The highly successful crowd turnout for the National Football League games in London are continuing to grow. According to the NFL's international chief, Mark Waller, the league could have a team there by 2022.

The NFL began hosting games in London in 2007, when Mark Waller initially estimated that it would take 15 years to give London its own franchise. As we're now at the halfway mark of that timeline, Waller feels that goal is still on track.

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"I always thought it would take 15 years to be truly rigorous in our analysis before we get to the end of what we can deliver," Waller said Thursday in a phone interview from London. "I think we're exactly on track."

The next NFL game hosted in London will be this Sunday as the Detroit Lions take on the Atlanta Falcons. This is the second game out of three total the league will be hosting this season at Wembley Stadium. These games have already been sold out and can be expected to receive more than 83,000 fans attending.

Not only is the NFL receiving support from thousands of fans, but the British Government is reportedly also showing their support on bringing a team to London. According to reports, the British treasury chief, George Osborne, says the government will do anything it can to make this happen.

There's still a number of obstacles and testing that's needed before London can have its own franchise. The infrastructure being able to host games on consecutive weekends will be one of those tests next year, according to Waller.

Nevertheless, everything seems to be on track and fans can expect to see a franchise team in London in 2022 for the first time in NFL history. If successful in the U.K., and indications so far show that it will be, there's no telling where the NFL could potentially expand next. 

TagsNFL, London, Franchise Team, Mark Waller, Wembley Stadium, UK, British government, Football