The novelty might be wearing off for the NFL in London. A dire game between the Colts and Commanders didn’t help

As Indianapolis Colts QB Daniel Jones and Washington Commanders signal-caller Athan Kaliakmanis traded overthrows, interceptions and fumbles, one question was surely going through everyone’s heads: Can you have too much of a good thing?

William Shakespeare was certainly not thinking about NFL international games when writing his 1623 comedy As You Like It , but it’s not difficult to see why the playwright’s famous phrase could apply to this exact situation – albeit just a few hundred years too early.

International NFL tickets were once one of the most coveted to get a hold of when it came to sports across the globe.

Stories of tens of thousands of fans queuing up – virtually – to get their hands on the goods had become the norm, ending with more people being left bitterly disappointed than attending the games.

However, when it was announced that the Commanders and the Colts were making the trip across the pond, the usual eagerness was a lot harder to come across.

Tickets were still available the night before the big day, with fans not exactly rushing to fill up the vacant seats at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

And this was after the prices had already been massively reduced.

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Fans who had shown interest in the international games received emails a few weeks before the game detailing new low-priced tickets with the get-in price now advertised at just £79.13 (about $105), a far cry from what they had originally been listed for – and it didn’t stop there.

For supporters who had left it particularly last-minute, tickets were available at an incredible price of just £9.95 (about $13.17).

While some cashed in on the bargain prices, others understandably were left disappointed after already purchasing tickets at their original prices.

In the buildup to the game, fans flocked to social media to share stories of their disappointment, some exasperated about paying more than double what someone sitting next to them may have paid.

CNN Sports has reached out to Ticketmaster and the NFL for comment on fan frustrations.

Unsurprisingly, with a cost-of-living crisis sweeping through the United Kingdom, asking fans to spend a lot of money to see two middling teams was always going to be a tough sell.

It’s no surprise then that the stadium was largely full exclusively of Commanders and Colts fans, a sight that has rarely been seen before across international games in London.

Train platforms and pubs on game days are usually packed with a visual cacophony of NFL jerseys, past and present, from franchises all across the league.

But this time it was different. Washington’s burgundy and gold dominated the surrounding streets and the stands at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with a smattering of Indianapolis blue playing second fiddle.

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This was the 43rd NFL game that London has hosted, and one could be forgiven for thinking that the novelty is now perhaps starting to wear off on everyday NFL fans in the UK.

In fact, the loudest cheer of the first half came when the big screen asked fans who had traveled from the US to make some noise – seemingly an insight into how packed the stadium was with diehard fans who had made the long trip across the pond to see their team play.

While there had already been problems off the field in the buildup, the on-field events did little to inspire the neutral.

On the first drive and just the second snap of the contest, Colts QB Jones immediately treated fans in London to an incredible fumble.

Jones tripped over his own left tackle Bernhard Raimann before dropping the ball on his way to the ground in a move that seemed to play out in slow motion.

Washington, however, failed to capitalize on the advantageous field position it was gifted and had to settle for an early field goal instead.

Kirby Lee/Imagn Images/Reuters

It was a sign of things to come.

Commanders fans had already accepted they wouldn’t be seeing their starting quarterback and star player Jayden Daniels , but things quickly went from bad to worse as they lost backup Marcus Mariota to an early knee injury.

Third-string quarterback Kaliakmanis was then thrown into the game in the most unusual of surroundings and, alongside his Colts counterpart, struggled to get any real offense going.

As the clock ticked down towards the end of the opening quarter, a graphic popped up on the big screens to let everyone know that Indianapolis and Jones had thrown for -2 passing yards.

Somehow, it felt like it was even less.

Things didn’t get much better as the half went on, but the ever-reliable Jonathan Taylor rushed the Colts down the field before going on to score the opening touchdown of the game.

There were, however, a few bright sparks in the second half of action that perked fans up.

Taylor rushed for another touchdown as he continued with his impressive season to extend the Colts’ lead.

