LONDON, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- The final four contestants of the Gatorade One Pass to Fame competition looked focused on the sidelines preparing for their moment of glory in front of 83,798 screaming fans at Wembley Stadium during the match-up between the Indianapolis Colts and Jacksonville Jaguars, the first of three games in the 2016 International Series in London.
Hailing from Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou and Wuhan, the competitors qualified to participate in a contest testing their passing accuracy during halftime with the winner earning a trip to Super Bowl LI (51) in Houston.
Yang Hetong, from Beijing, won the competition and said afterwards, "I am really thankful for the opportunity NFL has given me to travel the world and see this sport and am grateful to my opponents. It is an honor to be here and I cannot wait for the Super Bowl in Houston."
Earlier this summer, the Gatorade One Pass to Fame contest visited six cities across China with over 16,000 participants vying for a chance to compete in the national final in London. The four finalists included a mix of local amateur football players and one who had never played the sport before.
Interest in the NFL has never been higher in China as the NFL continues to grow with 20 media partners broadcasting games and over 1.7 million viewers tuning in each week.
Executive Vice President of NFL International, Mark Waller commented, "It' s hugely exciting for us to see these Chinese fans coming over here, being able to compete in the competition at halftime. To think that a couple of weeks ago they were on the other side of the world and dreaming of being here at Wembley, that must be huge. A beautiful day for them and hopefully something they' ll remember for the rest of their lives."
"Success in London has definitely given us the belief that as you take games outside of the US, you really accelerate your fan growth so for us the chance to move games around is definitely a core part of our strategy this year," Waller added.
Since 2010, the number of people interested in the NFL in China has grown 1187% from 1.6 million to 19 million. In 2015, an average of 3.1 million viewers watched NFL games each week, across TV and online platforms, with over 15 million tuning in to watch Super Bowl 50 live at 7:30 am on Monday, February 9, 2016. Over 1.7 million viewers watch NFL games Live via online streaming platforms each week in China.
