Football is big the the UK, but when the Brits talk about football, they’re referring to what we call soccer. Even so, American football has its fans in Great Britain, and not just when Peter Griffin got traded from the New England Patriots to the London Silly-Nannies or when the Marines stationed at our embassy get the night off to watch the big game.
In fact, the Chicago Bears faced off against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last Sunday, not at Soldier Field in Illinois or Raymond James Stadium in Florida, but at Wembley Stadium in London. It was the fifth NFL International Series game played there in as many years at the venue that’s used to hosting the other kind of football.
It’s the kind of opportunity an American automaker trying to make a name for itself in the UK couldn’t pass up. And since Ford is well established there and GM is represented by its local brand Vauxhall, that could only mean one company: Chrysler. While Lancia markets Chrysler models in continental Europe, the inverse is the case in the UK, where the American brand has a better reputation than its Italian counterpart.
And so Chrysler was there in full force as the Official Car of the NFL (in the UK), sponsoring the International Series (as well as the Super Bowl broadcast there), displaying the new Chrysler Ypsilon and transporting VIPs around in Grand Voyagers. The arrangement follows a similar announcement between Mercedes-Benz and the New Orleans Saints that saw the German luxury automaker acquire the naming rights to the Louisiana Superdome.
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