Thousands of Washington Commanders fan traveled to London for the team’s matchup with the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.
It’s the franchise’s first time playing in England’s capital city since 2016, when their game with the Cincinnati Bengals ended in a 27-27 tie at Wembley Stadium.
Commanders fan Ted Abela, who goes by [Tailgate Ted](https://tailgatinghalloffame.com/mvps/thof-spotlight-tailgate-ted-abela) on social media and co-hosts the “DMV Mess Hall” podcast, was among those who traveled from the D.C. area for Sunday’s game at Tottenham Spurs Stadium.
“There’s Burgundy and Gold all over London, everywhere you look, on top of the double-decker buses, in the cabs, everywhere,” Abela said.
He spoke to WTOP from the team’s London Fan Fest, where he said thousands of people gathered Saturday.
“This fan base travels well,” Abela said. Northwest Stadium wasn’t a fun place to watch the Commanders play until the ownership group led by Josh Harris took over the franchise in 2023, he said.
“So a lot of our fans just traveled to go to better venues, and then to come back to London since we haven’t been here since 2016, people have been eager to do this” Abela said.
They’ve also come from other parts of the United Kingdom and from Europe.
“I’ve met a bunch from Scotland, from Germany. There’s a lot of U.S. military members that traveled overseas that come to this game because it’s their team to see,” he said. “So Washington’s well-represented out here in the UK.”
Marcus Mariota will be filling in as the team’s quarterback for the injured Jayden Daniels. Abela said his fellow fans are happy Daniels isn’t playing as he is recovering from a dislocated left elbow suffered during a Week 2 loss against the Dallas Cowboys.
“Everybody wanted him to wait at least another week, back home against the Giants, especially after they saw how bulky that brace was,” Abela said. There was “a big sigh of relief all across London when we heard that Jayden was not going to be playing this weekend.”
As for the game, Abela believes that the Commanders will defeat the Colts to push their record to 2-2.
“I’m not too sure how close it’s going to be, but I’m predicting a Washington win. Marcus Mariota showed us what he could do last week. That defense had three great turnovers when it counted,” he said. “The Indianapolis Colts — they don’t scare me as much as the team making some mistakes scares me.”
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