFL or to the domestic British American football scene. Hensey instead sees the event as one part of a wider ecosystem.

That ecosystem only works if people can afford to participate in it.

The challenge for 2027, therefore, is not simply to put on a better show. The first Union Jack Classic already demonstrated that the show can work. The challenge is to persuade more people to buy tickets and make the economics work at a level that supports the ambition.

Hensey says there are no plans for major structural changes. Instead, the next version of the event will be shaped by the smaller lessons learned from the first one: stadium operations, concessions, tailgating, sponsorship, media rights, ticket sales and the activities surrounding game day.

More than just money

The wider financial footprint of the Union Jack Classic’s first game is still being assessed. Hensey says the organizers are working with VisitBritain to understand the economic impact created by the event and the visitors it brought into the country, while sponsorship and international media exposure provide other potential revenue streams.

There were also approximately 1,700 people working at Wembley on game day. That is one of the less visible aspects of an event like this, but it forms part of Hensey’s broader argument that the Union Jack Classic should not be judged solely on the profitability of a single football game. The long-term ambition is to build something that creates opportunities, supports the wider sport and eventually becomes a thriving business in its own right.

The encouraging part for the organizers is that the first year appears to have created momentum rather than extinguishing it. Hensey describes the reaction to the event as having “fuelled the fire.” The social media comments, direct messages and conversations that followed the game have given the organizers confidence that people want to see the Union Jack Classic return.

The intention was always for it to be a multi-year project, and now they have something tangible to build on. The most obvious question is who will be doing the building with them.

Hensey says the organizers are already in final discussions with two teams for next year’s game. They had been talking to around half a dozen programs before narrowing the field, with travelling support, institutional commitment, scheduling and television considerations all forming part of the decision.

Each school has its own desirable attributes. Some will have fans that travel helping ticket sales, whilst others will have a more recognisable brand. And then there’s the teams whose supporters will pack out the bars, attend the activations and spend their money. But ultimately, one thing trumps all; a university has to want to make the trip.

That means gaining support from chancellors, presidents, athletic directors and head coaches, while accepting that an international game creates disruption during the college football season. The teams have to be comfortable with the differences in hotel arrangements, food, training and preparation, while the conference and television partners have to be able to build a schedule around the trip.

The organizers also want teams capable of putting on a compelling game. Hensey says the two programs currently under consideration are dynamic, high-scoring and ranked, with the expectation that they can deliver another strong football product at Wembley.

That announcement is now close. Hensey believes the two teams could be confirmed within days, but one of the reasons for moving quickly is straightforward: the organizers want to capitalize on momentum and get tickets on sale early.

That may ultimately be one of the most important changes between the first and second Union Jack Classics. The first year required people to take a leap of faith. They had to buy a ticket for an event they had never experienced, involving two universities that many British fans barely knew. Next year, that uncertainty disappears. There are now 46,000 people who can tell their friends what the experience was actually like.

Building a community

Something else that proved crucial to the promising start for the Union Jack Classic was the role played by the UK media and the growing network of podcasts, influencers and American football communities that helped explain the event before it happened and then amplified it afterwards. Hensey was particularly keen to acknowledge that contribution, arguing that the game could not have been delivered in the same way without the people who spent months talking about it, covering it and encouraging fans to take an interest.

For an event trying to establish a new tradition, that support is important. The organizers can build the stadium experience, recruit the teams and negotiate the television arrangements, but they cannot manufacture a community around the game. That has to develop naturally, and the first Union Jack Classic appears to have made a start.

The bigger ambition extends beyond one annual game, too. Hensey talks about the relationship between the NFL, elite college football, BAFA, Bucs, flag football and the Jacksonville Jaguars as pieces of the same broader puzzle. If somebody discovers college football at Wembley and then wants to play the sport themselves, there should be somewhere for them to go. If a British fan becomes attached to Kansas or Arizona State, there should be a reason for them to keep following college football after the stadium lights have gone out.

That is how an international game becomes more than an international game – it becomes part of the ecosystem.

There is still plenty of work to do before the Union Jack Classic can claim to have established itself permanently. The organizers need more tickets sold. They need the economics to stack up. They need the right teams, the right pricing and the right commercial partners. They need to maintain the sense of authenticity that made the first event work while finding ways to make it bigger.

But the first test was never whether 46,000 people could be put into Wembley. It was whether those people would leave wanting to come back. Looking at the response from those who attended and those who watched from afar, the answer appeared to be yes.

The reaction to the dates for next year’s event offered another indication. When the Union Jack Classic posted that it would return, Hensey says the response included plenty of variations on the same message: thank goodness it’s coming back. That was always the objective, and must come to a huge relief to the organisers, who have earned the right to take a moment and be proud of their early achievements.

The first Union Jack Classic proved that elite college football can make sense in London. It showed that British supporters can connect with the traditions surrounding the game, that American fans will travel, that the Big 12 sees value in the relationship and that a properly built college football experience can stand on its own rather than simply existing in the shadow of the NFL.

The second edition now has a different responsibility. It has to turn curiosity into habit. It has to turn 46,000 into more. And it has to demonstrate that the excitement generated by the first Union Jack Classic can be turned into something sustainable.

UJC #1 set the bar. Hensey is ready to see how many notches it can be raised in 2027.

Mock Draft

SIMON CARROLL

Lead Writer, Head of Content

PREVIOUSLY THE FOUNDER OF NFL DRAFT UK, SIMON HAS BEEN COVERING COLLEGE FOOTBALL AND THE NFL DRAFT SINCE 2009. BASED IN MANCHESTER, SIMON IS ALSO CO-CREATOR & WEEKLY GUEST OF THE COLLAPSING POCKET PODCAST, COVERS THE JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS FOR SB NATION and is A college football writer for dazn.

Twitter Envelope Linkedin Spotify Apple
Rated 5 out of 5
BoyleSports NFL