The Minnesota Vikings’ victory over the New York Jets in London took seven months

Mission accomplished, here’s how they did it:

When a team hosts a game in London, the first task is to ensure that every player and staff member has an updated passport. The Minneapolis Passport Authority visited team headquarters over the summer to complete any necessary processing.

The Vikings brought 180 football people (players, coaches, staff) to London. In normal away games that number is around 150, but the team brought training players and extra doctors to London.

Paul Martin, director of team operations in his 20th season with the Vikings, made the preliminary trip in the spring. His itinerary included meetings with representatives from two hotels, a transport company, a hospital, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, chefs preparing meals for players and a shipping company that handled the team’s freight. He also kept up with Virgin Airlines (the team flies Delta domestically).

The purpose of the hospital visit was to create a plan in the event of an acute injury. The Vikings experienced this scenario during their 2022 visit when safety Lewis Cine suffered a serious broken leg that required surgery. The bus situation is particularly sensitive because, unlike NFL cities, no police escort is provided for the team. Trying to plan an ETA with London traffic in mind is pure guesswork. Martin said he is still sweating because many travel issues are beyond his control.

“You never feel comfortable,” he said.