Kaliakmanis started launching deep throws down the field and picked out Treylon Burks for the first touchdown pass of his career before Jones stormed home for the Colts’ third rushing touchdown of the encounter to reinforce the team’s advantage.

Geoff Burke/Imagn Images/Reuters

With a couple of field goals somewhere in between from Indy’s Spencer Shrader, the Colts were victorious in the end, picking up a 30-13 win.

It was far from a classic outing and one that ended up ultimately being worthy of the cheap, last-minute get-in prices.

But despite the loss and lack of star power on the field, it would be fair to say that Washington fans did their best to make the game feel special.

The noise at times was deafening from the Commanders faithful and deserving of better quality on the field.

When teams head overseas, it should feel special.

Some fans wait a lifetime to see their favorite team in the flesh, with stars from across the league just a stone’s throw away and not on a TV in random times of the day, sometimes very late at night.

But a game like this didn’t make it feel like the greatest show in town, which it should do, particularly with a more veteran NFL-going crowd like the British fans.

The NFL seems intent on bringing more and more games to its overseas audience, but in doing so, is there a danger of oversaturating the market?

Justin Setterfield/Getty Images

CNN Sports has reached out to the NFL for comment on its overseas strategy.

Teams have already played in Brazil, Australia and England this season with more to come later down the line in France and Spain.

That’s not to say there isn’t still a desire to see teams from across the league overseas, but it appears as fans in the UK are beginning to demand more marquee matchups given the novelty has worn off. When the Philadelphia Eagles and the Jacksonville Jaguars face off next Sunday, it should feel like a completely different ball game.

So to answer Shakespeare, perhaps you can have too much of a good thing, but at least, the weather was nice.

当印第安纳波利斯小马队四分卫丹尼尔·琼斯和华盛顿指挥官队四分卫阿坦·卡利亚克马尼斯互相传球失误、被拦截和掉球时，每个人的脑海中肯定都在想一个问题：好事会过头吗？

威廉·莎士比亚在创作 1623 年的喜剧《皆大欢喜》时，肯定没有想到 NFL 国际比赛，但很容易看出，这位剧作家的名言为何可以适用于这种情况——尽管早了几百年。

国际 NFL 门票曾经是全球体育界最令人梦寐以求的门票之一。

成千上万的球迷在线排队抢购周边商品的现象已成为常态，最终失望而归的人数甚至超过了到场观看比赛的人数。

然而，当宣布指挥官队和小马队将跨越大西洋进行比赛时，人们却很难再像往常那样表现出热情。

比赛前夜仍有门票出售，球迷们并没有蜂拥而至，抢购托特纳姆热刺球场的空位。

而且这还是在价格已经大幅下调之后。

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对国际比赛表现出兴趣的球迷在比赛前几周收到了电子邮件，详细介绍了新的低价门票，现在的最低票价仅为 79.13 英镑（约 105 美元），与最初的标价相差甚远——但这还不是全部。

对于那些直到最后一刻才购票的球迷来说，门票价格非常优惠，仅为 9.95 英镑（约合 13.17 美元）。

虽然有些人趁着低价买到了票，但另一些人在按原价购买了票后，难免感到失望。

在比赛开始前，球迷们纷纷涌向社交媒体分享他们的失望之情，有些人甚至因为支付的票价是坐在旁边的人的两倍多而感到恼火。

CNN体育已联系Ticketmaster和NFL，就球迷的不满情绪寻求置评。

不出所料，在英国生活成本危机席卷之际，要求球迷花大价钱去看两支中等水平的球队比赛，注定会很难被接受。

因此，体育场内几乎全是指挥官队和科尔茨队的球迷也就不足为奇了，这种景象在伦敦举行的国际比赛中很少见到。

比赛日，火车站台和酒吧里通常挤满了穿着 NFL 球衣的球员，他们穿着联盟中各个球队过去和现在的球衣，场面十分热闹。

但这一次情况不同了。华盛顿的酒红色和金色主宰了周围的街道和托特纳姆热刺球场的看台，印第安纳波利斯的蓝色则显得黯然失色。

Henning Von Jagow/Action Plus/Shutterstock

这是伦敦举办的第 43 场 NFL 比赛，人们或许会认为，对于英国的普通 NFL 球迷来说，这种新鲜感可能已经开始消退了。

事实上，上半场最响亮的欢呼声出现在大屏幕要求从美国远道而来的球迷们发出欢呼声的时候——这似乎表明体育场内挤满了铁杆球迷，他们不远万里跨越大西洋来看自己的球队比赛。

