London eyes bid to stage Super Bowl - newspaper

London has launched an audacious bid to stage the Super Bowl within the next eight years, a move that would see the United States' biggest sporting event played overseas for a first time, the Sunday Telegraph reported yesterday.

According to the paper, representatives from the Mayor of London's office and Visit London, the city's official visitor organisation, have received assurances from the National Football League (NFL) of a commitment to hold the event in London.

The NFL have already staged two sell-out regular season games at Wembley Stadium, with a third scheduled for this October.

"We are looking at 2014, 2015 or 2017," David Hornby, the commercial director for Visit London was quoted as saying.

Talks have been ongoing with the NFL, who have identified London as the outstanding candidate city to host the event outside of the United States.

The newspaper added the event could be worth £350 million ($521.1 million) to the economy, although they also quote an unnamed NFL spokesman as saying: "The suggestions about London are only theoretical. There is no bid document."

However, Wembley Stadium commercial director Jonathan Gregory said: "We will do everything we can to work with the NFL and help bring this amazing event to London."