虽然赛前场外已经出现了一些问题，但场上的表现并没有激起中立球迷的兴趣。

比赛开始后，在第一次进攻和第二次触球时，小马队四分卫琼斯就给伦敦的球迷们带来了一次令人难以置信的掉球。

琼斯在倒地前被自己的左截锋伯恩哈德·雷曼绊倒，球也掉了下来，这一幕仿佛慢动作回放一般。

然而，华盛顿队未能利用好所获得的有利场地位置，最终只能以一次早期的任意球得分。

Kirby Lee/Imagn Images/路透社

这是未来趋势的预兆。

指挥官队的球迷们已经接受了他们无法看到首发四分卫兼明星球员杰登·丹尼尔斯的事实，但情况很快变得更糟，因为替补四分卫马库斯·马里奥塔在赛季初期就因膝伤缺阵。

随后，替补四分卫卡利亚克马尼斯在极其不寻常的环境下被派上场，与他的小马队对手一起，难以组织起任何真正的进攻。

在第一节比赛即将结束时，大屏幕上出现了一个图表，告诉大家印第安纳波利斯队和琼斯的传球码数为-2码。

不知为何，感觉好像更少了。

上半场比赛进行到一半，情况并没有好转多少，但一向可靠的乔纳森·泰勒带领小马队一路冲到对方半场，最终为球队拿下本场比赛的第一个达阵。

然而，下半场比赛中也出现了一些亮点，让球迷们兴奋不已。

泰勒再次达阵得分，延续了他本赛季的出色表现，扩大了小马队的领先优势。

卡利亚克马尼斯开始向球场深处投掷长传，并找到了特雷隆·伯克斯，完成了他职业生涯中的第一个达阵传球。随后琼斯冲入达阵区，为小马队拿下本场比赛的第三个冲球达阵，巩固了球队的领先优势。

Geoff Burke/Imagn Images/路透社

印第安纳波利斯小马队的斯宾塞·施拉德在比赛期间踢进几个任意球，最终小马队以 30-13 获胜。

这远非一次经典的旅行，但最终还是物有所值，毕竟是临时抢购的低价票。

尽管球队输球，场上也缺乏明星球员，但华盛顿球迷尽了最大努力让这场比赛变得特别，这也不失为一个公平的说法。

指挥官队的忠实拥趸们有时发出震耳欲聋的呐喊，而他们在场上的表现理应更好。

球队出国比赛应该有种特别的感觉。

有些球迷一辈子都在等待亲眼见到自己最喜欢的球队，而来自联盟各队的球星就在咫尺之遥，而不是在一天中随机的时间，有时甚至是深夜，在电视上观看比赛。

但像这样的比赛并没有让人感觉像是城里最精彩的表演，而它本应该如此，尤其是在像英国球迷这样经验丰富的 NFL 观众面前。

NFL 似乎决心将越来越多的比赛带给海外观众，但这样做是否有可能导致市场过度饱和？

Justin Setterfield/Getty Images

CNN体育已联系NFL，就其海外战略寻求置评。

本赛季各队已经分别在巴西、澳大利亚和英格兰进行了比赛，之后还将在法国和西班牙进行更多比赛。

这并非意味着人们不再渴望看到联盟各队的海外比赛，但英国球迷似乎开始要求更多重磅对决，因为新鲜感已经消退。下周日费城老鹰队和杰克逊维尔美洲虎队的交锋，应该会给人一种截然不同的感觉。

所以，正如莎士比亚所说，好事过头或许也不好，但至少天气很好。